Topic: 67 Deluxe Seat Upholstery

[Bossbill]

Since the Shelby is currently in paint jail I have decided to tackle the last remaining large project...the deluxe seat upholstery.

There are many issues with sourcing correct material for the 67 seats (which may apply to other years).
I bought the SEMs smooth black vinyl and find it to be an excellent match to the four front seats I have at hand. Two are original to my car with two from a long ago parts car.

I have a sample of SEMs Comfortweave and although it has holes and looks very close, it is different.
It's my intent to use the best Comfortweave panels from the four seats. Once cleaned they look as new as I'll probably end up using the passenger panels.

The piping is a bit of an issue. The piping is an unusual 1/8 grain textured product (od of the round portion). While it's possible to find 1/8 piping none have the correct texture. All of the reproduction covers I've seen have a very large, incorrect piping. The original piping is very narrow and easily spotted on the show field.
I have taken some spare back seats apart in order to source more piping in case my upholsterer needs more.
I'm assuming it can be reused.

Speaking of which, I'm looking for a custom upholsterer in the greater Puget Sound area.
Has anyone used one they can recommend?

Also, anyone see any issues with my plan?

[kitdoctor]

Hi Bill,

We both could be suffering from classic car research fatigue in our search for the highest quality reproduction parts and finishes LOL.  SMS, SEM, ACC Inc. etc. all these initialisms. My brain is fuzzy.

I too recently received samples from SMS Auto Fabrics but I can't compare my original Comfortweave (now USD189/yard) with their sample as my car is stored thousands of kilometres away.  Are you able to show/explain what you consider the variation/s? Could it be accounted for by age wear and tear (e.g. fading, stretching)?  My seats have some damage and I have the decision to make, repair or have completely new seat upholstery made.

I've found SMS hard to deal with. One requests very specific information.  They didn't answer my question, how much fabric do I need?  How did they perform time wise with the delivery of your ordinary vinyl and how did they pack it, was it adequate?

I did find this about TMI's piping https://store.cobranda.com/upholstery.html - extruded piping rather than wrapped.  Maybe you could obtain a sample and see how it compares.

Cheers
Noel



 

[Bob Gaines]

Hi Bill,

We both could be suffering from classic car research fatigue in our search for the highest quality reproduction parts and finishes LOL.  SMS, SEM, ACC Inc. etc. all these initialisms. My brain is fuzzy.

I too recently received samples from SMS Auto Fabrics but I can't compare my original Comfortweave (now USD189/yard) with their sample as my car is stored thousands of kilometres away.  Are you able to show/explain what you consider the variation/s? Could it be accounted for by age wear and tear (e.g. fading, stretching)?  My seats have some damage and I have the decision to make, repair or have completely new seat upholstery made.

I've found SMS hard to deal with. One requests very specific information.  They didn't answer my question, how much fabric do I need?  How did they perform time wise with the delivery of your ordinary vinyl and how did they pack it, was it adequate?

I did find this about TMI's piping https://store.cobranda.com/upholstery.html - extruded piping rather than wrapped.  Maybe you could obtain a sample and see how it compares.

Cheers
Noel

Noel, what is not mentioned that is just as important as the construction of the welting is the diameter . The original welt in places is typically much thinner diameter compared to most repro. It is typically a visually dramatic difference in size. That is if historical authenticity matters. The small diameter welt is typically extruded because it is too small to wrap with the normal used vinyl. Some people like the large diameter vinyl wrapped welt better because the grain in the vinyl used to wrap matches the grain in the vinyl used everywhere else.

[Bossbill]

Noel,

It's interesting the variations we see about SMS customer service. I've had good luck, but I don't ask a lot of questions.

Bob answered the welting/piping question. If you don't have enough for your seats from your old seats, grab a back seat from a 67 and strip off the piping. I want an authentic look. The large welting some sell just looks wrong. I would expect a judge to hit you up  for the incorrect piping (if that matters to you).

I don't want to recover my rear seats so I'm re-using my comfortweave from (four) front seats to get the same look front and rear. If you use SMS front and rear it looks pretty good. The sample I have from them breathes (you can blow through it) but looks a bit different than the original. I thought I posted a pic elsewhere here.

I'm seeing some interesting prices in my area and I expect to pay in the area of $1500-2000 just for the front (and a repair some of the smooth vinyl in the rear). This does NOT include the material.