Upholstery, a beginners journy

speaking of which, the carpet should arrive this week. It's acharcoal grey color
That means its time to finalize what I'm going to do with the door panels and seats, and get material on order. I'm a bit worried about this step, so if anyone has comments or suggestions, I'm open


Here is the sample material with the colors I'm thinking of using.
The Green I'll get pre-pleated 2" wide. The grey will be plain


And here is the door panel. The silver marker shows where I'll divide the pleated green on the bottom from the grey on the top. I've got enough SST pieces to cover that seam, which will run back through the rear panel also.

What I'm not sure of is how to handle the kick panel. I could put a little piece of grey at the top to match the line......

 

and here is the passengers seat.
It's a split bench from an unknown year cadi, probably early to mid '80s.
I want to delete the headrest, but keep the arm rest.

I'd like to do the green pleated material where it's pleated already, and the grey around the outside and back.
I'd also like to simplify the backrest, the cover is a bit complex now with all the little pieces, and make it more traditional looking (and hopefully easier to make)

For the back seat (which is stock 50) can I do a single larger pleated insert?

I'm not sure how far up the backrest I want to run the green, so please chime in here.

I'm also not sure what color to do the parcel shelf in.

I'd really appreciate it if you guys would give me some feedback on my plan.
Thanks
Thom

 

You folks are great here, so glad for this and other threads like this. I really want to do the interior in our roadster, I will be so bummed if I end up not. This really gives me hope, thanks guys!
Suuubbbbb-scribed!

 

Nice work so far. I have to say I am not feeling the tweed material at all. Seems kind of 80's street roddy to me. I know it's not quite the same stuff they used but its just what I think of every time I see tweed in a custom interior.


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I'm with K13 on the tweed. How about plain green vinyl with the pleated. You might also think about putting carpet on the bottom 4" of the trim panels. I try to line up the upper break line of the panel with the bottom edge of the dash. I think there are some pics in my uph album that show that. Then radius the break line up or down to miss handles and give the look you want.

 

This is a sweet tread! Lots a great info! Thanks


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Sweet!


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I am not a fan of tweed either, but Green cloth is hard to find, maybe check with some older shops or online for something> But if your choice is that it will be o.k. .I haven't been on here too much answering , I had a heart attack on the 5th.Small but tiring. Just beginning to get back at stuff. Jack

 

TWEED ??????????This is not the 80s...

 

Not feelin the tweed.

Heres a door panel I just did for a 52 Chevy.

 

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that Jack. I hope your feeling better..... I think my Dad is on his 9th or 10th now For over a decade my family was preparing for him to leave us first. He's still here and mom passed a few years ago

I thought the 80's was velour

Well Crap.
I'm not a big fan of vinyl, and I can't afford leather. I'll do some searching around to see what else I can find.

How tough is it to add the carpet to the bottom of the door panels?

Ah, I see. I'll look into moving or bending my split line.
Thanks

 

Vinyl really is the material of choice for a '50s era interior. I am using a combination of vinyl and cloth on mine. Here is a door panel I just finished.


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I have to agree with the other comments against using tweed.
I might add... it does not wear well because of the coarse weave.

 

I appreciate the feedback guys, and I value your input.

How about a houndstooth for the seat inserts?

 

nice!!!!!!!!!

 

houndstooth is a much better choice!!!!

 

I'm feeling it also Jim.

Thinking of the vinyls, has anyone use All Vinyl Fabrics?
http://www.allvinylfabrics.com/-Mar...lantis-Marine-Vinyl-Fabric-Collection/33.aspx

They have flat and matching pleated materials like this graphite color


perhaps the flat vinyl around the houndstooth on the seat.
The houndstooth on the upper part of the door panel, with pleated vinyl on the bottom?

 

You have to do what you like and are happy with, but for me the hounds tooth doesn't say 50s/60s. Vinyl would do it for me, but not the heavy GM Elk grain you picked out. I never have liked that stuff. The smoother smaller grained vinyls look much better to me.

Are you planning to sew the pleats yourself or buy prepleated vinyl? The reason I ask is prepleated will work fine for trim panels. This place sells to the general public and is close to wholesale price. http://www.garysupholstery.com/foamback.html

If you could post a pic of your door with all the handles and arm rest on it we could maybe give you some design ideas.

Hang in there. You've done well so far and and it will all work well.

 

I didn't answer your question on the carpet...not really any tougher than pleated fabric/vinyl.

 

I'm not absolutely positive but didn't '59 impala's have hounds tooth inserts?

 

I am a little lost as to what exactly you are planning to do. Are you using the hounds tooth for the pleated inserts? Are you planning to sew the pleats yourself? I am no upholsterer (just learning like you) but it seems to me with that obvious a pattern as the hounds tooth your pleats would have to be dead on or the pattern will be all over the place and not look very good.

 

The hounds tooth may not be 50s/60s but its much better than tweed. I agree with Jake, never liked the heavy grained vinyls.

 

A little off topic, but the vinyl in my DD cracks when it gets cold and then someone sits on it. That's the main concern I have with using vinyl in a seat. Is this just something that happens with age? Are there certain types of vinyl that are more durable and can handle temp extremes better?

 

subscribed

 

Hi Jake,
I'm hanging in there, just constipating about what I want LOL
I just have an aversion to putting my butt on vinyl. It's wicked hot in the summertime and cold and hard when it's winter. I'm planning on driving the wheels off it so I want it to be comfortable.

Where possible, I'm wanting to use pre-pleated material. I think I've got enough work ahead of me.

I would imagine if I used a houndstooth or other heavy pattern for the seat insert, you wouldn't want that pleated also. Might get a bit busy for me. I can see the houndstooth working as a smooth insert inside the seats.

The carpet showed up tonight I'm going to sit down with some samples and print outs and lay everything together. Maybe I'll have an epiphany (or a stroke LOL)

 

Hey that stroke joke ain't funny! If you want 50 60s cloth look for some frieze.That is what most show cars used then. I haven't looked for it in years, but I'll bet that its available. That stuff was tuff as nails,nice to sit on and pretty easy to work with. Those seats should not be too hard to make look nice,they aren't really pillow back but when you peel the covers all the shape will come off as the foam is put in the cover. I was doing the factory warranty on those back then. If you guys can,t read some of this post,it's the meds? Jack

 

LOL I'm following you Jack. I started searching for frieze, but so far nothing says UV stabalized.

The soul searching continues

 

Check these:

http://originalauto.com/. I've never used, but heard good things.

http://www.smsautofabrics.com/. Reputation for being real slow.

Either will be spendy.

 

HAHA spendy is right I was quoted $120/yrd for some of the samples I had SMS send me. NICE fabric for sure but it was a bit out of my price range.

 

FYI...
SMS Auto Fabrics is difficult to do business with, they do eventually deliver but not without many inquiry calls...promised 2 week shipment time line, I received order 9 months later! Had a different excuse with every phone call. Put me in a very awkward position with my client, not to mention upsetting my job scheduling. This was NOT just a one time experience...I no longer deal with them...if there is no other option, I explain and warn of their business practices to the customer and let them decide if they want to pursue SMS on their own.
Understandably problems arise in any business...It would be much easier to deal with the delays if SMS would be more straight forward and truthful about the situation. Dealing with Mr. Pollock, the owner, is not a pleasant experience!

I don't mean to ramble off thread...
Just a word of caution from my experience, as well as comparing notes with others in the industry.