Ratty Ratsun seat repairs, who else has done them? UPDATE: FORGET THAT, GOT A NEW SEAT! See new reply for details...

[JoeCool]

Well, I am flat broke! So if something is broken and is expensive to fix, I gotta do the best I can with what I've got. Sometimes that means rigging it! :P

 

Here is how I did a ratty seat repair on my truck:

 

This awful looking thing is NOT comfortable at all to sit on, especially the driver's side! It is busted on the side and sags down there and sags in the rear as well. The last owner simply had a worn out lumpy furniture pillow on it, the kind grandmas use on hard, wooden dining chairs that ties to the rails.  And yes, that is a broken spring sticking up! First thing I did is cut that off!

 

 

 

I found this "supportive" seat thing at a thrift shop for 50c, brand new with tag still on it. It had a back piece too, but I cut that off.

It is actually zip tied to the frame work in the rear and the side.

 

Had this pillow sitting around the house. Flowers are purty!  :wacko:

 

Picked up this nice, comfy and warm twin size fleece blanket from Walmart for only $5 on clearance, original price was $19.99! Seat console/cupholders were $4 at Walmart. Bought those a long time ago.

 

 

I need to do some more tucking it in, but it is pretty comfortable. And it looks a lot better than the towel I have been using for the past two years after the cheaply made seat cover I paid $30 for lasted only 5 months!

Edited March 18, 2015 by JoeCool

[Ratwagon1600]

Nashua gaffa tape for vinyl repairs, cant beat it.

 

When the springs in your seat fail, jam an empty 5 litre plastic oil container under there. Hey presto, nice springy seat again!

[shacks510]

 

Comes in any color you like.

[Figbuck]

I always thought Nashua was the hot-set-up, but I used Gorrila Tape on my 620 seat. After a year, and a summer of sitting in the sun... I'm blown away how it sticks and holds up.  :thumbup:

[JoeCool]

Well, I did use some gorilla duct tape on the splits and cracks as well, but didn't think those repairs were pretty enough for pictures! But you can see the roll on the floor in a couple of pics!

 

Today I did some pulling and tucking on the blanket to, then after getting it situated like I wanted it, cut out holes for the seat belt buckles. It looks good to me! Feels soft and comfortable too. And after sitting on it for a while I got to thinking, This feels nice, why is leather so "luxurious?" I have had a couple of cars with it, it was hot in the summer, freezing in the winter, slick and slippery, kind of hard to the touch, and not all that comfortable. And it took a lot of work and money on lotion style treatments to keep it feeling soft and looking nice too, but it still wore out anyway.  Why not make "luxurious" seats from a nice durable smooth cloth? Hell, I like the soft velour like seats in my wife's 06 Taurus a lot more than any leather I ever sat on.

 

[JoeCool]

...Yeah F$#K THAT BS!

After three months of driving around with that damn blanket sliding off the vinyl and bunching up under my back and the pillow has gotten lumpy and it slides around. Let alone the pillow makes me sit too high, I am 6'2"... I need room. Plus I think that old seat is most of why I have a funky odor in my truck, SO I AM DONE! Time for a new seat.

 

Went to LKQ pick and pull today and bought a decent looking dark burgundy bench out of a 1993 Nissan D21 Hardbody truck It is a little dirty, well nevermind, a LOT dirty! But it sits comfy! Has a couple of minor tears, but still a huge improvement over the beat to death seat in it now! When I got home I tried cleaning it with a stiff brush and carpet cleaner and the garden hose, that helped some but it is still stained. I think tomorrow I will go to the car wash and pressure wash it. Then let it dry out on the porch for a few days. At least get it mostly clean. Might have to get a cheap seat cover, I dunno. We'll see...

 

(EDIT:) I have no idea what happened to the original pic, but it's gone from my Photofukit now, so here is one I took today. This is AFTER cleaning it by pressure washing it last night, then steam cleaning it today. Turned out pretty good. Smells 100% better too! Still will probably get a seat cover as the burgundy doesn't go with my tan, beige, and black interior at all.

