1964 Cj5 - Original Seats Question

Hello all, I just recently purchased a 1964 CJ5. I don't have a lot of info on it's history but the PO did a fairly decent restoration on it several years ago. I would say he was going for an OEM restoration with the obvious exception of the interior which came out of idk what. In the truck load of parts I received with the Jeep were a pair of seats with metal coil springs. My VIN puts the build in Sept. 63 so spring seats seem right but the embossed pattern doesn't appear "pleated". I'm wanting to go back with an original material and pattern on the spring frames but searches of this forum are yielding hits where the pics are no longer active. It would be much appreciated if someone can repost what these seats should look like and have suggestions on someone making a decent seat cover kit.

Last if I can ever figure out how to upload or post photos I'll share these seats I have. They appear very original but the vinyl is unlike any I've seen anywhere. Thanks.

 

1960 frames with hobby lobby's finest covering... and some fur.

20220926_140824 by Joe with a jeep, on Flickr

 

The early ‘60s seats were generally not pleated. I’m a big fan of the original lowback seats with the tied coils springs. These are a part of the vehicle’s suspension as far as I’m concerned. Its my thought that the majority of the seats were not pleated because pleating perforates the material, allowing rainwater to soak on rather than sheet off most of the water. Just my opinion.
My ‘64 Tuxedo Park came with pleated seats (coil spring type) and the seats definitely got wet in the rain when the top was off.
-Donny

 

mine were original when I got it. There was horse hair mat in plastic under cotton padding then the vinyl of the seat. We used the original vinyl as a pattern, fixed the springs and replaced the horse hair with denim and foam. I do have an extra support bar side to side under the bottom.
Here's what I found just before the seats were re-done passenger side was original. Driver side had seen better days.
20190107_172451 by Joe with a jeep, on Flickr

 

Walacks sold really nice correct covers, they just recently closed and kaiser willys bought their entire inventory. I don't see them listed on their site yet but I bet if you email or call the have them.

I bought a full set for mine, thou I haven't mounted them yet. They have 3 pleats on the top portion. Idk if all seats had these pleats but the brochures definitely show them, so atleast some jeeps had them.

 

That's exactly what mine looked like.

 

Hello again everyone, I finally figured out how to upload pics to my media file (don't use firewalled work computer). Below are my original seats which look identical to Howards photo. So back to my original question which is - Has anyone found a source for/or recovered their seats in this psudo-basket weave black vinyl? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Update - Howard, thanks for info on SMS, I called them and they have an embossing die made which matches this pattern exactly, cost ($2023$) is $109/yd on a 54" roll. You have to call them and ask for this pattern specifically, there's no stock number and it's not listed in their catalogue. Also you can have this made in whatever color you want.

Now on to the next issue, after disassembling the old seats I will have to replace several coil and cross-link springs. Has anyone been able to find a source for the coil inner springs on these seats?

 

Just one person's experience with SMS... I ordered fabric from them one time. A good product but it took six months to a year before I received it. And communications were poor, at least in that case.

 

I thought I would provide an update on my seat restoration. Just a recap, the as found condition was what I would call decent for 59 yo seats. Drivers seat had a few broken support bars and two broken springs in the back left of the bottom cushion but otherwise little rust. That was probably due to the cover being mostly missing/torn. The passenger side was the opposite. Good covers bottom and back to make patterns from but the back was home to a mouse nest which caused most of the springs to be completely rusted and requiring replacement.

 

I was able to source replacement springs and support bars from used seats off eBay, but just a note the springs in the bottom cushion are 1/8" dia. coil and the backs are 3/32" coil, so not inter-changeable. Also the back seat coils are a different height - don't ask how a learned all this. The bottom seat cushion support rods are easy enough to replace, they are a mechanical attachment but the backs require welding (or JB Weld in my case) if you need to make any repairs to them. Also I would make sure to take pics of everything before disassembly to make sure you get the coils all threaded back to the supports correctly.

 

Another “for what its worth”, my ‘60 Willys Wagon had the same basket weave pattern in green. Some of the Wagon parts suppliers may have a line on the correct fabric.
-Donny

 

Update: Received the replacement seat material from SMS Auto Fabrics, took about 2-weeks from ordering to delivery. For two front seats I ordered 3-yds of the black basketweave and 2-yds of plain black vinyl. The basketweave pattern is an exact match to the original. I thought the cost wasn't too unreasonable, $99/yd for the basketweave and $89/yd for the plain. Seat frames are supposed to be finished this week at the metal cleaners, then off to powdercoating and trim shop to bring them all together.

 

I'm having a professional do it. My sewing skills are limited to repairing socks and reattaching buttons. Dropped off the seat frames at powder coating shop today. The metal cleaner did a great job.

 

Powder coating complete, off to the trim shop today.

 

It's taken awhile but a bit of progress to share. Passenger seat is mocked up and I think we have the padding right (combination of burlap, coco-matting, jute/cotton padding). Will hopefully be finished up next week and ready to install. Also I've been playing around with new mats made from non-woven carpet padding with a vinyl binding sewn around the edge. Installation is with stainless snaps.

 

Seat refurbishment is complete, my local shop did a great job. I still have all the original seat pattern parts so if anyone is thinking about tackling this PM me and I can loan these out or if you want to use my local shop (since they have one rep under their belt) I can also provide there contact info.