VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Upholstery - Interiors & Glass 1939 bench seat installation

I removed my 1939 JA bench seat to reupholster and am having trouble putting it back in place. I have even thought of taking the hardware attached to the floor off and attaching it to the seat first and then reattaching it to the floor. Any insight would be appreciated.

If I remember correctly the bench seat attachment is similar in '37 - '39. Most of us just remove the 8 5/16" cap screws that hold the 4 mounting feet to the floor and lift the whole seat out.

I expect it would be very tricky to get all the slides and gears in the track aligned while installing the seat.

Make sure that the adjusting tracks are locked in the same position for both sides before you re-install the seat.

Hi Rusty...thank you for your suggestion...If I understand correctly, you're suggesting leaving the hardware on the bottom of the detached bench seat and then attaching the hardware to the floor rather than attaching the hardware to the floor first?

I don't know about the 39. On my 48 when I rewired it, I removed the front seat. When I went to replace it, I installed studs, so I could just set the seat frame over the studs. Kept me from trying to line up the bolts to the floor. I can install the seat in about 10 minuets.

Yes, that is the method I am suggesting.

Keith’s idea to install studs in the floor does make the installation even easier. The limitation there is that if you are lying on your back to work behind the dash you need to be aware of their location.

A good compromise is to cut the heads off of 2 5/16” cap screws and install them to use as location pins. Then remove them after you have a few other bolts installed.