Redoing Bench seat/1952 Dodge 1/2 ton truck

[NobbyofTexas]

I am been unable to find any posts on redoing the bench seats on a 1952 Dodge 1/2 ton pickup, B series. I did find one on headliners but nothing on seats or door panels.

Anyone have suggestions for redoing the seats and door panels, any photos, or advice....

Any help/advice certainly appreciated.

Gary

Miami Texas

[ggdad1951]

I took mine to a local upholster and they just finished them, I'll pick up the seat and back this weekend.

Edited March 12, 2012 by ggdad1951

[Boss Hog]

Mine also went to a local Auto/Boat Upholster. The seats were in poor shape, rodents did a job on them. We had not only the seat and back upholstered, also the kick panels, door panels, arm rest and sun visor..looks good and not very expensive. I will try to attach a photo.

[NobbyofTexas]

looks good, made the old truck look new again.

Gary

Miami Texas

[NobbyofTexas]

Lack of money and needing too many things at once is making me want to do it myself.

Gary

Miami Texas

[pflaming]

I've been looking at mine for a few weeks now. I reversed it and 'reattached' it. If you have the old covers, I do not think it would be too difficult to carefully take them apart at the seams, use them for patterns and do your own. The biggest challenge would probably be the sewing machine, may need a commercial one. Maybe an upholsterer would sew it together for you.

[JBNeal]

Upholstery is a skill that I know about but there are enough tools & materials involved that I do not have that makes me not want to learn that skill. I had the seats in the 1 ton redone for less than $100 as the upholstery shop just happened to have material that was very close to what I wanted, and they knocked it out in a few days. I think it was gonna cost me over $100 to get all of the tools and the materials, so it was a no-brainer to let the pro do it.

[NobbyofTexas]

Thank you

Gary

Miami Texas

[NobbyofTexas]

Thank you very much,

Gary

Miami Texas

[B1B Keven]

Gary, I'm lookin' at the seat pad kit from Roberts and one of these covers:

http://www.seatcovers.net/two_tone_seat_covers.html

They make a 50 inch bench seat cover listed under 'Dodge, full size pickup, 1948.

[Dodgeb4ya]

I did my own seat in my 52 Dodge. It had the cardboard seat bottom torn up as was the top cushion and cover. I went down to the wholesale upholstry supply and bought good quality materials- 1" cotton batting, gin cloth, burlap, some OE dodge truck upholstry "C" clips to fasten the cover to the frame, and lastly some H-Duty truck grade embossed brown vinyl cover material. I sewed up the welting in black for a more custom look with black vinyl. I have a industrial Phaff sewing machine that I use for all my car and truck upholstry work-it will sew through plywood.

The hardest part was carefully cutting the seat frame apart to replace the card board on the underside of the lower seat cushion. It was an air seat cushion and it needs to be pretty air tight. I replaced the cheaper cardboard with 1/4" mahogany plywood and welded the seat frame back together exactly as it was. Then sewed the covers up.

Get on YouTube and look at upholstry video's and get a Auto upholstry book and you will see vid's on how to sew. Then go for it! I assume you have a good enough machine?

Some pic's.. of another dodge seat re-do.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Dodgeb4ya

[Jerry Roberts]

I did the seat in my 1941 using Roberts seat kit . I also looked high and low for helpful information and found a good chapter in Don Bunn's book Dodge Pickups History and Restoration Guide 1918 - 1971 .

[Young Ed]

For anyone trying to do it themselves the C clips are available new from au ve co.

[pflaming]

That two-toned interior is IMPRESSIVE! WOW!

[MBF]

I did mine myself. Like the rest of the vehicle it isn't perfect, but it looks good. For the door panels and interior (headliner, door panels, rear cab surround) I used 1/4" luan as a backer, and using an industrial contact cement I used a cloth backed vinyl that my wife found at a fabric store. The biggest problem was making the patterns, but I believe that someone here has patterns for sale. I dynamatted the firewall and roof, and used a double foiled back plastic insulation from Lowes for the back of the cab. For the seat covers I bought a set of seat covers at our truck show in Macungie PA several years ago. I was told they were for a PH Dodge. Turns out they were from an IH! I removed the newly made covers from the IH frames, and my covers from my frames to make the swap. I put 1" foam (from the same fabric shop) on the seat and backrest portion prior to installing the covers. These were attached by the c clips to the springs. Go for it. Mike

Edited March 13, 2012 by MBFowler

[Dan Babb]

Dodgeb4ya,

who's interior headliner kit is that in your truck?

