1972 A body bucket seat covers on other year foams

[ethan santin]

Hey there FABO,

Just got my black 72 a body bucket covers in and am starting to figure out that the foams for the 72 seat frames are hard to source as the 72 seat frames require a unique foam design. Was wondering if anyone on here has successfully mounted 70 or 71 foams on 72 seat frames and coved them with 72 seat covers.

I have asked my local upholstery places if they could cut custom foams for me and they all said no and recommended using my existing foams (which are in pretty bad shape). If any of you have had the same issue im having and have come up with different solutions, i would love to hear about them.
Thank you for reading, have a good one.

Ethan

 

[RAT ROD AL]

Do you have any pics of your 72 frames ?

 

[ethan santin]

no, the old seat covers and foams are on them

Do you have any pics of your 72 frames ?

 

[j_anderson]

You would need to install the 70/71 seat back springs onto your 72 frames to use the 70/71 foams.

72 foams have the seat back spring basket molded into the foam where the 70/71 seat back has springs mounted to the seat frame itself and then the foam is installed over the frame assembly.

here is a 70/71 frame

Spring kits are available too if you can get them attached to your 72 frame but your frame would need provisions to clamp the spring assembly to it.

The next issue is which foam to choose

This one won't work as the seat pattern is too different from the 72 pattern. What is important is the molded areas on the foam where the seat seams are clipped onto the spring frame. This foam is for this seat cover. Notice how the foam matches the cover

here is your 72 cover. notice how the seams just inside the bolsters are shaped?

This foam may work...

I think this is the seat cover pattern that was meant for the above foam

Since 72 foams with integrated springs aren't reproduced, it would be nice of a company would make a seat foam that will accept a 72 cover but slip over a 70/71 frame. The foam above that "may be a match" isn't a 100% match. It will likely work but it's just hard to know without trying it. Problem is, all this stuff is pricy which makes testing the theory prohibitively expensive

 

[j_anderson]

I just finished up a pair of 72s and went through all this... luckily the pair of buckets I bought had foam that was in good enough shape to reuse. I had to repair a few missing chunks and soft spots

If you bought your covers from Legendary, check them over really good. I had a stitching issue that I had to have fixed more than once. Also, the seat medallions are expected to be installed to hold down the listing wire rods. That is not how the factory did it. So, I replicated that by gluing the listing wire pocket down and hand stitched it to the foam

stitching issues

 

[ethan santin]

I just finished up a pair of 72s and went through all this... luckily the pair of buckets I bought had foam that was in good enough shape to reuse. I had to repair a few missing chunks and soft spots
View attachment 1716401908

If you bought your covers from Legendary, check them over really good. I had a stitching issue that I had to have fixed more than once. Also, the seat medallions are expected to be installed to hold down the listing wire rods. That is not how the factory did it. So, I replicated that by gluing the listing wire pocket down and hand stitched it to the foam

View attachment 1716401910View attachment 1716401911

stitching issues

View attachment 1716401912View attachment 1716401913View attachment 1716401914

Wow all of this information and photos are really helpful, thank you so much for sharing. Those covers look great sir.