Restoring stadium seats

[sschauer]

Thanks for the replies I've decided to split them up into 2 double seats and restore them. Now any great site that lists the exact paint color per seat? I've heard the red seats were Chinese red but what about the green?

[russyurk]

I struggled with the same question on my Tiger Stadium turnstile. All of the Tiger Stadium stuff sat outside for about seven years prior to the auction and a lot was in bad shape. I was really torn and talked to many people and ultimately refinished it. The main reasons were that is was in bad shape, the pictures below don’t really do justice on how bad it was. The paint was peeling and would fall off with the slightest movement and with a young son and was concerned about lead paint. You can see the original green and at least two coats of orange. I own an air compressor and was going to spray paint it but came to the same conclusion as Jim VB that it would have been too nice. When it was time for paint, I'm sure they sent Johnny Maintenance guy down to the hardware store and he slapped it on with a brush. The oranges were definitely two different shades so I found what I thought was a good match that would maintain the integrity of the item. I made sure to leave some of the original green showing on the underside just like I found it and also reapplied the same number. I'm glad I did it, it’s much more pleasing to the eye refinished.

[Yankeedoodledon]

I have just purchased two Yankee Stadium wood curved back seats, rear mounted with the stanchions. I found two Pat. No's on the cast iron stanchions that were both issued to American Seating Co., Grand Rapids, MI.-one Pat. No. on 4/5/38 and one on 6/17/41. There are also three other numbers on the stanchions-3400R, 340-R4 and 19L on the left stanchion and 19R on the right stanchion. Everything was originally painted the sea green with the blue over it. Can anyone give me any additional information on these seats, like when they would have been installed in the stadium and where they would have been placed? Thank you.

Yankeedoodledon

[Simmons Nation]

hi guys,
i agree with what's been said here... i have seats both restored and unrestored and my personal decision is totally based on the condition of the seat. if it looks cool unrestored... then i leave it unrestored. attached are pics of an 1909 ribbon arm seat from shibe park. i picked it up for a steal on craig's list, but it was in HORRENDOUS shape. the guy i bought it from was at the last game in 1970 and personaly ripped it out of the stadium. he then let it sit in his garage for the next 40 years! the picture doesn't do it justice, it looked terrible. it didn't display well and looked like garbage... so i spent 4 months restoring it and stripping 60 layers of paint and even had to get a blacksmith to straighten out one of the legs. but the end result displays beautifully

[sschauer]

Been so long forgot about this but I did restore them and was a very fun project and turned out great. I made a website that showed my step by step process with before and after pictures here http://4192cards.info/index_files/crosley.htm Here's the final product

[jcmtiger]

Here are some seats from Briggs/Tiger Stadium. The double was obtained in the 1970's when they were refurbishing the Stadium. The single was from a garage sale in the 1980's. The only thing I added was some boards on the bottom of the double for a more sturdy seat.

Joe

[Tomman1961]

Thanks to BatsBallBases, leading me to the correct paint color of my Yankee Stadium seats.
I picked up 3 attached Yankee seats. Free is a nice price to pay. Not only was 33% of the wood rotted, some castings were broken.They were disgusting!
I let them sit in my parents basement a few years. When My Dad retired and he had the time to restore them for me,(1990?) we came to the conclusion the only thing we could do was to make 3 into 2. Over 20 years later, I still belive that was the best decision thing to do. Someplace up here you may find my pictures of the 3 before-and the 2 after. Thing is, if the castings were good, I would have asked my dad to see if he could do the wood. But we had nothing to attached it to-the casting sides were that bad.
Whoever did BatsBallsBases wood slats is the way to go.
Paint-well,Maybe I should not have sanded them all down to bare wood. But I did.Again B-B-B told me the color codes, and I thank him once again.

[batsballsbases]

Tomman1961,
My pleasure! Im glad it all worked out for you. Its such a sad thing to leave them the way they were. Its always the burning question to restore them or leave them the way they were. To me (My opinion) its a no brainer! The sea foam Green seems to stand up better than the blue paint did. Peeling is the major issue. Always reminded me of pig pen on charlie brown. Every time you moved them blue paint flakes were all over the place. My wife would never allow me to ever put them in the house the way they looked! Remember the stadium crew would slap coats of paint all over them all the time so in my eyes isnt that a form of restoration ? To me I left as much of the origional paint underneath as I could and re used all the orig. Hardware. Like Russyurk
on the turnstile to me it looks much nicer now that it did leaving it alone.Looks to me like he matched every detail! Great job. Now its a source of pride not an eyesore!

[Bpm0014]

Here are my seats from Forbes Field. Cool story... I used to do landscaping in high school. One of the houses we did was the guy who owned (or worked for?) the company that tore down Forbes Field. One day he allowed me access to take whatever I wanted. I grabbed 2 full seats and later (rather amateurishly) restored them myself. Didn't turn out toooo bad, but one day I'd like to restore them properly. Always cool to think that someone actually sat in these seats and watched the 1909 World Series between Cobb and Wagner....

[PhilNap]

My just completed project

[thekingofclout]

They look terrific, Phil. Where you gonna put 'em?

[batsballsbases]

Phil,
Very nice job. They look great. I loved doing mine and it goes to show in most (not all) cases restored is the way to go!!

[PhilNap]

Originally Posted by thekingofclout

They look terrific, Phil. Where you gonna put 'em?

Thanks Jimmy. That's the burning question. Space is always an issue with the bulky stuff. I'm sure I'll find a spot that is worthy.

Originally Posted by batsballsbases

Phil,
Very nice job. They look great. I loved doing mine and it goes to show in most (not all) cases restored is the way to go!!

Very true. These were just a mess of flaking lead paint. Luckily the wood was is great shape.