C1 Seat Question

[Mark P.]

I am new to the NCRS and have only owned my 1960 for 7 months now, my first Corvette.

I have a question about the seats. They were redone with custom upholstery in the 1980's and I want to go back to a stock seat. It looks like they just replaced the covers and left everything else in place. The seat frames, burlap, seat spring fabric and seat bottom retainer ring look original and in good condition.

I just purchased from Al Knoch the vinyl seat covers, foam kit, burlaps and wiring, cotton pad, the installation kit and the DVD installation video. I was told by them this was everything I could change except the seat springs from an upholstery perspective.

Here are my questions:
1. Have many out there been successful at installing C1 seat covers and getting them to fit good with the right seat sag on the seat bottom ? Would you recommend I take them somewhere that knows C1's to have the covers installed ? I initially wanted to do them myself to get the experience restoring all aspects of my nice driver but I don't mind paying someone. I really want to avoid shipping everything back to Al Knoch to have them do it. An NCRS member recommended "Mountain View Auto Interiors" do do this. Does anyone know them or know others I can consider in Northern California ? I want to keep driving my car but want to do things as correct as possible and practical. I may want to get it judged in the future.
2. Do most replace the spings when they recover ? The 48 year old fabric that they are wrapped in looks pretty good. Just a bit dusty but with no visible tears. It won't match all the new stuff though. I would rather preserve as much of the originality of this car as I can rather than have it perfect cosmetically. Do NCRS jusges ever remove the seats during judging ?
3. Should I get the frames, seat back springs and retainer sandblasted and painted ? They have some light surface rust. Is typical gloss black ename OK ?
4. Is it normal to just have about 1.5 inches of real adjustment in these seats ? The seat cushion hits the shifter column when I slide them forward.

Thanks,

Mark in Pleasanton,California

[John F.]

Re: C1 Seat Question

Mark, I'm not an expert on seats but I woud try to do them myself. That is half the fun of owning a vette. The seat travel is not much, you can only go as far forward as the carpet and center section will let you. I would only replace what is needed as far as the springs go. Most people don't mess w/them. I don't think the judges take the seats out. You need to buy a Judging Guide on this site. I just took a little Simple Green degreaser to clean up my slide rails & then a little steelwool to clean up any surface rust. You can paint with similar color after roughing items up. I just got my 62 after a 37 year hiatus. These cars are so much fun to mess with & this site (NCRS) and fellow members are the best. Drive & enjoy the car. Save the "wave"!

[Bob B.]

Re: C1 Seat Question

Mark,

Congrats on your purchase of a 60 since it has the best suspension of the 58-60 series! I'd keep it original if everything looks good. Judges do not take your seats out, so you can have anything you want beneath. Maybe you still even have the 1x3" cardboard part number and date tags? If you went the whole process and re-did everything, though, I think semi-gloss is the right paint. On my 1960, I have a little over three inches of seat travel, so maybe a little white grease is in order. I did 95% of my car, including paint, but I sent my seats to Knoch to get the depression right. I see that they did it by using the crimp rings to pull some of the loops of the springs together in the middle. But if you have original springs, they certainly won't have expanded, so they may be okay just using them as is.

Have fun!

Bob

[Roy B.]

Re: C1 Seat Question

I am new to the NCRS and have only owned my 1960 for 7 months now, my first Corvette.

I have a question about the seats. They were redone with custom upholstery in the 1980's and I want to go back to a stock seat. It looks like they just replaced the covers and left everything else in place. The seat frames, burlap, seat spring fabric and seat bottom retainer ring look original and in good condition.

I just purchased from Al Knoch the vinyl seat covers, foam kit, burlaps and wiring, cotton pad, the installation kit and the DVD installation video. I was told by them this was everything I could change except the seat springs from an upholstery perspective.

Here are my questions:
1. Have many out there been successful at installing C1 seat covers and getting them to fit good with the right seat sag on the seat bottom ? Would you recommend I take them somewhere that knows C1's to have the covers installed ? Not if your good and happy after when doneI initially wanted to do them myself to get the experience restoring all aspects of my nice driver but I don't mind paying someone. I really want to avoid shipping everything back to Al Knoch to have them do it. An NCRS member recommended "Mountain View Auto Interiors" do do this. Does anyone know them or know others I can consider in Northern California ? I want to keep driving my car but want to do things as correct as possible and practical. I may want to get it judged in the future.
2. Do most replace the spings when they recover NO? The 48 year old fabric that they are wrapped in looks pretty good. Just a bit dusty but with no visible tears. It won't match all the new stuff though. I would rather preserve as much of the originality of this car as I can rather than have it perfect cosmetically.I like that also Do NCRS jusges ever remove the seats during judging ?NO
3. Should I get the frames, seat back springs and retainer sandblasted and painted ? They have some light surface rust. Is typical gloss black ename OK ?YES
4. Is it normal to just have about 1.5 inches of real adjustment in these seats ? The seat cushion hits the shifter column when I slide them forward.

Thanks,

Mark in Pleasanton,California

This is my opinion which dont mean much. good luck.

[Stephen R.]

Re: C1 Seat Question

My two cents. I'm also a new member. I recently had my seats done, bought the parts from CC, which were then delivered from Al Knoch, so apparently CC uses AK as a supplier. I bought the covers, springs (original seat type) foams, everything with the idea of doing it myself. I was also doing the soft top at the same time. That was a pain, so I took the seats to a local guy who does Vettes and other old cars. He did a great job for about $700 for all 4 seat parts. Here's the problem, I've now decided to restore other parts of the car so I'm always apprehensive when I drop off the car at a local mechanic (whom I've dealt with for years and is extremely conscientious) to do stuff that I can't, such as change the shifter. My advice would be to hold off doing the seats and interior until you are done with the outside greasy dirty stuff. No matter how careful you or anybody else is, there's always the oil/grease potential. (as a side note, I find that Ivory dish washing liquid soap, diluted, is great for getting grease out of rugs and off of vinyl). The second problem is that because of the new foam, in my case, there is no seat depression and the back piece sits up high. I have: 1) trouble getting in the car because the distance between the seat and steering wheel is only about 8 inches max, 2) the back seat sits up high and the deck has trouble closing, 3) to get the seat and back to sit in the frame properly, I have to place the seat first in the frame and then with a small tie down around the back frame and seat frame, winch the whole assembly down to squeeze down the new foam down. A lot of work but the interior was improved 100% (ok guess more than two cents)
Steve

[Mark P.]

Re: C1 Seat Question

Thanks for all the responses.

Stephen - I have heard of upholstery shops that have installed AK covers and they didn't get the seat sag right or the foam was too bulky. That is why I am a bit nervous at taking it to a shop nearby. The AK video show how to get the sag by using hog rings to pull down the seat insert and springs. I think I'll try it myself and if I am not happy with the results I'll have it redone by AK.