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Old 01-25-2025, 10:37 PM
Spicewood1 Spicewood1 is offline
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Default Replacing broken seat S spring

I am redoing my 70 GTO bucket seats. Got them all torn down to metal and I see I have a broken spring. It is an S spring along the side that is bent in various degrees and helps support the side bolster. I have plenty of S spring stock from a donor seat. BUT I need to bend and twist it to match the shape of my original - do I bend it cold or do I heat an isolated spot orange with OxyAcet torch and make the bend/twist?

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Old 01-26-2025, 12:22 AM
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tempest1964 tempest1964 is online now
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There is a guy named rambow on the forum. He is very knowledgeable about this stuff. I suggest you pm him.

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Old 01-27-2025, 03:13 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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Bend it cold, do not heat or weld spring steel as it changes the temper and makes it brittle.

Fwiw, I'm pretty sure the springs you are referring to are called side support springs and are available new in all the repop parts catalogs pre bent and ready to install for about $30/pair

Ben

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Old 01-27-2025, 10:10 AM
Spicewood1 Spicewood1 is offline
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10-4 and thanks. Turns out it bends very easily cold. I thought they would snap but they dont

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Old 01-27-2025, 11:13 AM
gto4ben gto4ben is offline
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The Osborne 401 Spring Benders makes bending springs easy.
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Old 01-27-2025, 06:37 PM
rambow rambow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gto4ben View Post
The Osborne 401 Spring Benders makes bending springs easy.
Actually... those will not work for GM sized "medium loop springs".

The 401 are for the 3/4" "Small Loop" springs that are used in Ford and Mopar Seats.
The 402 are HUGE for 2" "Large Loop" spring

GM uses medium loop springs which are 1-1/16" wide loops Which is too big for the 401s and really small for the 402.
I literally learned the hardway and now have both.

I use the 402s, but i cut them off with a grinder to make the pockets shallower. The pockets are still too long, but they work.

But if only making a couple springs and don't want to buy $50 tools, just use square head linemans pliers, grab opposing loops and twist.... I did that for a year before i finally bought the paddles.

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Old 01-27-2025, 10:34 PM
gto4ben gto4ben is offline
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I just checked my box and it said Osborne 401-2 which is the 2" version. I made a spacer to center the narrower GM springs. I made my own version of the Osborne 404 Spring End Former. That one is helpful in forming the end sothe spring stays on the frame.

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Old 01-28-2025, 01:18 PM
rambow rambow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gto4ben View Post
I just checked my box and it said Osborne 401-2 which is the 2" version. I made a spacer to center the narrower GM springs. I made my own version of the Osborne 404 Spring End Former. That one is helpful in forming the end sothe spring stays on the frame.
That's a good idea on the spacer to make the 2" ones work better, I might try that.
I've thought about cutting off the bottom half of the pocket and welding them closed at the proper ~1-1/8" size but didnt' have a welder until recently, and now i'm not doing them as much.

I did cut the pockets shallower so the two paddles wouldn't hit each other when bending tight bends and that was an improvement.

I know a few guys that made their own bending paddles from old screwdrivers and some chunks of steel. Doesn't have to be pretty if it works!

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Old 01-28-2025, 11:48 PM
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If you weld don’t hesitate to make a set of those spring tools. They not only make it easy but are are safe way to bend. That stuff always has a mind of its own. These aren’t pretty like the set they sell but still do a great job.
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Old 01-30-2025, 01:35 PM
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I welded the broken spring that I found in my driver seat.


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Old 02-01-2025, 04:44 PM
tjs72lemans tjs72lemans is offline
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I've welded springs in my 72 Lemans buckets, as well as other cars over the years with good results.

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Old 02-10-2025, 04:37 PM
Spicewood1 Spicewood1 is offline
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Job is going well and I have the broken springs fixed. Driver seat back had 7 broken springs. Yowza

Next question is odd - never seen this before. There are 2 metal rods attached to the outer bare metal picture frame that are puzzling. Hard connection at the perimeter wire frame but a completely loose connection at the stamped sheet metal lumbar. Just sticks into a hole. Is this right?
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Old 02-10-2025, 07:09 PM
rambow rambow is offline
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yes they are supposed to be there.
I call them tension rods. They set the height of the lower half of the spring assembly off the frame.

The stair step "foot" slides into those holes in the flat steel of the frame. They appear loose and floppy, but when the cover is installed and hog ringed on, it will hold them tight in place.

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