Hello,

I'm trying to restore the seats on my 73 and I have 2 questions:
1) is this part of the seat salvageable and if not
2) is there anywhere that sells this part of the cover for the seat? The rest of the seat seems like it's in rather good condition.

Thanks in Advance

 

I had a similar problem. My drivers seat was starting to show some wear. Not as bad as that. but none the less showing it's age. I tryed to find just one set.
in the end I ended up recovering both seats. If you think it looks a bit rough from the outside, wait till you start removing the upholstery from the foam/frames.
You will also find the new leather is going to look new, and well, really nice. So your other seat will instantly look out of place.
The only real answer if you want everything to match properly and look really nice is to recover both seats.
I guess that's why they sell this seat upholstery in pairs.

 

Agree with 4-vettes. I used to do this kind of work and I can see that the leather is dry rotted and has shrunk. and the threads are probably not far behind. Even if you have a fabricator replace the pieces that are bad, the rest will fail soon. And the color will never match no matter how hard you try. Save up the money and do it right...the first time. Good luck.

 

I've had my car since 1987. The seats were in quite good shape at that time. When I got the car, I switched the seats side for side. I've done it a couple of times since, and the seats are still in "good shape".

 

Both Top Flight (the old Corvette America) and Al Knoch will sell you a single seat or even just a seat bottom or backrest cover. You can't order them on line, you have to call and ask, but they will do it. I've gotten single bottoms and backs for customers who damaged a seat by sitting down with a screw driver in their pocket, or some similar accident. I think they usually charge 60% of what a full set sells for for a single seat and 30% of the cost of a full set for just one bottom or back.

I'm pretty sure they'll both also sell you the material by the square yard if you want to see if a local auto upholstery shop can replace the pleated portion of your seat bottom. In case you weren't aware, the leather seats installed in 70-82 Corvettes were only partially leather. Only the pleated section of seating portions of the seats were leather, the seat sides and back are vinyl. You can also buy collector car seat material by the square yard from SMS Auto Fabrics in Oregon.

Whether you chose to buy a single seat bottom or just the fabric to have a local shop try to repair your seats, make sure to get a sample swatch of the leather to compare to your seats, before placing an order. Not all of the fabric available today has the exact same grain or color shade as what was used 50+ years ago, and your seats may have faded or discolored after 50+ years of use and exposure to light and the environment.

 

Very interesting post and am wondering if I can that on my 78??

JJ78

 

Post a WTB ad in Parts. Someone probably has a decent (passenger) seat somewhere.