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Doing the job yourself is the cheapest way. First look under the seat to see if there are any springs hanging loose, or off completely. That's your cue that the wire mat is broken. To replace the wire mat, unbolt the seat from the floor (4 nuts) and slide it out the back door. Bring it inside your house or garage and turn it upside down onto a table, with the seat bottom facing the ceiling. Remove the old wire mat that holds the seat springs together by clipping it off with strong wire cutters. Lay in the new wire mat (cost- $18 Canadian, from the dealer) on one side, attaching all the springs on one side only. On the other side, you will have to find some kind of tool with a bend in it which will allow the spring to slip up and over the wire mat to clip on. I tried a crowbar, but that didn't work. I used, can you believe it, a u-shaped towel holder from the dollar store! The towel bar looks like this: it would mount to the wall where it pivots and has an arm that swings out which holds 2 towels. I take the wall bracket off and use the u-shaped towel part only. I slip the towel holder under the mat, hook the spring, pull the spring over the mat's edge, and sometimes with a bit of persuasion from a screwdriver, it will slip right into place. I have replaced 8 car spring bottoms this way.
When my foam split on the upright part of the frame,(the seat back) the local upholstery shop gladly glued it back together and I placed an extra layer of foam between the metal frame and the original foam so it won't break it again so easily. Replacement foam I have not been able to find for a reasonable price so I am stuck with the old stuff. I wish I cold get rid of the disintegrating foam on the seat bottoms, though. If anyone knows where to get foam for the bottom cushion, let me know.
Thanks... PS- Not all seats are the same width, if you are considering putting another seat in from a scrap/doner car. The early 1980's used a narrower seat than the mid to late 1980's.
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