Would love to hear what you did to make it look that good.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Dan,

I made up the headliner out of expanded metal formed to fit the shape of the cab and then glued the foam cloth headlining material (After sewing on black edge binding) to the preformed mesh. I then covered the mesh with plastic to prevent water sweating onto the headliner. The four sections are copies of the original pieces and mount with the factory snap in clips into the stock hloes. It also acts as a good sound deadner. Can be removed in a few minutes if required.

About $100.00 in materials.

Bob

Edited March 14, 2012 by Dodgeb4ya

[Rusty O'Toole]

I have a suggestion for cheap upholstery, I hope you do not think this is too crude. I did this in the early 80s on a 59 Ford pickup and it came out great.

The original seat had been replaced by ill fitting buckets (*bleah*). The only correct seat I could find was out of an old dump truck and was completely beat, it had been sitting with the windows open and the upholstery was beat right off it.

Not having any money or time, I went junkyard shopping. I found a back seat out of a mid 70s Ford sedan was the closest in size and shape. Back seats are easy to take out, and have a lot less wear than front seats. It looked brand new.

I bought the seat for $20 bucks and took it home. Took it apart, put the foam rubber on the truck seat springs, and fitted the cloth cover. I had to stick a little extra padding in here and there to get it to fit, but once I hog ringed the cover to the frame it was fine.

PS cover the springs with a couple of layers of burlap so the springs don't wear thru the foam rubber.

In the truck it looked surprisingly good and was very comfortable. The truck was black and the seat was red. You would never have known the upholstery was not made for it.

I'm not saying this is for everybody, but if you are worn slick with expenses and want to get your truck on the road, this is a way to do it. It takes no special tools but a pair of hog ring pliers. You have to go through the pick a part with a tape measure till you get a rear seat as close as possible to yours in size and shape. Don't be in a hurry and don't be afraid to remove hog rings and readjust the cover until it fits as neatly as possible and you will be impressed by the results.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Rusty O'Toole

[50B2B]

I’ve got the upholstery part of my rebuilding covered but what about the moving parts under the seat? I haven’t found any diagrams or replacement parts in any of the usual places…it’s a 1950 Dodge B2B

[Los_Control]

Just now, 50B2B said:

I’ve got the upholstery part of my rebuilding covered but what about the moving parts under the seat? I haven’t found any diagrams or replacement parts in any of the usual places…it’s a 1950 Dodge B2B

Just curious what you have now?

Here is a view of a lower seat section for your truck ...

 

 

This sits on top of a pedestal that is brazed to the floor.

 

Just hard to offer any advice without knowing where you are starting from.

[50B2B]

The pedestal is in place in the truck.  The seat was taken out and set aside.  I believe the pieces in the picture belong w the seat but not sure and, if they are, I have no idea how to re-assemble.

I had a mechanic working on it at his shop & then he died unexpectedly & I had basically 24 hours to go move my truck & any pieces I could find and get them all back to my house.  Now, 5 yrs later, I’m trying to get it worked on again.

[50B2B]

F

[50B2B]

Well, now that I look at the underside, it might just be intact and just needs to get bolted to the pedestal.  Lol I might have gotten lucky!

[Los_Control]

I'm thinking that is all you need with your photos.

Naturally you want to spray with oil all moving pieces before installing. 

[Merle Coggins]

The photo of a pile of sliding tracks does not belong with your truck. They are from something else. As stated earlier, everything is there on the seat frame. The angled pieces at each end, with 2 holes each, bolt into the front and rear of the seat pedestal. I couldn't find any pictures in my photo collection that show it well, but it'll make sense once you set the frame into the cab. Remove the cushions from the frame and then set the frame into the cab, onto the pedestal. The angle brackets should slip inside the pedestal and line up with matching holes. As I recall you'll need 5/16" by about 1 inch long bolts to attach it. Then you can reinstall the cushions and you're ready to cruise.