MTFCA Forum

So I’m looking at making my own cushion for my delivery car. I’m doing a little upgrade from the basic piece of foam and planning on incorporating a set of springs. I went to the auction on Saturday and looked at the seat cushion in the 11 mother in law that sold and liked the idea and thought that it was something that I could do. Question is on the underside of the seat there are these metal channels that hold the springs and the channels are fastened to a wood framework. Any idea where to get those channels? Is it something that an upholstery shop carries? How are the springs attached to the channels?
Thanks!

Snyders sells them complete. I believe they manufacture them, so, you might be able to get a custom set made if they don't have what you need.

That is not a good seat spring assembly. It relies solely on the hessian top cover to hold the springs in place. A properly assembled seat spring base has the springs held/tied to each other so that when one sits on it, the load is spread over more than a couple of springs. A Snyders spring seat assembly is the easiest and likely best way to go. Make a wooden rectangle to fix it to. Saw a rebate in the bottom of the base and tack the hessian cover and the upholstery into the rebate and the job is done. Most of our colonial bodies had the seat bases made in this manner.

Allan from down under.

Allan wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 24, 2025 3:01 am

That is not a good seat spring assembly. It relies solely on the hessian top cover to hold the springs in place. A properly assembled seat spring base has the springs held/tied to each other so that when one sits on it, the load is spread over more than a couple of springs. A Snyders spring seat assembly is the easiest and likely best way to go. Make a wooden rectangle to fix it to. Saw a rebate in the bottom of the base and tack the hessian cover and the upholstery into the rebate and the job is done. Most of our colonial bodies had the seat bases made in this manner.

Allan from down under.

Allan,
Yes I saw that too. I wouldn’t be doing that. I’m looking for the info about those channels on the bottom.

Best to use Snyder's as they can make any coil spring set for you. Just provide dimensions of the overall coil spring base you need, be sure to note for seat cushion use, as they use stiffer coils. I got a custom backrest spring for my aftermarket T touring body, was made very well.


Did straighten the spring coil stacks that were leaning, and then reinforced the original seat cushion spring back to shape, with cross laces on the upper sets of coils, that was a chore using music wire, that wire is very stiff and very hard to twist and tie .

BTW, the coil springs are crimped into the channel, the channel has folded edges to insert one edge of the coil. Then crimp with pliers.

Here is the seat that was made by the upholsterer for our ‘12 Pickup.

I have just dis mantled a seat spring base for rebuilding. There are 32 springs, all fixed to wires at the base and clipped to wires on the top. The cross wires are also tied to each other. That way the spring assembly takes the load. The cover plays no role in keeping the assembly in place. It just provides the padding.

Allan from down under.

Ed Fuller wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 24, 2025 5:22 pm

Here is the seat that was made by the upholsterer for our ‘12 Pickup.

IMG_8423.jpeg

IMG_8421.jpeg

That’s a very nice looking seat.

Ed Fuller wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 24, 2025 5:22 pm

Here is the seat that was made by the upholsterer for our ‘12 Pickup.

IMG_8423.jpeg

IMG_8421.jpeg

Ed, yes! I was just over at Snyder’s today I talked with the guy who makes the seat springs, and then I went to look at the cars in the building across the road. I spoke with the guy who did a lot of the restoration work on them and he showed me the 10 coupe seat springs and a 11 seat spring that he did. I’m planning on making a wooden frame work and incorporating some springs. The issue for me is I have 4 body irons that are in the way on the seat section and using a wood framework will allow me to notch for those sections. Here’s the seat section on my 12 and the seats I saw at Snyders.