 

 

$30 well spent I think!  Will let everyone know later this week what modifications if any there are to fitting it.

[JoeCool]

Sort of an update...  It is taking FOREVER for the seat to dry out! It has been almost a week since I cleaned it. The seat has been sitting on my porch elevated on cinder blocks so the sun can hit it. The top of the cushion and cloth is dry, now it is flipped over so the underside of the cushioning can dry out. I guess doing all that pressure washing and steam cleaning I got it soaked! DAMMIT, I just want to get thing in my truck! Still have no idea if it will fit or if I need to change the brackets over...

[JoeCool]

Yesterday afternoon I took out the old one and pulled all the vinyl floor liner, even in the front, surprisingly not a lot of rust, NO ROTTED HOLES! Just a little surface rust. So I scraped, sanded, and painted with Rust-Oleum. The only hole I had was around the wiring coming up through the hole on the passenger side. RTV'd that up and then duct taped over that.

 

 

 

 

Today the seat went in...

 

Of course it isn't a 720 seat, so not an exact fit! Adjustments and modifications were necessary. Front holes lined up, but not the rear. So, had to drill some holes! Circle over old seat mounting hole, arrow points to new one. I wound up using new bolts with lock washers and nuts in the new holes. Stuck the old mounting bolts back in the original holes to prevent air leaks. I also had to move the jack into the corner because the seat wouldn't go back all the way.

 

 

And here is the end result...

 

 

Sits and rides better. Seems like I have more legroom too. The head rests are nice too, no more whacking my head on the glass!

[5t341tH]

^^ i got that same one but in brown. out of a toyota right?

[JoeCool]

I do need to get a seat cover to hide the rips and cigarette burns on the driver side though. Plus burgundy doesn't match my interior worth a darn.

[Twodoordime]

I need to do this in my 720. My bench seat was worthless so I put in buckets out of an izuzu, least comfortable thing I've ever ridden in now. Im going on the hunt to find a hardbody seat now.

[kb25t17]

Quick tip from a pro (no that is not me, I am just passing it on)

There is a professional upholstery repair guy for Falcon Interiors in the building where I have space. My seats are saggy but the springs were not broken. He told me to take upholstery edge wire (a standard upholster's supply item) then make it into U shaped curves and weave it cross wise back and forth through the original springs under the seat. Hog ring it in place to hold. Do a several rows of it. That will keep those original springs from gapping apart which is a lot of what is giving us that saggy bottom issue but it still allows for comfy cushioned support instead of being rigid with no flex. The cost for this repair is very low and the labor is a very much a DIY job.

[JoeCool]

One of the three previous owners of my truck had attempted that with bailing wire, but failed. It still sagged something awful. But if it was done RIGHT it would work. I was just ready to give up. I couldn't afford to pay an upholsterer to basically rebuild the seat. It was missing a huge chunk of foam on the driver side, there was a hole! 

[kb25t17]

Here is a video showing how those known by various names, never sag, no sag or often referred to as zig zag springs get installed and tensioned. This video is showing  a piece of furniture but that is OK you will be able to get the idea about using cross wires that are secured to the zig zag springs to create the proper support needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DQaLZyiPRM

 

Once you see how it should have been done you will realize it is not going to be very difficult to fix the issue. Without the tie wires going cross wise the springs gap too far apart and you get that saggy spread too wide apart springs with a gap your bottom sinks into in the center of the seat. Stitching a burlap or other strong fabric under the springs is also a good thing as it also helps keep your bottom from bottoming out. I think the original supplier of the Datsun seats cut a few corners too many on the cost of fabrication. It won't cost you a lot to add the skipped items back into the seats.

 

Anyway spread the word of this fix for the seats so it is easy to find in the different threads on seat issues.