58mark

iTrader: (3)

I saw a 3rd gen seat today where somebody had taken the seat apart, just replaced the side panel, matched the fabric, and stitched the thing back together. I thought the work was amazing, and it looked better than trashing an entire set of seats in favor of a third gen set.

I've got a set of 89 seat that I would love to put back in my car. I've looked for replacement fabric, but nothing available is even close to what I already had. If I can just get the grey velour on the side replaced, I can have my more authentic, more comfortable, and better looking seats back in my car

so many people get rid of full seat sets these days, it's rare to see them. Has anybody else done anything like this, and how much did it cost you?

there's two auto trim shops mear my house, both do full custom and restoration services. I'm going to drop off one of my rear seat buckets for them to look at the fabric to try to match, and if they can find the right color, I'll pull my drivers seat out of my attic and let them work on it

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

Classic Industries,down load their catalog or order one from them,they have the exact upholstery you are looking for and most of their items has the GM blessing.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

they don't have a fraction of the factory fabrics available for our cars. In fact, the fabics they do show on their website don't match anything I've ever seen on a car, ever

The point of the thread was... why replace the fabric on every seat for $400 when you can just replace the ONE panel that's bad?

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

You say you have original seats for your 89 that you would like to put back in your car.Well, Classic Industries have the exact replacement fabric for those seats,all their fabrics are OEM.And why would you take the time to tear down your seat covers to replace a piece at a time,just don't make sense.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

what don't you understand? there's nothing on the classic industries website that's even close to OEM seat material. My seats are perfect with the exception of one small rectangle of cloth. Today I found out it's possible to replace that one little rectangle, leaving the OEM cloth in place. One small repair on one seat. not a total fabric swap on FIVE different parts

unless classic has more fabrics than are what on their website, they do NOT have OEM fabric

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

Order the catalog.It has 12 pages of OEM fabrics foe the seat covers.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

I have it... not a single fabric listed is for a 1989 high back bucket,and the fabric they show for an 87 is WRONG

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

The covers they offer are OEM specs, but they aren't exactly the same. I have the Black and Charcoal seats and this design is offered on the site, but theirs are velour whereas mine are tweed. Now if there is a place that has the tweed, or I am wrong, let me know, because I'd really like to know.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

exactly. I like the tweed of the original seats,and the velour is on the sides. the velour is the part that failed on mine, and that's the part that's easy to match.

which is why I'm hoping to have it fixed. it just never occured to me until today to try that

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

You have the catalog.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

you're not helping... please stop talking

here's an example of the fabric and damage from my cupholder build thread. The seats are in the attic, so I don't want to take them down just to snap a pic

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

So, you don't have the catalog?

58mark

iTrader: (3)

I DO! it's not in there!

you don't listen very well, do you? I'm starting to think you're a troll

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

Well you must have the most unique set of seats that GM ever maid,and you were the one to start this topic.Just because I don't agree with doing a half a$$ed job.I think your the troll.Take a photo of the catalog and post it,because I don't believe you have it,and if you do,I will be the troll.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

after looking at your profile, I don't think you're a troll..if you are, you're the world's most... ahem... mature troll.

I do stand by my statement that you don't listen (or read) very well. this thread is about a PROFESSIONAL uphoulstry shop dismantling my seats to match and replace one peice of bad fabric. I dind't ask if the original fabric was available, because I know it's not. tweed fabric is not replicated. the only thing you can get is velour fabric, which is not as sturdy or as original as the fabric my car (and hundreds of thousands of other base model RS cars) came with.

whay makes you think I have any interest in buying and replacing the fabric on all the seats when only one part is bad?

no don't answer that... I really have no interest in talking to you anymore. I'm going to take one of the rear seat buckets (light and easy to carry around) to some shops this week. I'll see what they say and post the results.

when I do post again, please unsubscribe from this thread, I have no desire to hear from you again, unless its to say that you've taken your medicine, and you have a much clearer head right now

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

I wish my problem was in the velour, but my hole is in the tweed that NOBODY, including Classic Industries, carries.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

yeah, that kind of fabric is so unique.. nobody is going to repop a woven cloth.

Right now I'm putting my trip to the uphoulstry shop on hold until after I get a look a different set of seats. I already have a set of delux interior door panels I want to put in (getting rid of the plastic panels) and I have a friend that has a set of the matching seats to go with them, and I cna have them for next to nothing. the problem is the drivers seat has silver dollar sized hole in it, and I'm not sure If I can find the fabric to refinish them.
I know if the option is buying a $400 set of seat covers just to get the deluxe interior, it's not going to happen. at least not for a LONG time

I'm undecided if I'm going to put the deluxe door panels in if I still have my base model seats.

