longbros

I am getting ready to freshen up the interior of my 70. It has a bright blue interior, and I have seen plenty of bright blue interiors out there that look great, but are not even close to the original colors. Carpets that are too light, vinyl that is too light, etc., all very generic in color. I need seat covers, seat foam, carpet, door panels, and pillar post trim.

I have always heard that Al Knoch has the best interiors, and the vinyl sample they sent me is dead on for the color match. I am getting ready to request a carpet sample also, just to be certain.

Does anyone have any experience with Willcox, or any of the other vendors, as far as matching the original colors? There is a signifcant price difference between these vendors. For instance, Willcox is running a sale with reduced shipping, etc.

This car is not a show car, but I want the colors to be correct. I know others on the Forum have had issues with the bright blue carpet colors. Any insight would be helpful
Thanks.

gofastvette

Al Knock makes interiors, and as far as I know there is but only a couple that manufacture complete interiors from scratch, but Knock is considered as the best ...If a show car and to be correct as OE, a Knock interior cannot be beat and the only way to restore

7T1vette

If you can find some unfaded areas of carpeting and vinyl in your car (underside of seatcovers; rear compartment area; etc), you can cut some small pieces to send to carpet vendors and/or interior parts suppliers.

If your interior parts are not damaged, you would be better off cleaning them well (detergent, rinse, rinse, rinse, dry) and giving them a fresh coat (or two) of SEM ColorCoat vinyl dye. NOT THE STUFF IN RATTLE CANS!! Sorry...didn't mean to bust an eardrum. They can mix it to a GM interior color code (give them model year also!) or match it to a piece you bring in.

Get SEM in liquid form at a pro auto body paint supply store. You can also buy $10 Pre-Val gas/bottle sprayer at the same store, if you don't have spray equipment. The bottle sprayer does a WONDERFUL job with [thin] vinyl dye.

Can redoing the interior really be that inexpensive and easy??? Yes...

Good luck with your project.

Alan 71

Hi lb,
You need to ask Willcox which manufacturers interior parts they're selling.
Only then can you make a good decision as to quality and price.
Regards,
Alan

Crafty12

I JUST went through this miserable process. Please learn from my mistakes.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...pet-color.html

I ordered bright blue ACC 80/20 from Willcox without asking for a sample. It arrived and was not even close to correct for my car. It was a very light baby blue. Pics in the link above. So after paying to ship that back, and a restocking fee I requested samples from Al Knoch. They sent me a sample and it was pretty close, not right, but much closer than the ACC. They were out of that particular stock at the time, so after about 3.5 weeks my new carpet was on the way. It arrives and damned if it isn't the exact same light blue that I just sent back to Willcox.

I call Knoch and tell them that the carpet they sent me is not correct for my car, AND it doesnt match the sample they sent me. So to make it easy I put the original middle cubbie door carpet into an envelope and FedEx-ed it to Knoch. They took that to their warehouse and sent me a sample of the closest thing they had. It was a '65 blue that is a bit grey/green slate-ish. Not right vs my original bright blue, but closer than the light blue. So now its decision time. Do I go with the light blue, or send that back and get the darker?

I put the question to the guys at Masterworks. They recommend Mid-America to me. I called them up and requested a sample of their bright blue. While waiting for the sample to be delivered I find this link.

http://classiccars.com/listings/view...sylvania-18518

This is one like what you described. Restored, looks pretty good, but obviously not the same color. But I'm feeling pretty defeated by now. I am already 2.5 months beyond the day I ordered my first set of carpet. So after seeing the pics in this ad I resign myself to the fact that I am going to have to use the light blue.

Low and behold the next day my Mid-America sample(s) show up. They sent me a sample of 68 bright blue which is the baby blue, and a sample of 69-70 bright blue. Their 69-70 bright blue is about 98% the same color. Its just a bit different, but very very close. I ordered a set of that bright blue the very next day.

To their credit Knoch is giving me a full refund including the cost of me shipping their carpet back to them.

