Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Years.
As part of my 66's restoration, I'm now in the middle of restoring the seats. The process has been fun and informative. Read a number of prior posts on the topic and was wondering if there has been any new information on the topic of replacing the "bushing springs".
I've read in the Archives where some have used Century Spring Corporation part #157. [I believe this may also be the same spring that the corvette part suppliers are selling but can't say for sure since I have not personally looked at one.] Part #157 is incorrect in its dimensions as a replacement for the original spring. It is 1/4"OD x 3 1/4" long x .025 wire. As pointed out in previous discussions on the topic, the original is approximately ".021" x 2" long". My original springs, as you can see from the photos, are slightly longer, and the key for purposes of this discussion, are .05 wire.
In my opinion, and I don't claim to be an expert, just a weekend warrior, if you replace the original spring with .025 wire, your liable to run into problems in regard to the longevity of the spring.
I recently spoke to James Paisley, Key Account Saleman for Century Spring and one of their engineers, Adrian Yusuf (sp?) regarding part # 157. They confirmed my concern regarding part #157, provided me with the load capacity of the spring, and opined that it would be inadequate for my intended purpose.
On a positive note, I think, Century Spring is quite capable of making a spring that is identical to the original spring.
However, the cost, as you might imagine, is rather high.
I'm curious to know what other members, who have tackled this problem, have done in replacing the springs? Does anyone know what the corvette part suppliers springs are like? Any information on this topic would be helpful.
Hector
As part of my 66's restoration, I'm now in the middle of restoring the seats. The process has been fun and informative. Read a number of prior posts on the topic and was wondering if there has been any new information on the topic of replacing the "bushing springs".
I've read in the Archives where some have used Century Spring Corporation part #157. [I believe this may also be the same spring that the corvette part suppliers are selling but can't say for sure since I have not personally looked at one.] Part #157 is incorrect in its dimensions as a replacement for the original spring. It is 1/4"OD x 3 1/4" long x .025 wire. As pointed out in previous discussions on the topic, the original is approximately ".021" x 2" long". My original springs, as you can see from the photos, are slightly longer, and the key for purposes of this discussion, are .05 wire.
In my opinion, and I don't claim to be an expert, just a weekend warrior, if you replace the original spring with .025 wire, your liable to run into problems in regard to the longevity of the spring.
I recently spoke to James Paisley, Key Account Saleman for Century Spring and one of their engineers, Adrian Yusuf (sp?) regarding part # 157. They confirmed my concern regarding part #157, provided me with the load capacity of the spring, and opined that it would be inadequate for my intended purpose.
On a positive note, I think, Century Spring is quite capable of making a spring that is identical to the original spring.
However, the cost, as you might imagine, is rather high. I'm curious to know what other members, who have tackled this problem, have done in replacing the springs? Does anyone know what the corvette part suppliers springs are like? Any information on this topic would be helpful.
Hector
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