Upholstery question

[JoeKan]

I'm planning on getting my seats re-upholstered on my old girl and I stopped by a auto upholstery place in town and he said it will be a couple of months before he could get to it. I'm okay with that, but I'm not too overly excited about the pattern he has or the color choice. What other options do I have? I really want it to be like the original, cloth and vinyl but everyone I spoke to says it can't be done or its way over my budget.
Should I look at other auto upholstery shops to see what they have to offer as far as patterns and colors go?
Thanks for any help,
Joe

[dagnabbitt]

The kits available from Classic Industries are pretty good. The one I bought is indistinguishable from the factory pattern. I then took it to an upholsterer to put it on.

[dmjlambert]

Originally Posted by JoeKan

...I'm not too overly excited about the pattern he has or the color choice. What other options do I have? I really want it to be like the original, cloth and vinyl ...

I think an auto upholstery shop should have a very big selection of vinyl and cloth colors and patterns. In my case I didn't want the original-for-my-truck all vinyl with scroll pattern, but instead wanted some fabric and vinyl done in a style that was period correct. So this is what I ended up with:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=731496

And here are some pictures from when I was looking at the books of fabric selections at the upholstery shop.





I suggest shop around until you find a shop with color/pattern selection books from which you can find something you really like. If you have it done locally, you can also have the shop order extra fabric/vinyl for things like dash pads and door panels.

[Zeroman]

I would think that since it is a Suburban the kits offered by the usual sources would not necessarily work. For the front seat, yes, but the rear seat is the question.

I would talk to Trish at Southwest Classics in Arlington, TX to see if they have any suggestions on sourcing the seat covers.

They helped me source my upholstery when other suppliers said it would take three months, but all I have is the one bench.

I disassembled, sand blasted, repaired, and primed/painted the seat frame.

I also was able to repair the foam myself. I watched several YouTube videos and jumped right in. I used an electric knife to cut and shape the foam.

It was not too difficult, but now I know why shops charge so much. It is labor intensive.

I was able to save some money, and have the pleasure of saying I did it myself.

PM me your email address, and I will send you some pics.

[bill3rail]

I am thinking you should have more than one choice in your area. Search and shop around. Either drive the truck to each of them or bring the seats to them so they can see what you need.

Bill

[Resto-Rand]

I have too many other priorities on my truck, so I took it to the local upholsterer and had it done in 'school bus seat / black vinyl'. He did a great job with the springs and foam and it's really comfortable.

[NorCalC20LWB]

I bought seat upholstery from a vendor on this board who is well reviewed. The kit is made by PUI, and surprisingly the vendor I bought it from must have gotten it from Brothers Truck Parts, at least that was on the paperwork in the box. Pretty easy to install with a cheap set of hog rings and hog ring pliers, plus provided an opportunity to fix some broken seat springs. I don't know the advantages/disadvantages of doing it yourself with pre made seat upholstery or taking it to an upholstery shop, buy I'm happy with the results.

[SC1969c10]

Originally Posted by JoeKan

I'm planning on getting my seats re-upholstered on my old girl and I stopped by a auto upholstery place in town and he said it will be a couple of months before he could get to it. I'm okay with that, but I'm not too overly excited about the pattern he has or the color choice. What other options do I have? I really want it to be like the original, cloth and vinyl but everyone I spoke to says it can't be done or its way over my budget.
Should I look at other auto upholstery shops to see what they have to offer as far as patterns and colors go?
Thanks for any help,
Joe

I want to say classicparts has all the original colors and scroll pattern available
Posted via Mobile Device

[FirstOwner69]

Take a look here https://smsautofabrics.com/

[dmjlambert]

Wow that could keep a person busy for a while. I like this one and would have picked something like it if I didn't go with houndstooth. It needs the right brown vinyl to go with it.

[cericd]

Originally Posted by Resto-Rand

I have too many other priorities on my truck, so I took it to the local upholsterer and had it done in 'school bus seat / black vinyl'. He did a great job with the springs and foam and it's really comfortable.

