Seat Cushion, '38 Mode 46

Hi guys,

New to the forum, I just brought my 1938 model 46 home a few weeks ago. It's a mostly original car with 52,000 miles on it. The motor has been rebuilt and it needs a paint job (rust free though!), and the interior is in great shape. Except for the seat cushion. The upholstery is fine, but the padding is shot.

I had a '41 Ford that was the same way. With that car, I was able to remove the fabric from the seat, add my foam, and then use a piece of muslin over the foam to pull everything tight. With the muslin stapled in place the original fabric had more of a "slip cover" role and the 70+ year old fabric wasn't too stressed.

Soo, I'd like to try the same thing with this car, but am not sure of how to remove the hinged seat back cushions. I have the Fisher Body "Manual of Construction and Service" which helped me get the seat out of the car, but now I'm stumped.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Tom

Tom, I sent you a private message with notes on my experience with my '37 model 46 but for some reason it wouldn't let me attach extra pictures to the message. Here are a few to go along with the link I sent.

-Chris

Thanks for the pictures Chris. Cool story about your '37 too.

Itstom, Chris,

I and others on the forum would like to see the response to this question but the pictures are great. Please share the response.

I have a related question myself. I have a 1936 Buick Model 46 Coupe and it appears from the photos that my seats are same/similar to yours. My question is about the seat cushion bottom. What holds this cushion in place on the seat frame? Looks like evidence of wear on the mating wood surfaces of the cushion bottom and the base upper side as if some sort of clip was there on left and right but I have no such clip. And there are no empty screw holes like the clip has been lost. Is it possible that a squared off "S" shaped clip should be there to hold the seat from slipping forward?

Hi Keith,

Basically you have to remove all of the vinyl to reveal where the fabric (in my case bedford cord) attaches to the seat frame. The clip that holds the cushion to the frame is called a "hog ring". It is a C-shaped metal piece that is crimped together using a hog ring pliers. Here is the text from my original message:

Hi, for my '37 Buick the seat backs simply unbolt from the bench frame. From there I had to remove all of the vinyl that wraps around back to get to the seat cushion area. I believe the bedford cord is tacked to the seat frame and then the vinyl tacked over top. It's been so long since I did it! I wrote up a description of my procedure on my website. Here is the link: http://cargeekjournal.com/1937-buick/60/

Also, check out this video from Lebaron Bonney.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ntlunQRzlkU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So Chris, I'm still trying to get my head around how this is assembled. When you reassemble the seat, the movable backs are attached at their center and side pivots first, before the bottom seat cushion is in place? Then I take the bottom section, with the wrapped coils, and add it to this sub-assembly? The last step would be to attach the coils to the bottom of the frame with hog rings and then tack the fabric to the wood frame. Any pictures with the backs attached but no bottom cushion in place?

Thanks!

Tom

Tom, the lower seat rails/frame are attached to the floor. This assembly can slide forward and back. The two seat backs are bolted to this frame. The bench seat cushion is removable and this is how you would gain access to the battery & master cylinder - but sliding the cushion from the frame.

I have several photos of the backs assembled on the frame but I can't get them to load using my phone. If you give me your email I can email them to you, otherwise I won't have access to a desktop computer until Tuesday. The pictures are truly worth 1000 words :-)

<a href="http://s28.photobucket.com/user/houncer/media/4F464191-8B0A-4316-987E-A1E6626C3898_zpsdvz5kvvh.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c219/houncer/4F464191-8B0A-4316-987E-A1E6626C3898_zpsdvz5kvvh.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 4F464191-8B0A-4316-987E-A1E6626C3898_zpsdvz5kvvh.jpg"/></a>

As you can see, i figured out the image uploading thing. There are the seat backs installed on the seat frame with no lower cushion. Hope it helps!

Chris, that picture was just what I needed. And my brain cramp eased when you mentioned needing access to the battery. My car is a '38 so that access is not needed, so my bottom cushion doesn't just pop out like yours. I'll pull some more tacks and see what I can see. That picture helps me visualize the basic frame, which hopefully didn't change much.

Thanks for taking the time to answer this, much appreciated!

I gather that a 36 Coupe seat is different from a 37 or 38 Coupe seat. The photo posted on this thread shows a seat assy with the two upholstered seat backs and the "base frame" I will call it. And the video first segment shows the upholstery of the seat cushion bottom that would install onto the "base frame". My question is how does the seat bottom cushion assy stay in position on the base? Is there a clip or latch of some sort that I do not have?

Keith, the seat bottom on my '37 rests behind a lip on the base frame. To remove it you have to sort of pull up and wiggle the seat and it pops free.

Ok thanks Chris. Mine doesn't have a lip to retain it but I see worn marks where something was there at one time. This isn't complicated, I will come up with something that will work.