[rambow]

Quick history for those that don't know me, I've been doing upholstery and seat restorations for the last 15 years, primary focus on GM A-body stuff since thats what I'm into.

I've used pretty much all the different seat buns available on the market today and have held my strong opinion that ACI buns are the best. They are soft like OE buns were, they have a nice reinforced mesh on the backside to increase the life of the buns, and the included the "install cloths" canvas pre-glued on to make installation quick.
I've been using them as my preferred option for years.
I find the PUI, TMI Stock, TMI Big Bolster, Legendary Big Bolster, and Classic Industries buns all to be way to stiff. Like a brick compared to original which results in the person sitting up way to high in the finished seat. Even worse if you combine those with repop springs.

A year or two ago Thornton Restorations started advertising USA made seat buns for GM A-Bodies supposedly made by the same vendor and molds the originals were made from.

I have a set of seats that I'm gonna build this spring/summer to flip, and decided to give these guys a shot because their price for a pair of bucket buns is literally half that of my preffered ACI ones.

And they arrived today....
Quick assessment, because it will be a long time until I'm ready to actually use them.

Unboxed and did a quick fit over a crusty 66-72 seat frame and springs that I have sitting here.

1) I initially freaked out a bit because the box was so much smaller than the ACI boxes, I double checked my invoice and opened it and yes all 4 cushions were in there, they were just a tight fit, but not jammed or compressed, just a nice tight fit.

2) They are soft. Not quite as soft as ACI (i have a set here and did side by side open palm squeeze test), but definitely softer than PUI's, TMI's, and Legendaries Rallye buns which are all crazy firm, like a brick.

3) Shape looks ok, the casting is rough unlike the ACI, but that will be hidden by the cover.

4) the bottom has a thin canvas reinforcing molded to it, not as nice as the mesh in the ACI's but its something. The upper buns have nothing, just foam on the back side.

5) The lower cushion is too long in the front. When installed on the spring and pushed all the way to the rear- there is still a full 1" gap all along the front edgewire that shouldn't be there.
This probably is not a big deal as the cover will compress this to shape around the edgewire- but it was noticeable in that it had the gap at all.
Its possible the channels may extend right to the edgewire of the spring assembly once wrapped around and compressed. Unsure if that will be a problem or not. Probably not, but something i wanted to mention. The sides were properly tight to the spring.

6) upper cushion fit properly to all 4 sides of its spring as I expected.

7) they do not include the "install cloths" as i like to call them that you use to hogring to the frame/springs- but the "flaps" of foam are way longer than OE (in this case a good thing), and are long enough that you could use them in the same way the canvas cloth was used on the OE buns.
The PUI and ACI buns won't work in that way as they are molded in the same way the oe's were and need "something" to attach them.

Overall impression (without having installed them with covers yet) is very positive, especially because of the price and the softness factors. It remains to be seen if the front edge of the lower cushion will be an issue. (i doubt it will)

I can't wait to get some covers so I can properly finish these. Once I do I'll post an update.

*more pics in my reply, it limits me to 5 each

[rambow]

I don't have the upper springs attached to a frame at the moment so just did them alone, but the fit was good.
The bottom edge is a little tight, where OE had a long flap that you wrapped around the bottom, these have a defined lip, but it will work ok. The sides and top were tight to the spring as expected.
Only negative here is there is no backing on the upper bun... So better be sure to use burlap & jute as a decking material or the springs will chew into the foam over time.

Again, overall very positive first impression for these Thornton Buns.
Looking forward to getting some covers to go over them for real.

[propuckstopper]

Thanks for the detailed update. I will be watching this closely as I have always used ACI.

[GtoFM]

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[HWYSTR455]

Excellent, thank you! Was hoping you would post on the Thorntons!

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[cmoc-bob]

Thanks for doing this..........very helpful

[ponchjoe]

Thanks for this. I just ordered one side for my 67. Going to try to do it myself. I think mine was done either reusing original or the eBay foam, it’s way too soft.

[ponchjoe]

Ok, I received mine today, I was blown away to see $112 was for both shipped to my door.
Will post results once I complete work the drivers seat

[rambow]

Originally Posted by ponchjoe

Thanks for this. I just ordered one side for my 67. Going to try to do it myself. I think mine was done either reusing original or the eBay foam, it’s way too soft.

Usually the ebay and other "cheap" buns i've seen in the past are hard as a rock, not too soft... Originals if thye are totally worn out will be soft with no rebound- or could also mean your spring assembly is busted up.

Anyway, I'm curious your impression once you get your originals out and can compare side to side with the new.

-Ben

[ponchjoe]

Originally Posted by rambow

Usually the ebay and other "cheap" buns i've seen in the past are hard as a rock, not too soft... Originals if thye are totally worn out will be soft with no rebound- or could also mean your spring assembly is busted up.

Anyway, I'm curious your impression once you get your originals out and can compare side to side with the new.

-Ben

My original was deteriorating so not really a good comparison.

[rambow]

I finally completed my 66 Chevelle seat build using the Thornton buns, so here is my long awaited review...

The good:
As noted right out of the box, these are SOFT just like the ACIs (and unlike the PUI and TMI's) which is awesome! Makes it easier to work with and will improve the final seating feel.
Shape was correct, and final seat look is correct, not overstuffed.
Listing channels all lined up perfectly with the spring side listing rods
The lack of install cloth was NOT an issue due to the molded curved-in edges on undersides- Once set in place on the springs/frames they were snug and didn't move around. On the first lower cushion I did glue on a small strip to the rear of it to secure it down to the frame in that spot- but I didn't do it on the 2nd one and it wasn't an issue.
Less than Half the price of ACI's and are still made in the USA.

The bad:
* The foam at the bottom of the upper cushion listing channels was 1" thick! On ACI and the other buns, this is a very thin area, which is good for two reasons- it makes it easier to attach the listing rods through, and gives the bolster tucks proper definition. After noticing this, I used scissors and cut through the bottom of the channels completely. With this tweak, the upper covers went on normally and the bolster tucks look great. The Lower cushion buns were also thicker than I liked, but were only about 1/2" thick, so I opted not to cut them out. The foam is soft enough that the cover listing rods compressed it down evenly for a consistent bolster tuck- Realized after its possible I could have gotten away without cutting it out because the foam was soft enough to compress.

* The design of the bottom lip of the upper cushion didn't leave much foam there to wrap around. Normally the foam there is 3-4" long and gets wrapped around the bottom of the springs and hogringed on. These have the built in "lip" but the lip didn't really extend up far enough in my opinion. I carefully pulled the foam downward a little extra as I was installing the bottom flap of the cover which gave it the needed padding there. Doing it next time I'll add a square of 1" foam under the bun in that spot extending downward a bit farther at that bottom area to give the cover that extra bit of protection where it wraps around the back side of the springs.

Conclusion:
Overall, I'm very pleased with these and will be ordering another set shortly to do my next set of seats.
As long as the price point holds on these, I would be hard pressed to pay the extra $$ for ACI's- however if cost was equal or closer I would still choose the ACI buns.

I'm still waiting on repop seat tracks to arrive so I can bolt them in my car to see how they feel/sit vs my existing seats, although its not really a straight comparison since these have all brand new springs vs the ones in my car which have originals.... but I will post and add that detail once the tracks arrive.

[rambow]

Pics

[GtoFM]

I ck'd with Thornton, unfortunately, nothing pre '66...looking for '64.

[HWYSTR455]

Dang that turned out great!



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[Jim Moshier]

Thanks for the detailed update. I have always used ACI. The finish product looks great, and thanks for the critique