[Steffie]

So I was looking into buying new seat foam and I see you can get it with or without reinforcement wire. What is the difference and which is better to get?

Thanks

[Garfields Maro]

Hi Steph, what brand or manufacturer are you referring to ? Can you provide a link ?

Stock (OEM style) foam didn't have any internal wire in the foam, that I'm aware of. There are fine wires in the burlap, in between the foam and springs.

TMI Sport Seats do have an internal wire (rod) in the foam, but these are semi-custom, non-stock upgrades.

Need more details.?...

[Steffie]

I noramally use the site Rick's Camaros,
http://www.rickscamaros.com/camaro-b...rior-1969.html
or
http://www.rickscamaros.com/camaro-b...rior-1969.html
These are the 2 I was looking at.

[69-Pace]

If the seat foams you buy do not have reinforcement included you will have to remove the wires from your existing foams and reuse them or make up a set to get the same fit and feel as originals. Also you use these long wires in some places to hog ring the foam to the seat frame or the seat cover to the foam, or both and without them the foam or cover will just rip free in no time.

The wires in the burlap are more of a fitment issue then structural. There are several threads on recreating these and what gauge wire and mesh quality of the burlap to use. If you can salvage your originals that is a best case scenario.

I would never go back to the old school where you actually made your own foam using an electric kitchen knife on a block of medium density foam from the fabric store. It took hours of shaping to match the original. And no two seats ever came out the same, but back in the 80's you had no choice. TMI Products makes the best quality seat foams I have ever used.

[Sauron67MM]

The wires in the burlap are spring steel and provide a resilience to the seats, so they do provide a structual design element. Depending on foam type and construction the wires may not be required on new seats.

[Garfields Maro]

I just double checked my original foams...There is no reinforcing wire. You can fold them in half and they return to their original form.

I wasn't aware of reproduction foam being offered with internal wire. As I mentioned, the Sport Seats from TMI do, but I consider those a semi-custom seat....figured the wire was their own design.

I'd say the wire makes installation easier. Also will make the seat feel firmer than original.

[TMIproducts]

I'll chime in here...

Our foam comes with and without a listing wire that's molded into the foam. This is for an easy installation where you can hog-ring the seat cover to that listing wire. This saves from having to hog ring the cover through the foam to the frame. This is NOT 'factory' but saves a ton of frustration with installation. Our Sport Seats come with these so that way the upholstery will stay in place. However I these don't really make the seat feel any firmer than a stock seat.

And our 69 foam is designed to NOT use the molded in wires that came from the factory. You would remove that foam with the springs and put ours in place.

I hope that helps and if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!