Projects seats - vinyl or cloth?

Working on a 63 nova conv. It has cloth seats now. I was going to put vinyl seat covers back on like factory.
The wife likes cloth and so do I.
Original would have been aqua vinyl.
We are thinking changing to a grey interior . Cloth seats.
I am going to get a lot of flack not having vinyl seats in a conv. ?
We are keeping the blue paint and white top. Paint is silver blue poly. Factory color.

 

Vinyl.

 

Cloth seats would get nasty when rained upon, I would imagine.

 

Yeah, you'll wonder where the wet dog came from...

 

My advice is to hold off reupholstering the seats until you fix the rust.

 

Car is getting new quarters and rockers right now. Paint will be soon. It won't be in the rain with the top down?

 

Ever sit in a convert w/ a vinyl seat that the sun's been beating down on? Your wife will appreciate the cloth.

 

It’s YOUR car and you only have to please YOURSELVES. If you want cloth, and that makes you happy, go with cloth.

When you ask for opinions on a public forum you will get answers that you may or may not want to here.

My opinion is vinyl. I couldn’t imagine owning a car like that without an original style vinyl interior. My opinion is the cloth will not be very popular.

 

If you go with cloth, you'll lose those great "vinyl fart" sounds when you get in.

 

Give the wife or girlfriend that sniffelled look when she gets in....

 

Cloth would be more comfortable, hot or cold. But....... choose your fabric carefully.... make sure the fabric is "color-fast". nothing looks worse than sun faded interiors.
Vinyl gets hotter than hell in the sun, and can burn ya good...

 

Comfort or Original, cloth or vinyl, those are your choices. If you go cloth, make sure you choose the right material.

 

I made that comment on wet seats and remembered that my Miata had cloth seats - never mind.

 

I vote cloth because of usability. I grew up with vinyl. That doesn't interest me at this stage of life.

 

there is a convertible I want to go look at to buy. has cloth seats and fuzzy carpet instead of loop definitely a turn off for me . no matter how good or bad the condition. to me it needs a full interior replacement . I will figure that into my offer. probably will be turned down . the car has been for sale for a while may be why may be not

 

If you want the car to "factory" go with vinyl.

 

I just replaced the seat covers in my gf o/t convertible with plaid cloth. I can tell you that after sitting in the Texas sun... Your **** thanks you! I know the reason behind vinyl or leather is in case it gets rained on but that probably happens less than you might think.

 

Combo can be good. I would pleat the stock cloth for inserts. Some shops can’t line up vertical pleats worth a damn. There is another way. This stock cloth but not the stock design.

 

IMHO, stick with the factory vinyl Aqua-colored interior. Gray? Half of the new cars have gray interior. Too generic. Fringe-car guy gold-chainers use gray interiors.....

I have an barely OT convertible with a factory RED interior and it get HOT...almost as hot as black. I make sure to fold the seats forward to shade the seats when parked, just like we did when we were kids. I also carry towels in the trunk for when it gets too hot. Not that big of deal, really.
Bottom line --> the factory interiors looks *****IN' when done right.

 

White marine vinyl seats, blue rugs.

 

Blue vinyl with a blue tweed inserts done my belair this way No hot vinyl to sit on

 

Changed from the original leather to cloth 25 years ago never regretted it summer or winter, I try real hard not to drive around with the top down in the rain.

 

Run the upholstery you like.

If you buying premade covers - that's the choices.

If having covers made focus on marine cloth and vinyl that have good UV and water protection. Sailrite.com has a lot of marine grade upholstery, good place to start looking.

Check this out if you've considering having covers made
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/wicked-s***ch-upholstery.1248136/
@Lloyd's paint & gl***

 

Thanks for the plug indy lol...

Vinyl is hot, and you stick to it, but it looks cool in old cars to me. Cloth is comfortable, doesn't burn the back of your legs. Have you thought about vinyl with cloth inserts?

 

listen to no bike Lloyd !!

this would be my recommendation, I’ve burned myself once to many on vinyl seats .


They do look cool , but your nut sack will thank you for a cloth insert .

 

Thanks for reply's. I will probably do the blue vinyl with cloth inserts. Best of both worlds.

 

Vinyl if you are building the car to look at, cloth if you are building the car to drive and enjoy. Choose a cloth material that looks somewhat period correct, upholster it in a style that looks somewhat period correct, and enjoy having a convertible.

I’ve found that putting the top up when it rains solves the issue of both me, and the interior getting wet.

 

Hello,

Vinyl upholstery is more durable if you get the quality covers, not just the slip on covers from the nearest simple big box auto parts store. The quality vinyl material you choose will allow you to not worry down the line when plenty of people, including your daily driving on cloth seats shows wear.

Leather, of course is the top of the line as far as looks, feel and that fabulous aroma, every time anyone gets inside of the car.

But, since owning and riding in the two listed choices over our vast history, the vinyl is preferrable. The cloth seating is thinner and if it is as thick, will not feel as nice and giving. The cloth seating flexes and therefore gives more cushion, but not necessarily comfort. The wear patterns will show up faster on cloth seating. If the pattern is plain, in one color, then shows seat wear areas versus the cloth areas not used for daily seating. Wear patterns show on cloth more so than on vinyl.


Jnaki

Think about it, sliding in and out of the driver’s seat is a daily thing. No one plops down right on the seat and gets up the same way. Everyone at one time or other, slides across the cloth material, causing wear every single day that will show up when empty. On a convertible, with the top down, it will be a more obvious dent in the cloth seats and will show everyone who looks inside, the wear.

It is not a show car and even if it is, the cloth will show daily wear the moment anyone sits into the seats. Go see various seats covered in the material before deciding. Sit in them and see the instant depression or sliding in pattern on the cloth material.

Vinyl has different grades and composition, too. So, sit in the seats that would be the choices. Looking at patch panels is like trying to get the feel of a nice T-Shirt made of cotton without knowing what the actual shirt feels like and how it will wear.

The combo of both would be preferrable if the cloth material area is not as large as the vinyl. If you can get the factory colors and material, then your convertible will actually look like it should be from the factory. Unless of course, you are going for a full custom approach to your seats and interior.