Long overdue refresh

[Marc]

Those oddball clips at the ends that take a screw look to be available online as well, so I'll either reuse mine or buy new as needed.

[KYBlueOval]

and the new clip

Marc, could you please post the measurements of this clip. Width......Length.......and the Length of the Spring Wire. I ask as there are many similar looking clips that are different by their measurements.
Thanks
John

[Marc]

Hi John,
I wish I could give you those measurements, but they're all installed. Here's a pic of this clip from the Dennis Carpenter website where I ordered it, hopefully that'll help you out.
Keep in mind that this is the clip I used for the rear quarter spear. I'll need others of varying sizes to install the trim for the doors and fenders. As I get those figured out I'll post pics and measurements of what works.

[Marc]

Ok its finally warmed up enough to spend a little time working on the car. Ordered a bunch of clips to continue installing trim, and did the front door yesterday. Pics show the clips I used for the upper and lower pieces.
I used strip caulk behind the gold trim, stretched and rolled out thin, and wrapped the bottom of the studs with strip caulk as well. Plus a little on the backside of the washers to help seal all the holes from water.
Gotta be a bit of a contortionist to get to the forward-most studs but its not too bad with the window tray rolled up. Yeah it probably would've been easier using the original snap-on type clips, but my own particular experience so far has been that I like working with these types of clips better.

[Marc]

And one more pic.
The clips at the ends that use a small screw were in really good shape so I just reused them instead of the new ones I ordered. I learned the hard way that the screws were not included. Tried the local hardware store but could find nothing with a head as broad as what is needed.

[Marc]

Installed the trim on the back door too. Pretty straightforward.
The forward-most stud comes really close to the pocket for the upper hinge. I ended up sticking the washer in place first with a little strip caulk, and using a thin nut.
Got to go back in and add a dab of something to those threads to ensure the nut doesn't back off.
I reused the original end clip again since it was in great shape.

[Marc]

And a few more pics of the back door....

[Marc]

For the fender, I was planning to use the original spring clips on the upper trim piece. Sure enough, the ones I ordered don't fit, not even close. So I decided to go with universal clips again here. One problem I ran into, the clips at the back end of the upper and lower pieces are pretty much inaccessible from behind the fender. Will probably try to find the right spring clip for the upper piece. Still not sure how I'm going to approach the clip at the back of the lower piece.

[Marc]

and 1 more.....
This is the clip that doesn't fit.

[KYBlueOval]

Marc, great photos and great information. Both will be an enormous help when I get to that point. One question, where did you purchase the clips?
Thanks
John

[Marc]

Glad to be able to help. All the clips came from Mac's and Dennis Carpenter.

[Marc]

The front seat was loaded with busted springs, but I was lucky enough to find a decent seat frame just 2 hours from home (thanks 357bella!). Started tearing it down today to salvage what I could use on my seat.
A place called upholster.com has new clips to attach the springs, and a pretty pricey pair of pliers to close the clips. I decided the aggravation and time saved by using pliers made specifically for this job was worth the expense, so I ordered them.

The seat back wasn't too bad except for a couple of busted springs. I stole two off the donor seat and have them tacked in place with tape until the new clips arrive. It still had a tag attached showing the date of manufacture.

[Marc]

the bench was a little more beat up. Several broken springs, including the perimeter spring. I was happy to see the perimeter spring on the donor seat was still in good shape. There are a pair of coil springs installed at each end. Not sure if they're original, since the donor seat doesn't have them, but they look to be solidly installed and a little extra support can't hurt, so I'm leaving them there.

It looks like some repairs were attempted whenever the seat was last re-upholstered, which would've been over 30 years ago. Pretty sure they approached the repair with a "you'll never see this mess once we put new vinyl over it" attitude.

The pics show the broken springs marked with tape, and finally the replacement perimeter spring installed and tacked in place with tape until the new clips arrive.