65 seat judging question

[William S.]

I am in the process of installing new seat covers on my 65. I was curious as to what types of things a judge will look for during Flight judging. For instance, do they look under the seat to see if there is burlap, number of S clips, etc.?

Thanks for your input.

[James W.]

Re: 65 seat judging question

Bill,
I look for presence of the burlap; color of the seat frame which I might add is different than the seat track color. I would look for the presence of the 3 or 4 springs that attach to the seat bottom frame and attach to the seat support springs. I also look at how the seat material has been installed over the seat foam, such as does the piping follow the outer edge of the seat foam on the seat bottom and the back. Sometimes the covers are not properly heated (steamed) to stretch them over the new seat foam. Also look for the shape of the seats. Did the installer properly pull the seat cover down tight enough to give the seat some shape or contour on the seat bottom surfaces and on the back seating surfaces? I know there are members on here that can explain it better than I have.


Regards,

James West

[Gene M.]

Re: 65 seat judging question

I am in the process of installing new seat covers on my 65. I was curious as to what types of things a judge will look for during Flight judging. For instance, do they look under the seat to see if there is burlap, number of S clips, etc.?

Thanks for your input.

Under the seat don't forget about the metal seat ID tag attached to one of the springs.

[James W.]

Re: 65 seat judging question

See photos of the tags on the seat frame springs that Gene referenced.

[Michael H.]

Re: 65 seat judging question

Bill,
I look for presence of the burlap; color of the seat frame which I might add is different than the seat track color. I would look for the presence of the 3 or 4 springs that attach to the seat bottom frame and attach to the seat support springs. I also look at how the seat material has been installed over the seat foam, such as does the piping follow the outer edge of the seat foam on the seat bottom and the back. Sometimes the covers are not properly heated (steamed) to stretch them over the new seat foam. Also look for the shape of the seats. Did the installer properly pull the seat cover down tight enough to give the seat some shape or contour on the seat bottom surfaces and on the back seating surfaces? I know there are members on here that can explain it better than I have.


Regards,

James West

James,

How is the color of the seat frame different from the seat track color? I thought they were both semi-gloss black. (By "seat frame," I assume you're referring to the seat base to which the horizontal seat springs are attached. By "seat track," I assume you're referring to the elongated pieces with the tubular sliding piece that inserts into the frame, slides back and forth, and is bolted to the floorboard.) Are these two pieces different shades of black? By the way, on a '65, can these two pieces be separated without breaking a weld? Thanks.

Mike H.

[William S.]

Re: 65 seat judging question

Thanks to everyone for their comments.

To James, my Judging Guide states that the seat frame is gloss black and the tracks are black. Does that mean that the two are different? If so,
how?

To Gene, I do have the metal ID tags.

To Michael, yes the two can be separated without breaking any welds. Check out the free Corvette America video.

[James W.]

Re: 65 seat judging question

Bill,

Yes the seat frames are gloss black and if I was told correctly the seat tracks are a semi-gloss/semi-flat black. I would lean more towards the original Krylon semi-gloss sheen. I believe the new 1965 TIJG will have this information in it. A good source to contact for upcoming '65 judging manual question would be Mike Murray and or Tony Stein. They have both been very involved in the long overdue re-write of the manual.


Regards,

James

[James W.]

Re: 65 seat judging question

Mike,

The seat frames both bottom and back are gloss black. The seat tracks which are what the frames slide back and forth on are a semi-gloss/semi-flat black. I would go with the original Krylon semi-gloss sheen.

The seat tracks can be separated from the seat frame for cleaning and rebuilding if required without breaking any welds. I have attached some pictures of the seat tracks that I removed from the frames on my '65. There is a video by Corvette America that shows how to disassemble the seats. This will give you a good starting point for the seat frame and track disassembly and is easier than me trying to explain it to you here on the TDB. I will tell you that I did not replace the seat track bushings with the repro the are currently being sold. The wire gauge is lighter than the originals. I went to my local Ace Hardware and sourced a spring that was closer to the original wire gauge and cut it to length or if your seats do not have a lot of back and forth rocking motion just reuse your originals. Here's the link to the video.

http://www.corvetteamerica.com/video/65_67scInstall/

I've attached a few pictures of my seat tracks after disassembly and cleaning.

Regards,

James West

James,

How is the color of the seat frame different from the seat track color? I thought they were both semi-gloss black. (By "seat frame," I assume you're referring to the seat base to which the horizontal seat springs are attached. By "seat track," I assume you're referring to the elongated pieces with the tubular sliding piece that inserts into the frame, slides back and forth, and is bolted to the floorboard.) Are these two pieces different shades of black? By the way, on a '65, can these two pieces be separated without breaking a weld? Thanks.

Mike H.