Salvageable 62 Rear Seat

[bcolvin]

After planes, trains, and automobiles I got my 62 seat from the east coast to swap in my 60. It lived in a buddies parents attic and someone else’s barn but now I finally got after a year. However, big disappointment with how crappy the condition was. Unfortunately, I can’t tell if it was the seller or neglect after but there is a ton of rust…. Especially on the seatback (the part I really wanted)

My hope is that I can salvage the parts to put head rests into the 60 seat. If I gut the 62 seat and the upper frame is good can I swap parts and make this work… or am I just screwed on this? Heres the outside. Also a bunch of the metal pan is rusted out on the bottom. Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Lead Head]

Attack it with a wire wheel and see how bad it is. Looks like it sat on a wet floor for a long time.

 

[3_puppies]

that is rough looking, nothing left of the tin carpet trim piece, I imagine underneath that is rough also.
without seeing what the inside looks like it is hard to say if it is worth trying to salvage it or not
when I took apart a 62 back seat, it was all solid and just had flash rust on it all over, but solid overall
I still have it tucked away on a top shelf

 

[bcolvin]

The bottom is totally shot. Nothing to salvage. Is it possible to cut out whatever holds the headrests in and weld those in the 60 seat?

 

[3_puppies]

The bottom is totally shot. Nothing to salvage. Is it possible to cut out whatever holds the headrests in and weld those in the 60 seat?

that is a bummer

yes it is possible to remove the guides and install on an earlier seat, it will make cense when you pull the cover and foam off to see the inside structure

 

[bcolvin]

that is a bummer

yes it is possible to remove the guides and install on an earlier seat, it will make cense when you pull the cover and foam off to see the inside structure

So you are saying there is hope! Thanks for the reply!

 

[CruiserTrash]

@bcolvin I'd skip the wire wheel idea and evaluate it like this:

Pull the carpet off the back ... if you took it to a sand blaster, is it salvageable? Just go right for the big guns.

I did this same project and I'm happy to help along the way. mine was heavily "flash rusted" as @3_puppies called it. Almost every photo I've seen of the seat backs is like that no matter what climate the truck came from. Maybe a different concoction of steel, who knows.

I will say cutting out and scabbing the headrest post receivers onto the 60 seat back would take some creativity but can probably be done. You also have to think of the rest of the seat is rusty, then those are too.

Post # 595 on my build thread gives you a good visual on the receivers. There's a couple posts right in there outlining the process that might be helpful too. Putting the upholstery back on was the hardest part by far. oh, and don't snap the tabs off the plastic receiver inserts - they snap into the metal receivers welded to the seat - otherwise they'll be loose.

 

[CruiserTrash]

And FYI the regular front headrests work in the back, which makes finding suitable ones much easier.

 

[3_puppies]

I did this same project and I'm happy to help along the way. mine was heavily "flash rusted" as @3_puppies called it. Almost every photo I've seen of the seat backs is like that no matter what climate the truck came from. Maybe a different concoction of steel, who knows.

I was wondering if somehow condensation stayed in the seat held in by the foam, carpet and fabric
it seems it was raw steel, with no paint on it also, paint would have helped, I think

I'll try and post pics later of the one I have

 

[CruiserTrash]

I was wondering if somehow condensation stayed in the seat held in by the foam, carpet and fabric
it seems it was raw steel, with no paint on it also, paint would have helped, I think

I'll try and post pics later of the one I have

You may be right - straight up mild steel, so even in a desert climate 40 years of occasional low humidity might be enough to make it rust.

I got mine sandblasted (along with some other parts) for $125, did two coats of rust preventative primer, then two topcoats of paint. Hopefully it lives another 40 years.

 

[3_puppies]

here are some pics of the seat back I have

the few that I have taken apart have looked similar

 

[bcolvin]

The 62 seat is toast. Crumbles in my hands. I’ll dig into it and see what is going on inside

 

[bcolvin]

Tore into the 62 seat back. It could be salvageable with some work. So better than I thought. It would take some Cutting and patching and drilling out a few broken bolts. The other option would be cut out the head rest holders and weld to the 60 frame. I’m leaning towards that.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Tore into the 62 seat back. It could be salvageable with some work. So better than I thought. It would take some Cutting and patching and drilling out a few broken bolts. The other option would be cut out the head rest holders and weld to the 60 frame. I’m leaning towards that.