I guess the main point of my mini-rant is get a sample before you buy anything. Don't do what I did.

Also to your question about vinyl, I got a sample of that from Knoch too and it is spot on.

Hope this helps and saves you some headache.

72C3Vette

Lord, sounds painful. I'm glad I decided to go black on my interior. Can't mess up black.(or so I hope)

Easy Mike

Talk to Ernie and the guys at Willcox. They can get Al Knoch for you.

Crafty12

That's what got me into this spot. I re-did the black interior on my 73, and I ordered black carpet from Willcox. It was ACC and it worked great, so when it came time for the blue I just ordered what had worked well in the past. It never crossed my mind that the blue might not match the OE.

Raphiki

Carpet and soft goods are hard to match. They fade with age and colors vary from bolt to bolt. That's one reason I went to black and will never go back.

longbros

So, if I understand you correctly, you bought your seat covers from Al Knoch, and your carpet from Mid-America?

Crafty12

Well technically I bought carpet from all three

Yes, I bought my carpet from Mid-America. They had the best match to the OE carpet.

I have not bought seat covers from anybody yet, but I got a vinyl sample from Knoch, and when it comes time for seat covers I will buy them from Al Knoch.

longbros

Great, that is my plan also. I was part of you initial thread about the carpet color. Thanks for your input.

Crafty12

I remember. You had the key photographic evidence in the case.

So I got my carpet set from Mid-America today. I snapped a pic or two for you. In the pic is the cubbie door from the new set. Also shown are the two square samples from MA. The light is their 68, and the dark is 69-70. The third piece the smallest piece is a scrap of my original carpet from under the park brake console. Hope this helps.

longbros

Thanks so much for the pics. The sample and large piece from MA are very close to the original. The 68 light color is what I have seen in a lot of other 70 Bright Blue cars, and it is obviously not right. I called MA today and ordered samples of the 70 Bright Blue carpet and vinyl. Thanks again, very helpful.

Crafty12

Even though its 38° here in Michigan I couldn't wait any longer to get started now that I have my Mid-America carpet.

I learned another valuable lesson. KEEP your old carpet. When I redid my 73 last winter I just tossed the old carpet without thinking, and it took me almost 3 months to get it all in. (I measure twice, then stare at the problem for 3-4 days then measure twice and cut once.) This time on the 70 I saved the old carpet. Using it as a pattern, I got most of the back trimmed and fitted in four or so hours today. I wish I could go back in time and smack myself on the back of the head for throwing out that old carpet before I got the new stuff on the 73 build.

0Willcox Corvette

Hi Crafty12-

Starting at the beginning of last year I’ve made it my goal to correct errors being made by ACC in both color and molds, for all cars 1965-1977. While doing some research for a picture of an original convertible T section I found this thread.

Some of these corrections made were the issues with the Royal Blue 71-72, and the bright blue 70. Both colors were not the correct shade and all our carpet sample pictures have been changed to reflect the correct colors. I also discovered an original section of the 1970 bright blue carpet we had here, I used it to compare with for as close of a match as possible.

My humble apology goes out to you for the issue and hassle it created. I wish I had found this sooner.

Original pure samples are hard to find these days and hopefully when I’m finished there will be no more issues. Acc’s color code for the 1970 bright blue is the same as that for the 1965-1969 and when I’m finished with my project I hope ACC will switch their colors to what is correct. Once we change our color codes in our system, the error from us will never be made by us again.

Again, I apologize for the error and today issued you a paypal refund on the restocking charge and the shipping.

Regards,

Willcox

Crafty12

Ernie,

That was an incredibly kind gesture. I was not expecting it, so it was a nice surprise. I'd love to see a sample of the 70 bright blue when ACC makes it. I'd tear my carpet out again if I find the exact color.

0Willcox Corvette

I'll have them send you some samples..

Ernie

66L36Coupe

Now that's service. Way to earn new customers and repeat business!

donbayers

Ernie

Please add me to your list of folks to send a carpet sample of the 70 bright blue. My car was built on the first day of production