Thomba48 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 On 4/27/2018 at 5:05 AM, Mark D said: Thom - SMS Auto Fabrics makes Highlander cloth, I had looked into this as a potential for my convertible interior, as inserts to reduce the leather cost. However it proved to be only a minor change, so I decided to go all leather. Mark I actually approached them regarding the green fabric. Which they have and now they would charge me 125 USD. Are they mad!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 16 minutes ago, Thomba48 said: Mark I actually approached them regarding the green fabric. Which they have and now they would charge me 125 USD. Are they mad!!!! 16 minutes ago, Thomba48 said: Mark I actually approached them regarding the green fabric. Which they have and now they would charge me 125 USD. Are they mad!!!! Yes - they have a horrible reputation also. But this is the closest I’ve found. In the end I decided to stay all leather. But I might add some accents in the future on the door panels and that willl keep the cost down. Sadly I don’t know of any alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomba48 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) 1 minute ago, Mark D said: Yes - they have a horrible reputation also. But this is the closest I’ve found. In the end I decided to stay all leather. But I might add some accents in the future on the door panels and that willl keep the cost down. Sadly I don’t know of any alternatives. I actually found one in the us. They are selling NOS cloth only. But they are charging even more!!!! Actually your 99USD offering I might have accepted, after all I just need 3 yards for my purpose. But this 125 price tag - no!! Edited August 2, 2018 by Thomba48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 18 minutes ago, Thomba48 said: Mark I actually approached them regarding the green fabric. Which they have and now they would charge me 125 USD. Are they mad!!!! they are not mad...they got the stuff mad men want.....as for the convertible....most folks would never entertain cloth in one of these.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomba48 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 1 minute ago, Plymouthy Adams said: they are not mad...they got the stuff mad men want.....as for the convertible....most folks would never entertain cloth in one of these.... You are absolutely right on that. What I am planning to do is to reuse the existing vinyl parts (on the usual places). And replace to usually light beige part with fabric. Mine is not only filthy and dirty but very torn. Leather simply would not work. I kind of like the Highlander idea. But I can also see why cloth is strange ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrE1xxMc2NbrT0AE1FXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=red+tartan+fabric&fr2=piv-web&fr=opensearch while one may be in love with the red highlander plaid, many red tartan fabrics out there form 9 to 25.00 a yard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper50 Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=6 close enough? Edited August 2, 2018 by casper50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomba48 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 8 minutes ago, casper50 said: https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=6 close enough? Looks nice. I actually need the green variant ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper50 Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) Start looking at tartan kilt material. Not a huge difference in price but it's better. Edited August 2, 2018 by casper50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 One caution automotive fabrics and cloth from the local bolt shop are not necessarily of the same caliber. Managing 2.5 millions square feet of corporate home office I have had the opportunity to learn all about fabrics and wear testing. “Butt rubs” as they call it is the measure of quality. Make sure you go for fabrics that are intended for upholstery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desoto1939 Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 Yes the prices have gone up and up over the years also checkout labron for material and you will also see that they have high prices. If you are going for a Senior car that has been a total ground and frame off restoration and you want to have the bragging right about your car then you will need to spend the big bucks to get the car perfect as it would have looked like when it came off the showroom floor. Also remember that there are only a few material makers and from what I have seen they come from England and Europe. So you have to figure the cost to manufacture the material and shipping to the states and then also the demand here in the states for someone to stock the materials. restoring a car is not cheap these days, so the big question is how far do you want to go with the car, total rebuild or have a driver? This is the million dollar question. Most antique cars are really drivers so if a driver then go with the best material that you can and what you can afford. if someone comments on the car then I always ask them where is their car if they do not like what I have done to the car or ask them for the money to get the car to their standard. I am not trying to be smart with my comment to them but there is only so much money a person has so i do not comment about someone else car because I understand the economics. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted August 3, 2018 Report Share Posted August 3, 2018 DESOTO, exactly my sentiments. I like this phrase, not mine "the car was built for me by me!" Or, "I didn't paint it because I didn't know which color you would want"! Currently I'm watching the leather sofas for sale on Craig's list!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted August 3, 2018 Report Share Posted August 3, 2018 You might want to do your tappet covers too... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT-47P15 Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 I looked for some plaid material for a while in past years. Yes.......SMS is high. So I checked fabric stores......and learned that a fabric used in a car, especially a convertible, should be UV resistant. And most if not all home use fabrics are not UV treated. Someone suggested material used on boats and outdoor furniture......but I could never find a source of such material around here. (There has to be some place to get it.) So my son in law purchased some vintage fabric from a supplier in Kansas City....solid color tan and solid maroon.....which is very similar to what came originally on my car. My door panels and rear side panels were leather but seats were cloth. Leather was an available option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomba48 Posted August 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 That surely looks nice. You are absolutely right. One can not take any fabric (Ok that is mistakenly said - you can take any fabric. In the end, the question is how often do you want to change it). I haven't finally made up my mind what to do in the end. I shall talk to an upholstery soon and will then decide. This is how my car looks like - on the surface by just looking at the picture great. In reality quite dirty, full of greases, which even the best cleaning detergent did not manage to take off. And a few cuts on various parts (increasingly growing). Interestingly, it is actually not a cloth but feels like a "washable plasticy material". Could be original - not not first day original, but original in the sense that this might have been the type of material that was used then. Not sure, what material that might be. I am planning to reusing the vinyl fabric - simply it is everywhere and I want to change as little as possible. So not sure of the Highland approach makes sense - even if I go the green highlander route. Certainly not something as light as currently. Maybe leather? But not sure how this would work with the Vinyl stuff? As you can see - I am still clueless, but then why not ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT-47P15 Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 I'm guessing your seats are original.......probably made of an early version of vinyl or some new (at that time) synthetic material on the light portion. There are some vinyl materials that look like leather with a grain in them. The problem is some things are not made nowadays......so where do you find a suitable replacement. I think my son in law got my seat material from a supplier in Kansas City that was going out of business. You may need to visit with an upholstery shop in your area and see what they know about various materials. Some shops that have been in business a long time have kept remnants of old fabrics tucked away on a top shelf and might accidentally have something you could use. If you have several shops, you might visit them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg51T&CWagon Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 Are you sure those aren't seat covers? have you taken a seat out and look at the attachment area to see if there is something underneath? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomba48 Posted August 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 Good thinking ?But no I am sure. I have taken everything out and checked the state of the material. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomba48 Posted August 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 Did some research. It looks like the convertibles used a saran like fabric. Never heard of before but is a kind of PVC like material. Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sser2 Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 Leather for convertible seats, but it has to be automotive grade leather with special UV-resistant finish, which is not cheap. Alternatively, there are protective finishes that can be applied on furniture-grade leather to make it more resistant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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