Topic: iridescent sheen used for original Ford upholstery material?

[Murf]

Just returned from SEMA.  For some time I have bitched that upholstery colors lacked the iridescent sheen that Ford used in the day.  TMI colors are so far off in some choices that they are virtually not useable.  Distinctive Industries seem to have the original colors and sheen very good, but probably fall short in other areas.  TMI seems to be the manufacturer of choice for most vendors, not sure for what reason, but it certainly seems they supply the majority of products to the major mail order outfits.  Now for the question!  Did the genuine seat covers used in 68 have this iridescence?  If you have a 68 with the original covers would you take a look and post what you find?  Interested in the shine, or iridescent look used on OEM 68 seats. Particular interest is in maroon.  Then a sub question follows - if 68 material had the iridescent sheen, did the comfort weave center sections found in certain options also have this sheen or was it more of a flat color?   Thanks!

[ruppstang]

John,
When I restored our HCS with the maroon interior I purchased NOS comfort weave fabric it is in my opinion flat. I will try to post a picture tonight.
Marty

[CharlesTurner]

John,
When I restored our HCS with the maroon interior I purchased NOS comfort weave fabric it is in my opinion flat. I will try to post a picture tonight.
Marty

I think it might be best to compare with original factory material.  NOS may or may not be 100% on the mark.

[Dudley]

I have a '68 with the two tone ivy green with original interior. Not sure if I would call it irridescent like I have seen in the red. I am attaching a couple pictures I had on hand, but I'm not sure how well they can depict what you seek.

[ruppstang]

John,
Here are the pictures of the 68 HCS deluxe maroon interior. Charles is correct the NOS comfort weave may be different that the factory original but this is the best I have to offer. I hope it helps in some way. Marty

[Murf]

Dudley and Marty, thanks for the reply.  First off, does the part of the seat without the comfort weave have the "Ford" shine or look to it?  The TMI seat covers for a 68 and 65 and 66 for that matter are a flat color, guess I would have to call it the "corpse" look.  The 65 an 66 original colors have a certain shine to them, sometimes call iridescent for lack of a more descriptive word.  I am not sure if the 68 had that look when Ford installed the seats in our cars. What is your opinion on this facet of our discussion?  Did the 68 material have the iridescent look?  Dudley, is your upholstery iridescent or have that unmistakable shine?  Marty, Does the NOS material you purchased have that nice bright look to the bolsters and the rest of the material surrounding the comfort weave inserts?  When we have a definite answer to this question we can move onto the sheen of the comfort weave inserts.  Perhaps others have a memory or better yet an original example of the 68 material and can join in our discussion.

[ruppstang]

The only original covers I have are parchment so it would be hard to tell about any iridescent on them. On the Maroon interior only the comfort weave is NOS fabric the rest is TMI which I think looks very nice. I think I have a picture of the original Parchment comfort weave. BTW I have some of the red NOS fabric left.
I just noticed when I posted the Parchment comfort weave picture that it appears to be a slightly different pattern than the red?

[Dudley]

Mine has a shine to it, but it does not have a deep irridescent or what I cal a pearl color to it, it does have a certain look to it though. I have seen some seats in red as what you are looking for. In Jan 1969 I bought a 66 Mustang convert in candyapple red with a red interior, and I seem to remember a difference in the seat's shine. I don't remember how the red was on the 71 Mach I bought new.

[64.5gcl]

I'm new to this party, but hoping someone can help me. I have a 64.5 conv that I need to replace the upholstery on and I'm having a tough time finding a proper color vinyl. I've owned the car since 72 and so I'm pretty sure the existing is original. It is blue on blue (82 code interior) and the vinyl is a med blue. I've been looking at tmi and distinctive industries seats and door panels. DI has a vinyl (med blue metallic) that is close in color but not quite correct. It has an iridescence to it that I don't have on my existing upholstery but I can use it if I can't find a better alternative. TMI's is a darker, greyer blue than mine that I'm not keen on using as I'll then also need to change the interior paint colors to match. Plus I don't like the color. So I guess my questions are: (1) is the iridescence on the DI blue metallic correct and (2) is there another way to go other than these two manufacturers that will give me a closer match to original?

Thanks.

[CharlesTurner]

For your 64.5, I would seek NOS vinyl and have seat covers/door panels made, there is no reproduction that is correct.  Scott Halseth at NPD can help you with getting them made, but you will need to procure the material yourself.  SMS auto fabrics and OEM auto interiors are a couple places that stock NOS vinyl.  You might be able to cross-reference the material with another Ford model, like a '64 Galaxie or Falcon.  Keep in mind that there are different weights (thickness) of vinyls.  You'll want thicker for the seat covers and thin for the door panels.  The places that sell NOS vinyl will know what you're talking about.

[Toploader]

Did the genuine seat covers used in 68 have this iridescence?  If you have a 68 with the original covers would you take a look and post what you find?  Interested in the shine, or iridescent look used on OEM 68 seats.

Take a look at the car on EBay that Jeff Speegle linked to in this post http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=7225.0.

I think the iridescent shine is pretty obvious in these pictures.