View attachment 4195963

View attachment 4195964

View attachment 4195967

If that was the last one left in the world you could make do, but ... getting another or salvaging the brackets to weld onto your existing seat back is probably the way.

 

[bcolvin]

If that was the last one left in the world you could make do, but ... getting another or salvaging the brackets to weld onto your existing seat back is probably the way.

Just to confirm before I tear into my seats the 60 has the same bar that runs along it that those brackets could connect to. I could not find an image of the 60 frame just lots of 62’s

 

[CruiserTrash]

Just to confirm before I tear into my seats the 60 has the same bar that runs along it that those brackets could connect to. I could not find an image of the 60 frame just lots of 62’s

Check my link up above to the post in my build thread, there's a photo of a 60 seat there.

My 1982 seat had big springs inside - in other words lots of spring and a thinner layer of padding versus the 62 seat with no springs and only thick padding. Getting those out is going to be a real pain though. There's also a rod that goes from left to right and connects to the handles on the upper side of the seat where it latches - flip up just the left handle and the rod makes the handle on the other side flip up too so you can fold the seat back down. That rod runs right on top of the round bar where the headrest receivers would weld to, and it needs some space so it can rotate freely as well as for padding so it isn't inside the seat making annoying noises. In the photo you can see some loose pieces of padding under the springs - those ran left to right for the rod and were held down with pressure from the rod and maybe a little glue from the factory. Just make sure you weld the receivers in such a way as to leave space for that. You can do this transfer/welding idea but it's gonna be a bit of a minefield.

Before cutting the headrest receivers off the 62 seat, I would measure exactly where they're located as well as the angle of the tilt on the round bar, that way you can replicate it with jigs and magnets before welding.

By the way I still have that 60 seat back in the photo above, it's just sitting at my shop taking up space. If you need a practice one and want to come get it from Denver (or know somebody coming down this way, Dale, Ash, Kris, etc), it's all yours.

My final $0.02 is that the early seat backs with the springs and a thinner layer of padding are MUCH more comfortable than the later seat backs that only have thick, dense padding. If you pull this off and keep the early seat back with the springs, it'll be the best of all worlds.

 

[bcolvin]

Check my link up above to the post in my build thread, there's a photo of a 60 seat there.

View attachment 4196790

My 1982 seat had big springs inside - in other words lots of spring and a thinner layer of padding versus the 62 seat with no springs and only thick padding. Getting those out is going to be a real pain though. There's also a rod that goes from left to right and connects to the handles on the upper side of the seat where it latches - flip up just the left handle and the rod makes the handle on the other side flip up too so you can fold the seat back down. That rod runs right on top of the round bar where the headrest receivers would weld to, and it needs some space so it can rotate freely as well as for padding so it isn't inside the seat making annoying noises. In the photo you can see some loose pieces of padding under the springs - those ran left to right for the rod and were held down with pressure from the rod and maybe a little glue from the factory. Just make sure you weld the receivers in such a way as to leave space for that. You can do this transfer/welding idea but it's gonna be a bit of a minefield.

Before cutting the headrest receivers off the 62 seat, I would measure exactly where they're located as well as the angle of the tilt on the round bar, that way you can replicate it with jigs and magnets before welding.

By the way I still have that 60 seat back in the photo above, it's just sitting at my shop taking up space. If you need a practice one and want to come get it from Denver (or know somebody coming down this way, Dale, Ash, Kris, etc), it's all yours.

My final $0.02 is that the early seat backs with the springs and a thinner layer of padding are MUCH more comfortable than the later seat backs that only have thick, dense padding. If you pull this off and keep the early seat back with the springs, it'll be the best of all worlds.

Holy smokes! I looked at that picture and for some reason thought that was the bottom of the seat with all those springs . This will get interesting fast. I’m going to do some head scratching before jumping in.

I appreciate the offer on the seat frame. I may take you up on it once I start tackling this job! Thanks a bunch!