1957 seat covers

[JimmyBird]

I ordered new foam and new seat covers for my 57. Took it to upholstery shop. i asked 3 different upholstery places. They agreed its the foam. they put the bottom on. It looked good. When they started on the back of seat problem started. Put foam on and pulled the 2 center part to tie down . Started on end of seat, foam at tie down place does not
match up with seat frame. foam is 1to 2 inches too short to tie down. Both sides that way. Anybody else have this problem? What did you do?

[MarkR]

Where did you purchase the foam? First question would be have you checked with your supplier? If you bought it from Casco, Hills or Prestige they all have restoration shops and use the foam in their restorations. They would know. No matter where you bought it call them.
The foam available today can be too thick but I’ve not heard of any being too short. Let us know what they say.

[ward 57]

When I had my seats recovered 40yrs ago I had the same issue. The seat bottom was just fine but the upholstery shop said the back foam was too thick to install. I think it was from Larry's as that was the only supplier I knew of at the time. They reluctantly took the back foam back.

[Rusty57]

Search is your friend.

https://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.net/ ... ilit=cover

I had to modify both pieces when I replaced the foam on our "57.

[55blacktie]

It's not uncommon to trim down new foam, but I've not heard of it being too short. I do, however, recall someone saying that the back was harder to upholster than the bottom.

Jimmybird, how long ago did you buy the foam and upholstery? The primary, if not exclusive manufacturer of 55-57 Tbird seat foam is in Santa Fe Springs, CA. I ordered foam from Mac's (actually owned by Eckler's), but it was shipped from Larry's, which, is in Southern California. I got no explanation, but I assumed that Mac's/Eckler's was out of stock, maybe the manufacturer as well, but Larry's had it. Had I bought it directly from Larry's, it would have cost considerably more. What's my point? I think it's highly likely that no matter whom you purchase the foam from, it's going to be the same.

[ward 57]

That is the consensus that many parts from the different retailers come from the same suppliers. But hopefully there is still enough business to keep all our suppliers in business with quality parts no matter who the supplier is, but I definitely will pay more if it is made in the good old USA and not cheaper off shore junk.

[Jimntempe]

From what I've seen listed by suppliers over the past 3 years there are at least three different versions of the foam pads. There are fully molded ones and a couple of other versions that are assembled from what appear to be glued together chunks of foam. I used the fully molded version, which not surprisingly costs more, and it had a fiberglass "back" molded into the foam to protect the foam from the springs. Mine fit pretty much ok... It's hard to judge when its the first and only baby bird you have done. When it was finished and installed my head hit the headliner and my eyes lined up with the top of the windshield. Over the next months it settled in enough that I can fit and see out of the car now. How well these foams match the original ford ones... I doubt anyone really knows at this point.

[Rusty57]

i am very confident that the replacement foam of any design these days is very different than the original.

The foam I removed had a very pronounced combination of a pyramid/honeycomb pattern in it and had a cloth binding around the perimeter. That binding was glued to the frame.

I could tell that the seat covers had been replaced but the foam was original. It was in very bad condition. It was crumbling so badly that I had to vacuum the interior every time one of us drove the car.

[1957Birdman]

Hi Rusty,
How were you able to confirm that this was the original foam? The reason I ask is that I have not seen that honeycomb on another car and it wasn’t configured that way when I reupholstered the seat on my car.
The replacement foam I got was the kind that had pieces of foam that were glued together. My biggest complaint with it was that the foam was so stiff that I could not use hog rings to attach the bolster wires to the seat springs. I needed to use ties instead. One of the problems is that the current foam is much stiffer than what Ford used originally and I definitely lost headroom with the hardtop on.
Lew Bachman
1957 Colonial White

[55blacktie]

Jimntempe, how tall are you? I want the upholstery to fit well/w no wrinkles or bunching up, which I've seen, particularly around the transmission tunnel.

[Rusty57]

Hi Lew,

Thanks for the question. The reason that I believe this is the original is because the configuration matches what is shown in the Trim and Sealant manual.

I do agree that it might not be the actual original. 65+ years is a long time for any foam to last. Even if it was a replacement it was very close to the original design and configuration. It was nothing like what is sold today.

[MarkR]

The foam on our 55 and 57 I’m 99% sure was original. It was crumbling as Rusty described but was not honeycombed.
I used Larry’s (Teamco) for the replacements. The two interiors were about 4 years apart but the same quality foam. It was superb quality and fit perfectly. Firm at first. I’m 6-1” and my head just touched the hard top. I had hair back then. Now after 10k miles and 20 years on the 55 it’s compressed to almost too flat.
I just got a text from Larry’s today and they do still make the foam they sell. My guess is our market is not large enough for more than one, maybe two manufacturers for foam so I’m sure some of our other vendors are supplied by Larry’s. Ive been told our suppliers try not to double up on reproducing parts.
I hope the O.P. Here will post his source. To have a seat back be 2” too narrow on the width L/R is a new one for me. I’ll go out on a limb here and say I doubt it’s from one of our guys.

[Jimntempe]

I bought all my interior redo stuff from Larry's including the seat foam. It is listed as TSF 57 on my invoice. My memory is that when I bought it they had at least two kinds, the glued together chunks and a formed version and they showed pictures of both. The formed that I bought was $360. Looking thru their current catalog they still have that same part number but they show no photos of it and the price is $270 and there are no options, just the one. My guess is they no longer have the formed foam and only have the glued chunks now. If it was formed you would expect them to say so.

[Jimntempe]

My foam looked the same as Rusty's with the honeycomb appearance. Based on how it was so hard it was turning to powder I believe it was the original factory foam. Someone had patched in some new foam many many years earlier along with installing new seat covers which I think had the TeamCo stamp on them. My take on what I saw was that the original foam thickness was less than the formed foam I was installing.

[Oiseau DeTonnere]

I had mine done last summer. When I removed the seat, it looked like this:

And the floor of the car after I removed it like this:

Before it had turned into a crumbly mess, the seat bottom foam was definitely a 2-layer thing with honeycomb on the bottom. The seats were almost certainly recovered at least once though, as the original color of the interior was blue.

The new foam I got from CASCO (but I still think it came from Teamco/Larry's) were single blocks for both bottom and back. It fit OK, but as others have said, it's too stiff/high. I'm not a big guy, so no problem with hitting the roof - I don't drive with it on anyway - but the space to fit my legs under the steering wheel got much tighter, and the thicker seat back foam pushes me closer to the wheel. Ordered a smaller steering wheel because of this, haven't yet put it on though because unfortunately despite being very pricey, the quality is not up to my standards... but that's another story.