Recovering seats

[michaelhuddleston]

I just bought a 1931 Model A. I didn't want a show car all, but instead a solid driver, and I am getting exactly that. The one problem for me is that the entire interior looks to be that original grey color, but then the seats are brown, torn, and well abused.

I want to get them covered, but am not sure what to do. I don't need anything fancy. I just hate brown, especially since nothing else is brown. Should I do a grey cloth seat, and if so, what covers would look right? My upholstery guy suggested doing good quality black vinyl since the car and wheels are black, and since it's impossible to match the rest of the interior.

Anyways, I'm at a loss. I wish I could just find some original grey seats. Thoughts? Black? Grey? Vinyl? Cloth? Suggestions?

Thank you,
Mike

[Tom Wesenberg]

Vinyl is hot and sticky in the summer, and cold in the winter. Try Classtique upholstery or Lebarron Bonney.

[Mitch//pa]

Agree don't go vinyl in your A. Lebaron Bonney has driver quality cheaper interiors to choose from, if their main product is to expensive. Custom fit pre made you can easily do it yourself

[Neil Mylar LakewoodCA]

Mike,
What body style is it?
Do you have any pictures of the interior?

[michaelhuddleston]

How much are these Labaron driver quality interiors? I was quoted $750 for the job.

Thanks for the advice on the vinyl interiors

[michaelhuddleston]

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Tudor body. No interior pictures on my phone.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Tudors are easy to just cover up and drive if you want to go cheap. Just buy two pillow cases to slip over the seat backs, and two more to pin over the bottoms.
This also works well to protect your expensive upholstery.

[michaelhuddleston]

Talked to the upholstery guy and told him my concerns. He said he can just do a simple recover in grey cloth to match the rest of the interior instead. $750 I know is a good price, and it may be cheaper now with the change to cloth. New padding and blasting the springs and repainting are included. Thank you for the replies and advice.

[Mike V. Florida]

Welcome to the barn and enjoy would car.

[Capt Quahog]

Owned an amateur restored 30' Tudor years ago that had Ford "Checker" style cloth repro seat covers. To recollection, the stuff was kinda coarse burlap bag like material that was quite rugged. Should I keep the current 1931 Ford, was thinking of seeking out the Ford Checker stuff. Mohair is nice but was big bucks decades ago and must be prohibitively expensive now.

[700rpm]

Don't do naugahyde or vinyl. You will regret it later, and want to redo it. Have your guy get a good quality upholstery grade cloth, and go that way. If the price includes front and back seats, it's a good deal. Just fronts, not so much. Make sure he does the fronts with the lower back tail piece included.

[Kahuna]

Also something to think about:
Pockets in the back of the front seats, as you can never have enough storage in a Tudor sedan

[michaelhuddleston]

Thank you everyone. He is going to use cloth. I'll ask him about adding pockets

[duke36]

One detail to inquire about is the foundation under the cloth. Many shops now use foam
padding (which can disintegrate) directly under the covering. Cotton allows the covering to breathe better. Also, buy a little extra yardage/ scraps for repairs, etc. and keep it rolled in a dry area away from sunlight. Trying to match material dye lots at a later date is difficult to impossible.

[C26Pinelake]

$750 front and back including all labor and materials is a steal! Don't even consider vinyl! Wayne

[DougVieyra]

In the 1940's and 1950's, we just through a colourful Mexican or Indian blanket over any 'ratty' looking upholstery. Such a practice was quite common in those days, and was well received by the public.
Today the process might even be called 'chic'. And while being nostalgic, it would also be an economical way to 'retro' your car's interior to reflect back on those halcyon days of yore.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Kahuna

Also something to think about:
Pockets in the back of the front seats, as you can never have enough storage in a Tudor sedan

While that may be a good idea, just remember those seats when properly upholstered have the backrest folded upside down when making ingress/egress for the rear seat. I would think anything in that seatback would fall out when turned upside down.

[burner31]

It's a shame that you can't just buy the seat kit, either front or rear, in your choice of color/material, for your particular model/year from the vendors, they want you to buy the whole darn kit.
Some only need/want/or afford single pieces at a time.

[31Tudor]

A Tudor upholstery kit is about $2,000 for the kit, not installed. Really not a bad price considering the overall cost of a restoration. Tires alone are almost a $1,000, you can easily spend more than that on an engine rebuild. Paint and interior are probably the two most single stand out things that most people notice first.

[duke36]

Attached are some samples from my files. Le Baron has similar materials and would at last check make up partial sets.