Seat upholstery opinions.

[CBODY67]

The welting is there to REINFORCE the seams, not just for looks. If you like the plain simplicity of your modern car, that's fine, but in a place it's not "period correct", it would lend a very generic look to an otherwise spiffy interior.

If you left it out and French-Stitched the seams, it would look better than your modern car does, plus keeping the reinforcement of the seams for their long-term integrity (as on 1960s Chrysler bench seats). But on the buckets, it was welting.

DO make sure the thickness, grade, and grain of the vinyl material is at least as good as the OEM items! Plus the OEM trim code probably has a pearl-tint to it, which is Chrysler product specific, which is where the metallic look comes from. Until you put a Chrysler vinyl up next to a GM or Ford similar vinyl, you don't realize how much better the Chrysler vinyl looks (with the pearl tint). BTAIM.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[Ripinator]

I’m getting the seats recovered for my Monaco.
I want the exact pattern copied but......
The stitcher asked me if I wanted all the seat welting also to match original. Initial response was “of course” but now I’m thinking of leaving it out.
This seat pattern has a lot of welting or piping in it and I’m not wild about the looks of it.
In previous cars this welting has cracked and broken long before the cloth or vinyl showed any wear.
View attachment 354453
This is the pattern with all the welting.^^^^^

Cost being the same either way.
I like the looks of the seams on my daily driver better. Shown below.
View attachment 354452
I seriously doubt anyone would even notice if I didn’t point it out.
So, all thoughts or opinions welcome.

Well. . . Dan. . . I don't usually follow the crowd, but this time I'm gonna go with them. Without the piping, etc., I don't think the interior would look right.

 

[65Fury440]

If you went with a modern pattern people are going to be asking you what the seats came out of.
It will look like you went to the salvage yard and got seats out of something modern, which would probably be a lot cheaper than having yours re-done.
Another vote for original.

 

[HWYCRZR]

The old original welting was more of a plastic material, whereas some of the new welting is vinyl sewn around a cord. It is a little softer so shouldn’t crack as easily. It still has the same effect of holding the seams together.
This is based on the welting I received from SMS to go with my red vinyl.

 

[rapidtrans]

Well. . . Dan. . . I don't usually follow the crowd, but this time I'm gonna go with them. Without the piping, etc., I don't think the interior would look right.

Agreed.
I

The old original welting was more of a plastic material, whereas some of the new welting is vinyl sewn around a cord. It is a little softer so shouldn’t crack as easily. It still has the same effect of holding the seams together.
This is based on the welting I received from SMS to go with my red vinyl.

Correct HWYCRZR.
My guy, or more specifically his daughter, makes the welting with the same material as seats wrapped around cording. The color mismatch of a vinyl welt vs the seats was my concern for maybe omitting it.
Incidentally, when I dropped the seats off I asked about the welting. The whole shop started laughing. They had just discussed the same thing 5 mins before with a customer getting his A body buckets done. He went without the welting but had them do a lap type seam that kinda mimics the welt seam.

FWIW. The vinyl sample I received from SMS is a much thinner material than the factory material in the car. Color and grain looked like a good match though.

 

[rapidtrans]

Finally stopped by the upholsterer’s shop today. Another business shut down by the Governor. Jeez, it’s a father and daughter shop yet they were forced to close. She did take one of the bucket seat covers home with her for patterns and cut all the pieces.

A lot of pieces in this design but it looks like she got it just right.
I was concerned about those pleats in the center section.
Should have the buckets done this week.

Seat back center section. Under different lighting looks much darker.