Any pics of this freshly reupholstered seat with the "school bus vinyl"? I'd like to see it.

[JoeKan]

Thank you! I think I'm going to hit up other auto upholstery places this week and get something I will be happy with.

[Jason Banks]

Originally Posted by cericd

Any pics of this freshly reupholstered seat with the "school bus vinyl"? I'd like to see it.

I really need to redo my seat. My truck is 503 Light green and has a dark green vinyl seat, just like the school buses I used to ride. It's awful.

[JoeKan]

Does anyone know of a good upholster in the Kansas City area? If so, please pm with his name.
Thanks,
Joe

[plowro8]

I used a vendor from Etsy to do my seat. She does a lot of custom seats for people all around the country and does a great job. And the cost is not much more than one of those mass produced ones you get from the parts suppliers. Check out B62 upholstery out of Arizona.

[Grumpy old man]

Are you talking about seat covers for your International ? Here is a shop that has been in business since 1954 , It's in the south side of Kansas city so it should be close to you .Just take your truck there drop it off and let them install the carpets and new seat covers at the same time . And I'm sure they can work with you and your budget to get something close to what you want .

http://www.royalautotrim.com/about.html

[JoeKan]

Thanks to the both of you. I'll give them both a call. Hey Plow, your truck looks amazing

[72Subby]

There are 2 reasons an upholstery shop might say it could take a couple of months to get around to doing your work:

1) they are the absolute best shop, busy, busy, busy.

2) they don't want to do the job (hassle, low profit margin, other reasons)

I don't believe your case can be (1), because you said they didn't have a good selection of patterns/materials (that wouldn't be an issue for the "best" shop)

So it's (2). Take your business elsewhere. Find someone who will care about the job.


I don't mean to sound negative or slag a small business I don't know ... but some shops (and body shops, even some mechanic shops) don't want to do restoration jobs, as they have quicker turnaround and higher profit margins on other kinds of jobs, or they might have a bottleneck of the skilled labor required, or just view "car guys" as PIA sometimes

These seats are simple. An upholstery kit, the instructions and a little patience, and I believe most people could do a decent, serviceable job. If you want show quality or something custom, you'll want to find another shop anyway.

[Grumpy old man]

Joe's looking for seat covers For his 1968 International

Not a Chevy truck I can't find any pictures that match the front seat most are closer to the back seat design .There must be a travel all forum ? The thing to do would be to reuse the center embossed panel and replace the worn sections .You don't have to totally replace it you can have it repaired and vinyl dye color match the back seat and leave that one alone .Your never going to find another front seat embossed section .

[JoeKan]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Joe's looking for seat covers For his 1968 International

Not a Chevy truck I can't find any pictures that match the front seat most are closer to the back seat design .There must be a travel all forum ? The thing to do would be to reuse the center embossed panel and replace the worn sections .You don't have to totally replace it you can have it repaired and vinyl dye color match the back seat and leave that one alone .Your never going to find another front seat embossed section .

Perfect!! I love to keep the old ones and didn't know I could do that. I am meeting the guy at Royal Auto on Thursday and I'll discuss that with him. I hope he can work some magic!!
Yes, I should have stated this from the beginning but my vehicle is an IH Travelall. Sorry for any confusion on my part.

[JoeKan]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Are you talking about seat covers for your International ? Here is a shop that has been in business since 1954 , It's in the south side of Kansas city so it should be close to you .Just take your truck there drop it off and let them install the carpets and new seat covers at the same time . And I'm sure they can work with you and your budget to get something close to what you want .

http://www.royalautotrim.com/about.html

I stopped by their store and spent about an hour picking out the color for vinyl and fabric. Had a real nice pleasant experience with the owner. He took the time to explain everything and answer all my questions and wasn't in a hurry. I agreed to his price and he said my seats will be ready in two weeks. A big step up from the last place I went to. Thanks for the link.