Biohazard

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Takin a break from this. Road trip to/thru Montana.
I did order a full carpet kit and it's supposed to be here before I return.
This way, I can move forward simultaneously with the interior trim and the upholstery.
 
One other option for the smell is a good detail shop should have an ozone generator they do wonders and kill most anything it will de-mouse or mold in a days time
 
Spotted in Rock Springs, WY.


All hail Off Topic Time with another Lil' Red Express Truck sighting from a few months ago. Looked to be a tribute built on a 1981-82 D150. Snapped the photo next to the only Pep Boys Speed Shop in town too.

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Nothing against these trucks, but I can't quite get used to the muscle car-sized 60 and 65-series tires fitted on them from factory. Looks too small in overall diameter for the wheel arches. The clone seems to get the look a heck of a lot better, IMO; non-original wheels notwithstanding.

-Kurt
 
Montana was awesome. Back to work, now.

Never got any further with the seat cushion than what I already posted so that'll be up first.
Meanwhile, my complete carpet set came in so I can get some of the pieces for the cargo area glued down.
 
Turns out burlap and batting IS the best way to skin this cat if you want the final product to look nice. I'm all in. Here's the batting all layered out between my laundered burlap. ( I did give up on using the burlap that came in my kit).



Then, weave in some hemp cord with an upholstery needle from Wally World.



Needed a heavy glove to help push the needle thru the batting.



Batting mat completed, I just laid down the vinyl, face down, and started stacking the stuffing and spring base in and pulled it all tight, tucking the batting where needed and folding the flap I cut behind the fish panel so it wouldn't interfere with the release lever. Put my full weight on the back panel while racking down the edges of the vinyl. Had to mock this up - couldn't wait:

 
Just so you know those 1" spaced wires laced thru the burlap were spring steel.
The reason they are used over the coil springs is to spread the load across the
seat. They are meant to spring back to straight once a person leaves the seat.
The only reason the factory used burlap was cost and a carry over from a time
before the age of synthetics. If you wanted to you could use a polyester marine canvas
such as Top Gun that eliminates all the negative properties of an organic.
You can also get paper coated wire new. It is spring steel made for seat rebuilding.
If you wanted to seal the paper just soak them in some thined paint for awhile pull them out and let dry.
You can replace the cotton with foam also and you would have a choice on the density.
When building seating from scratch it is desirable from a comfort perspective to stage the
foam. First layer very dense so you can't feel the springs. Second layer medium density.
For a car seat you would not need any soft foam like a couch would have.
The vinyl seat covers are much to rugged for the top layer of comfort foam to be of use.
Looks like you are figuring it out. I like the red covers.
 
That's a good description of the thin wire function. There are none of those in the upper rear seat but they are in the rear bottom and both parts of the buckets.

I can explain why cotton batting and burlap (or any loose woven fabric) is the right way for this particular piece but it's not really relevant at this point since the piece is stuffed and wrapped.

I never dug deep into the bench seat kit until I actually started working with the burlap and batting but it actually includes a fair amount of that paper coated wire which I will have to have for the bottom cushion.

Feels good having such a large piece of progress on my bench but there's still quite a bit more to do on this particular piece.

 
Notice that one corner piece is not installed. Mine has a decent ding innit and I am hoping to find a nicer one.

This is the one I want to replace



 
Nice work Dan!

Rear seat back looks good!

Another source for the weave wires for the front buckets is those little flag markers used by the utility surveyors to mark unground services. They have the same spring steel properties as the original stuff! Just a thought.

Keep it moving!
 
Notice that one corner piece is not installed. Mine has a decent ding innit and I am hoping to find a nicer one.

This is the one I want to replace




The wife would hammer that out and a little sanding and buffing, good as new. :cheers:

I might have some of those pieces if you don't fix or find anything else.
 
Brilliant, Gerald! And those should be at Lowe's or such - pretty easy. I doubt they would be long enough for the rear bench but definitely enough for the buckets.

I'm hoping to get some more carpet glued down tomorrow, maybe some more paint work on the interior trim panels.
 
I will try to fix it up if I can't find a replacement - obviously I'd have no choice. But when you're polishing screw heads, you clearly seek the best ;)
 
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