Great information!
Sabbia always looked to me like a Beige that faded over the years. I had mine totally redone back in 2000 and I never understood how the damn thing could have faded that much. Over the years since I have slowly decided that it never faded from beige at all, it was a slightly faded Sabbia. Part of the reason I really believe that now is how it looks today. The car was only 13 years old when I bought it "looking faded". The redo to tan or beige or whatever it is called, was done 20 years ago now and it looks exactly as it did back in 2000. In other words, I think I ****ed up picking the color....
I had a horrible time considering color for my seat covers, only surpassed by the impossible time I had picking carpet color. If this interior ever gets completed, I can’t wait to see what it all looks like. Man this is easier on old Corvettes.
Those of you that have had seat leathers installed... do you have any pictures at all you could post? Either all installed or during the process? I’m wondering if this could be helpful. It would be super appreciated!
Thanks for the images GordonC. I was worried about picking something that isn't a factory color, but my take away from this tread is that unless it is way off, lots of shades of "tan" can pass for at least one of the factory colors. I was also hoping to find a color that when scratched doesn't show it too much(ie the color is close to the natural color of the leather underneigh). But, I'm also thinking Crema goes better with an exterior of blu chairo, than say Saddle. Logic: white/blue work better than brown/blue on the color wheel chart. I'll take a picture off the samples when they get here next week to get opinions.
Here are some pictures from my install.all them and I think you are worrying about this too much. Interior restoration is a major job and expensive. Call Vic, send him your seats, then install and enjoy them. Its worth the extra money and you only have to do this once. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Local streetrod upholstery shop did mine. GAHH leather, i think my total cost with leather, carpet, and installation including recovering arm rests rear deck, and new a pillars was about $2500 in2010. The Delorean seatbelts were extra. I can live with a few wrinkles for $5K difference in cost. Doug Doug Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Street rodders in general do very fine upholstery work. They are very used to the foam cutting and sectioning I was trying to describe.. I agree you should not see wrinkles, in a newly completed job. Ferrari ladies do not install wrinkles!!
I bought new leather seat covers and foam, along with hog rings and pliers, for my ‘61 Corvette and watched the following video five times. I had all the tools and thought I was ready. No way. I took the mangled things to a good professional. Matt
AZ Doug, new leather new carpet and installation for $2500? One screaming deal. There is no such deal where I live. Last year, I did a total interior for my sister's 380SL (because she is family so I did it) and it turned out pretty good. There were wrinkles that will likely go away with time. The carpet was easy, the seats was very difficult to do. The you tube videos make it "look" easy but it is not. If this is your first time, it will not be perfect.
I bought direct from GAHH, the price they charged me was about 35%-40% less than posted "retail" prices, so I am sure that is part of it. And going to a streetrod shop, rather than a Ferrari/exotic car shop, I paid perhaps $45/hr vs $100/hour for the labor. Yes, there were "Big Name upholsterers in PHX that charge 2.5 times as much, but they do no better work, or if it is better, it is marginally so. Doug
Matt, if it makes you feel any better, my guy who is pulling his hair out on these 308 seats, does full NCRS frame off restorations all day long and does C1 and C2 interiors in his sleep! He had the body off my split window a day after I left it with him. So, while some people don’t believe it, these seats appear a bit more challenging for same reason.
I had a 66 Corvette coupe in Nassau blue and a 63 convertible. Sorry, but they are on totally different ends of the spectrum when it comes to the manner in which they were constructed and that goes for interiors also. Certainly not knocking your interior guy but with everything, there’s a learning curve. The service I received from Vic’s upholstery a.k.a. topsonline with both my Ferrari and Lotus Esprit S1, was top notch and hardly exotic car pricing. Definitely earned a customer for life. 2cts.
I understand it’s not the same. Oddly, I finally got an answer back from Vic regarding my inquiry on sending my seats for install by him. He responded by saying he can’t give me a price, because they don’t do installs. He said he had a customer who came to him with a problem once, so he farmed out the install to a shop he knew.
So I’m to understand that you once again emailed him instead of talking to him directly by phone? Agree that it’s probably time to look for another vendor/installer
Image Unavailable, Please Login Here’s my interior recently redone. About 11k US. Whole interior. All custom done copied from original. I want to be buried in this car. It smells as good as it looks. Image Unavailable, Please Login Hopefully this post worked. It’s my first time posting and don’t know how to post photo from iPhone.
This is where Vic gets his leather: http://www.globalupholstery.com/product/leathers/euro-autolux-leather.html Now I understand his choice of naming convention better. It's just taken directly from here. "new" Crema looks just like "magnolia". I also don't think Vic supplies the rear pouch on the passenger seat? Anyone know anything about it? I assume it is standard on all 82-85 GTS models since they don't have a center storage bin like the GTB's? Could someone with an original seat take a picture? Not too many on-line pictures due to it's hidden location.
When you order your seats, you have the option of buying a piece of leather that covers the removable, fiberglass seat backing, as well as the elastic topped pocket. If you order the pocket, you get two pieces of leather; one for the fiberglass and the other top piece with the elastic hem on top. Vic can also make new GTS door pockets. He uses your original pressboard interior and lock and covers it with new leather. I did not order these but re-dyed my originals. Vic's leather is sourced from this company, https://www.pasubio.com/en/ If you go to the Products section, then Production there is a nice series of photos to show how the letter is processed. There is not a color sample page on the manufactures site.
You forgot the 4 letter words which automatically come with this job. I tried it one time in my younger years on one of my earlier cars and decided in the future to leave it for the professionals.