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

For now, I've actually picked up an old, stained seat and cut some good tweed from it that I am looking into creating a patch from to cover my two holes. That will due until I (hopefully) happen to find new seats in my style.

All my other seats are in good condition, but they have the usual fading up top from my t-tops. If I can find some seats in the same style in better condition, I'll spring on them.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

i'm curious.. you have an iroc with tweed seats? mind posting a pic of your interior? I'm wondering if the iroc could have come with the seats I already have

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, I've got the deluxe interior. My black inserts aren't very black anymore, as you can see. The holes I'm patching are on the driver seat, a big one on the bottom and a smaller one on the lower back, both in the tweed sections.

If I could get the entire section from a donor seat, the repair could be professionally done, but I just have two small sections of the fabric.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

I have a feeling that I'm going to be in the same boat as you when I get these seats, not to mention the fact that If I use the seat back that comes with the deluxe interior, I'll have to mod my car to make the split back of the rear seat to work

If I do wind up buying a replacement set of covers, I'll put the deluxe cover for a non split back on my base model seat. should work

It might not be worth it right now, but hey, that's what we have storage buildings and attics, right?

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

Here is kind of a fuzzy close up of the tweed design.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

I actually think that's more like a printed velour. it has a tweed design, but it's really just one peice of cloth. Look at the tweed of the seats I posted close up pictures of. that's real tweed.. practically bulletproof, which is why I like it

by the way... classic industried DOES sell full seat covers for your seats. I just don't want to pay $400 for them

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

They do have my design, but my seats are a type of tweed and Classiics seats are full velour.

coneheadjimmy

iTrader: (2)

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/...esttrip074.jpg

Sorry to ressurect this , but maybe i can still help. Above is a picture of my seats after the driver seat (on right) had been repaired with the "tweed" style fabric in red.

The panel closest to the door on the seatback had a worn spot on it in the usual place, and a local upholsterer was able to locate some of the same fabric by calling some old contacts
he had been buying from for years. Some place in Oregon, he would not tell me where. One yard of the original fabric cost me 85 bucks. I had enough left over to do my sail panels with the same fabric.

I think the stuff is still out there somewhere, just may need the help of someone in the business to find it. The trim shop I went to had literally hundreds of rolls of cloth stacked up on shelves from many years back.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

thanks for the bump. I needed to give an update

I ended up getting two sets of deluxe seats, cheap. (like 20 each seat)

both sets had good passenget side sets, but I had good passenger sides. the seats are at an uphoulstry shop now, where they are sewing in one replacement panel into one of the passenger side seats, and then they are going to remount it into the drivers side frame

the only reason the panel had to be replaced was the fact that the mounting holes on the outboard side of the seat would have been visible if I put that cover on the drivers side. they are replacing the grey velour that will be closest to the arm rest.

They should look great when I'm get them back. hopefully at the end of the week

Dustytrix

iTrader: (3)

Thats exactly what I had to do to mine, used the panel out of another pass seat, and had it sewn into the drivers seat. No one can tell it was replaced.

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

That's actually what I was considering. I just need a good passenger seat for a donor. Although, if I found a nice set of front seats, I may just swap them in as mine are a bit faded. Unless of course there is a good way to return the black inserts to their original color. Mine are now a dark bluish purpley color. Alas, 20 years of sun fading.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

I hope to get my "new" front seat back tomorrow!

coneheadjimmy

iTrader: (2)

My seats were sun faded also. Found a really good upholstery dye online at this place http://www.leathermagic.com/Pages/carpetdyeProds.htm

This picture shows the before / after comparison of what this dye did on my faded seats
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/...esttrip074.jpg

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

1) You've made my evening. 2) How hard was it and what did entail? I think I know what I'll be doing this summer!

coneheadjimmy

iTrader: (2)

It's really not difficult, just tedious and time consuming to do it right. I suggest buying the dye "kit" which comes with a bristle brush to work the dye in to the fabric. if your seats are the 2-fabric panel style like mine, you have to mask off the tweed fabric to avoid dying that part. I masked it off with plastic sheeting and sticky cloth tape about a quarter inch in from the tweed , and finished the edges, after removing the masking, with a q-tip. also make sure you remove any stains and shampoo the fabric before dyeing. I also used the same dye to do my carpet, and it came out very well....good stuff

