[s-cars] To re-upholster or not to re-upholster

[Tom Green]

This project and many others were put on hold this year while I dealt 
with my Mother's illness.
      It's time to move on with this one now, so I thought I would share 
some insight.

I have decided to replace seats rather than recover.  An unnamed 
individual has kept his
seats in great shape and then obliged in demolishing the car without 
damaging the seats.
      I had concluded that it was not possible to match the ecru color 
and finish of the OEM seat
unless I bought factory parts at $700+ for seat bottom and bolsters ( 
not offered separately),
$800+ for seat back cover and $50 to $75 each for the foam in the 
bolsters, and the labor to
install all this.  The most highly recommended shops in town quickly 
confirmed that generic
hides would be very close but not an exact match as their samples 
confirmed.

      It was a broken foam side bolster under the leather, and not the 
leather itself, that prompted
my first repair, where the shop talked me into replacing the leather 
rather than refinishing. Of
course, I am now so much wiser because of the experience.
      I have to say I have not seen a ecru complete seat refinish that I 
thought looked good as original, and the spot refinish was obvious.   
It takes a special refinisher for that job as well.
      I would welcome that slightly off-color refinish now, as I am 
wiser but poorer with not much improvement over the original starting 
point.

      I did find a reasonably priced black set at 
<www.autosportsunlimited.com> but have not seen
these seats as they are in Holland, MI.   Just thought I would pass the 
info on.

Tom '95 S6