g741.org

Excellent! Thanks for the help. Now I just need to find the time to act on what I've learned!

We are actually buried in M37's now, but it's great having 2 in the Shop for comparison purposes. I'm looking forward to some more dyno runs when we have the visiting M finished.

Don't know why I didn't think of this one before, but a domed push nut (also referred to as an axle nut) is a reasonably close alternative for the 18 rope anchors or "bobbins" on the underside of the seat board. It would need to have a hole drilled through the center for the mounting screw, but it would certainly function like the original. These are available through the usual sources such as McMaster-Carr, but can also sometimes be found in the hardware racks at Home Depot, Lowes, or Menards.

Elwood..........that's genius! I knew I had seen the shape before. Most of the normal hardware stores will have them in the specialty hardware section in those little pull out drawers. They're called "Push Nuts" or "Axle Caps".

regards,
bob

Fantastic Pics !

Thanks so much, this is the first time I've seen one in it's original condition.

Hi Folks,

I took my drivers seat out the other weekend and purchased my own canvas, HD Foam, & burlap.

I then started cleaning up the seats and discovered that the original materials were deployed in 3 layers.

Burlap, Animal hair, and cotton wadding.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater

Upon closer inspection, the animal hair has the same texture as Felt.
This is important given the Metal Springs.
Someone had previously put in HD foam and it broke down due to the constant compression.

I'm headed out to buy some 3/4" Felt ....

Just installed high quality, new canvas and high density foam from Wee-Bee Webbing on all the seat cushions.
Old springs were in poor shape. Un-clipped the springs from the frames.
Sand blasted, primed and painted the frames.
Laced on the covers. Looks great.
No more loose springs poking through the canvas and into my butt.
Looks pretty spiffy and has a nice firm ride.
I love the smell of OD canvas in the morning.

Jerry

m37jarhead wrote: I love the smell of OD canvas in the morning.

Jerry

Me too.

Having gone down the same path here I'll throw in my two cents. I went to Lowes and looked in their specialty parts section where the hardware is. For the bobbins I discovered washered nuts. They look almost identical and will serve the purpose well. Of course they didn't have the quantity I needed so I made note of the size, 1/4 20. A little googling and I found the metric equivalent to be M6-1.0.

https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-8373-700-270.aspx



I was able to find them on Amazon. A box of 25 was $15.57.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033 ... S690VEVQYI

My wood was in OK shape, but since I overdid it on everything else I figured why stop here. I picked up some 1/2" birch wood, took the old board and screwed it to the new one so it wouldn't move. Then I used the existing holes as a pilot to guide my drill bit to drill the new ones. I traced the shape of the board and then used a reciprocating saw to cut out the shape. It looked like I used a pair of kid's scissors because the blade kept bending, so in hind sight I should have used a router. A little sanding and it evened out.

For the holes that the metal dowel goes through I took a 2" washer and a metal spacer and TIG welded them together. The metal spacer was 1" long so I cut it in half to get the two 1/2" pieces I needed.
All I need to do at this point is order the latch mechanism from Vintage and paint it 24087. Then on to the driver's seat!

As a funny side note I had no idea what those bobbins were even before until I got to this thread! Thanks to w30bob for posting the pics.

OK I'm stumped and have a question. So I finally got all the hardware needed to put the bench seat bottom together. After successfully lacing up the 1/4" rope and really prying the crap out of the canvas to stretch over the wood it was done, but then I realized that the relief notch in the wood did not correspond to where the relief notch in the canvas was. There was considerable strain on the fabric which made me think it would eventually rip so I took it apart.

Here's the way I had it laced up prior to pulling it tight:
There you can kind of see the two indentations on the right, and that they are not lined up. It would seem that the indentation in the fabric should match up to the indentation in the wood.

I started flipping the wood around trying to figure out if I had the orientation wrong. Then I thought maybe the fabric was inside out, but that's not the case because then the seam would be showing. I took a step back and started with just the wood. Is the orientation here correct?
If that's correct (which I think it is), then why does it not line up to the fabric?
Am I missing something here? I can't seem to find any illustrations in the TM's about it. They reference the seats but only in text. I went to take a look at another truck but the guy didn't have the heavy canvas material with grommets, just a lighter fabric stapled to the wood so it was hard to pull any info from it. His wood was oriented the same as mine.

Any more pics or ideas you guys might have would really help. I am kind of at a standstill here. Thanks!

Is it a possibility that the seat base is reversed, like upside down? No I guess that is not the issue? Where did you get your base, from a template or original base, how about your canvas, what supplier for that?

The wood seems original and had the hardware and stenciling. I used it as a stencil and created a new one from it. The canvas.. I can't quite recall where I got that from. I suppose it's possible that it's for something else? I'd love to see a photo of someone else's seat from the top installed.

I looked around for my pics, mia so far.

Passenger side back

Yah see yours fits just fine, the fabric is in the correct position to meet the notch. Maybe I have the wrong fabric? Dang, I was hoping to not have to buy this again. Thanks for posting Bruce.

My canvas came from Wee-Bee Webbing, David Perferaztto (sp) He might be able to help you out?