C3 seat springs

[Tom L.]

Good evening, I'm in the process of having foam and covers replaced on my seats. I brought them to a local shop that has been in business for a very long time and has a good reputation. At this point I'm not sure where the reputation came from. Anyway, in the beginning I was concerned with the condition of the seat springs. They were not pressed against the seat foam which was original. I questioned that and it was told that it was due to the fact that the foam was original and in bad shape, I was Ok with that.

Fast forward, I picked up the seats and once brought home I noticed that the springs were, in some places 3/8 - 1/2" away from the foam. Is this normal?? For additional reasons the covers are back off and the frames are back home for some cleaning up. I had a chance to look at things closely, so here are the questions:

Should the springs be in tension?

Should they be curved in such a way that they press against the foam, curve away from the foam so that once you sit in the car the foam eventually rests on the springs or just run from attachment point to attachment point in a straight line just resting on the foam?

Finally, has anyone use repro springs with success and do you have any suggestions or installation tips since Corvette america notes that they are longer than necessary and have to be trimmed to size and shaped for installation.

Thanks so much!

Signed, unreasonably frustrated!

[Patrick H.]

Re: C3 seat springs

Tom,

Any chance you have photos of the frames and springs to show what you're describing?

Patrick

[Tom L.]

Re: C3 seat springs

The pics of the seats with the new foam don't show the gap. At rest I'd think that the springs should at least be against the foam, not waiting for someone to sit in the seats and push the foam to the springs. The pics I took were for the other issues that resulted in the seats being taken apart again so I don't have good pics of that. I'm just trying to get this right the first time. I have the bare frames at home, I'll get pics later.

[Patrick H.]

Re: C3 seat springs

No problem.

This auction shows a typical used seat bottom, with the springs as I have seen them:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-Corvette-seats-Original-headrest-correct-high-latch-pair-Vinyl/262973188623?fits=Model%3ACorvette&hash=item3d3a6c6a0f%3Ag%3AhUIAAOSw-K9ZD9iq&LH_ItemCondition=4