[s-cars] Ecru Seats

[Tom Green]

I couldn't find a local shop to do the legwork for me, so I did my own
search for replacement leather.  I bought a hide from the Miami Corp.
in Cincinnati after I had found a match in their 2004 GM model book and
sent them a sample from my seat.  I bought GM Nuance Shale GL337 from
the catalog and GL6414 and L6985 on the invoice for 2004 Corvette only.
This is not OEM Corvette leather, but a color match of what that car  
of that
price should have.
   It is a dead-on match for my seats as I replaced the perimeter  
leather on
two seats with the one hide of 51 sf. which cost  $321.  The center  
section
with the seat heaters was still in excellent condition.  It is also a  
more
elaborate repair job with the many stiffeners and padding and seat  
heaters
  glued on.  I also thought I would do alcantara panels if I did the  
centers.

http://www.miamicorp.com/

There are subtle shade differences in ecru from different years or just
different cars, so sending a sample for a match is a requirement.  The
finish and grain on hides varies as well.  Larry Winkler was a great  
help
and sold the hide directly to me.

I had also found lots of nice leather at <www.garrettleather.com> but no
exact matches.  I would have considered them for total replacement of at
least both fronts or the rear seat, but they would only sell to the  
trade.

The biggest hurdle was finding a shop I considered qualified and felt
comfortable with to match the French stitching with some high quality
work and attention to detail.  I have seen too many obvious repairs with
stitch width that doesn't match and isn't straight and wrinkles left  
in the
panels.  I found a shop that does custom rod interiors that has been  
out-
standing.

If you are replacing the side bolsters on the seat bottom, they are  
separate
parts and could be done with used panels.  Other parts would be  
difficult
since a single panel repair would require sewing it to the adjacent  
panel
on the original seam in the same needle holes.  Otherwise, the old holes
will show and the additional holes can weaken the seam to the extent it
will tear like perforated paper.  That helped me decide to replace the
entire perimeter of the seat backs.  I had a whole hide to use  
anyway.  :-)

Sorry it has gotten lengthy.  HTH.

Tom








-----Original message-----
> Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:40:22 -0700
> From: "Jack Walker" <a2000sportster at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Ecru Seats
> To: <hoog23 at aol.com>, <quattro20v at telus.net>,
> 	<lewisconsulting at sasktel.net>,	<s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Message-ID: <010301c77242$79c26720$6402a8c0 at NOTEBOOK>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> Definitely have been looking for a set of Ecru seats, even some non  
> S4/6
> seats to use the panels!
>
>
>
> Walker Performance Group
>
> Jack Walker
>
> (503) 807-3807 Cel.
>
> (503) 684-0353
>
>   _____
>
> From: hoog23 at aol.com [mailto:hoog23 at aol.com]
> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 12:59 PM
> To: quattro20v at telus.net; a2000sportster at aol.com;
> lewisconsulting at sasktel.net; s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Ecru Seats
>
>
>
> You may want to look for a seat that can be a donor.  I purchased a  
> decent
> condition passenger seat from a 60k wreck for $350 (US) with the  
> intention
> of swapping many of the pieces over.  A reputable local shop gave  
> me a $150
> price quote to do the swap.