58mark

iTrader: (3)

Got my drivers seat back from the shop today. it's not perfect, you can certainly tell when something doesn't have that look of being factory original. The lines and creases just aren't as flawless and crisp

That being said, I'll be ok putting these in my car over a 4th gen interior. I do need to run the steam vac uphoulstery attachment over them a few times, especially the passenger seat

I have the back seats and the door panels to match these as well, it will be a nice upgrade for my interior

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Ugh, why do people recommend Classic Industries so often? It's been proven time and time and time again that the vast, vast majority of the crap they sell is absolute junk. Incorrect, wrong size, ****-poor repros.

They couldn't even get the grain pattern on their low-quality seat covers right, the grain of the tweed all goes the same direction, it doesn't alternate like the factory seats. How half-assed is that?

I emailed SMS Fabrics who is supposed to be the premier NOS fabric holder but they never replied.

I'll probably just have to go with nice leather in the stock pattern unfortunately. But not the crap leather GM used that had a bunch of wrinkles and "pleats" that were just wrinkles.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

are you talking about my seats? Mine aren't Classic seat covers. mine are GM seats that I cobbled together from a few different sets to get enough material to make one good set

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

I would pay $85 for the material to fix the driverside seat bolster tweed!!
{ HINT HINT }........
If they can get it in the black & gray shades as the originals!! Even would Very Seriously consider buying enough material to do both fronts!!!

58mark

iTrader: (3)

i would put a parts needed listing out there, asking if somebody has a passenger seat in good condition. you would be surprised how easy it is for a shop to change out a panel

I also found out yesterday that seat skeletons )the part that the foam goes on) are universal, meaning the left skeleton is the same as the right. The mounting holes for all the brackets are in BOTH sides, even though they aren't used.


Wish I had known that earlier, that would have changed a couple things I did

58mark

iTrader: (3)

cleaned them again, looking better. Just about ready to put in the car

coneheadjimmy

iTrader: (2)

If the hint were intended for me, I would be glad to help you find some except for one tiny problem.

The 70 year old gent who owned the trim shop I went to was killed in an auto accident over the winter in Florida. Big building full of stuff is just sitting there darkened now. I have been trying to find out if there is going to be an estate auction. If there is, I'm going to attend and see if there is anything for sale that can help out us Third Genners with hard-to-find pieces. He never did tell me exactly where the upholstery came from, just mentioned Oregon. Maybe google "oregon upholstery" and get lucky??

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Conehead,
Yes, I was hoping you'd catch that!! I shoulda quoted & made it direct.
Sorry to hear the sad news!!
If there's a possibility, I'm interested!!

58Mark,
Thank You for the tip!!!

58mark

iTrader: (3)

one clarification

that mainly applies to the sent buckets, not the backs. The backs are technically the same, but they have some bracing that is welded in one side or the other depending on the side, and it would be a pain to unweld it, and you would probably destroy the frame trying.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

here's my seat set, cobbled together from three different places. I think they turned out great!

GraigMuller

Does anyone know if someone sells the OEM gray tweed seat fabric for the side (lumbar) on an 1989 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z/28 or should I go looking in junk yards?

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

None that I've been able to locate so far. The only repros are a velour that is supposed to mock the tweed design. For now, watching junkyards is your best bet. I'm also looking to patch up or replace a seat much the way 58mark has.

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

Resurrecting an old thread, but I just picked up a set of four seats for fifty bucks. They're in pretty good shape, except of course the driver side, and now I have two good passenger seats.

Fiftymark, how much did it end up costing you to do your driver seat once all was said and done? I'd like to do the same for my car.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

Expensive. I should have shopped around. It was close to $300

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Try finding bolster fabric for a blue LS Conteur seat. I've gotten samples from everywhere. Nothing is even close.

nosajwols

iTrader: (1)

AFAIK the passenger and driver seats are "interchangeable" but you will need to unbolt the hard parts and switch them. Not 100% sure this applies to your style but I am pretty sure. You may have to get creative to hide some of the screw holes.

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

Won't work,but he could switch the upholstery.the only thing is,he'll have to sew the inertia button hole (seat back button)

Cosmik Debris

Classic have seat coverings they call "cloth". I didn't want velour either as my 84TAs seats are a sort of cloth. I don't know the official names of all these materials.

Like this: http://www.classicindustries.com/fir...?p=3&sb=0&r=15