The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Where is the best place for Advanced Design seat covers

My seat is in need of total refurbishing, the cover, wadding and burlap are disintegrating.
Where is a good place for all the materials?

there was a really good place on sonoma blvd.
close to georgia st.,dont know if its still there, mac's top shop. i think theres a couple other ones in that area also.

What year truck are you talking about?

I bought mine from LMC and they fit very nicely. Original pattern/grain brown vinyl.

Ditto on LMC. I just put their 38-2204 GR gray pleated in my 54. The workmanship on the cover was top-shelf...stitching was tight and seams are real smooth. There is a 1/2" foam backing for the pleats which helped smooth things out. Didn't have to do any trimming at all. The pleated cover, although no stock for that year, really sets off the cab. The 54 uses little clips you insert into a channel and they were kind of a pain. I used hog rings on the seat bottom. They don't offer a repair kit so I just used some batten material from WallyWurld to smooth out the voids.

I'm going to add a couple pictures to my shoebox of the finished look!

Say thar Florida, how’d ya get that primer to shine so much?? Just kidding, that gray is kind of an unusual color, you must be an old Navy guy, but it does work very nice with your truck.
I don’t know how you guys get so much done in such a short amount of time. You must be a retired “Auto Shop Teacher” judging from the nice work you’ve done on the ’54.
I’m retired also and have spent most of the day and night out in the garage since the first of September when Big Red, a ’50, 3604 entered my life. Bout all I have managed so far is the front end, brakes, drive line, doors (inside) and a LOT of little details and clean up. Most running gear parts for the 3/4 ton’s are a LOT harder to find than the 1/2 ton, makes me wish sometimes that I had held off for a 1/2 ton. I’m hoping to start the frame up restoration next year. I need to make room in the barn by getting rid of two planes and 300 old radios, then, I’ll have some room to work.

Thanks for all the great pictures, my dial up is to slow to view all of them. I’d be there a month waiting for pics to download, but I do look at a few every time I go to your album, I’ve even got it book marked.

I was going to take my seats down to the local custom auto upholstery shop and have them do the work, sewing new covers and all, but you guys about got me talked into calling LMC and ordering a set from them.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Hi Denny,

Saran Wrap.....I buy the BIG pack....once a week and nobody would ever guess. When it gets dull, wrinkled, or I drive over 40, it peels right off! Cuts down on wash jobs too! USN (65-69) In reality it's called "Dove Gray" Chevy truck color. Guilty...although I preferred teaching "powder-puff" auto mechanics...the ladies were more attentive!
9/11/05 to 8/10/06...40-60 hrs/wk 1400 hrs. (obsessive compulsive behavior)the trucks are my therapy!!!!

Yep...my wife said it was "either the truck or me!" I miss her.... sometimes!

Ubetcha on the 3/4 ton....now that's a truck. A guy's just gotta remember that "its the journey and not the destination" that keeps us burning the midnight oil. Trying to figure out our own ways of solving all the little problems that these old girls present, keeps us off the streets and out of mischief.

On a more serious note....you want to check out the frame on your seat...especially on the driver's side where it gets extra stress. I had to wrap a band of 1/8X1/2" band metal w/pop rivets to replace a good portion that had just rusted away. There's also a union of the round band at the top of the seat that rusts away. I just made a sleeve out of 1/4" steel fuel line...crimped it down and a couple wraps of duct tape and she was good to go!!! You'll probably want to order hog rings as I couldn't find any locally.

I went with LMC as they had the pleated cover...a bit more pricey but I like the look.
Also the foam backing was stitched on, so it looks fairly smooth.

You haven't got an L-19 in the barn, have you?

Take care,

Dave

The original upholstery in my ’50, 3600 has a very pronounced grain to it, and this is also present on the door panels. I am a little reluctant to order because If it isn’t like the original I’m gonna have to send it back. I’m concerned about the door panels, they all say cardboard in the catalogs, but mine are made from the water proof panel board material with a heavy embossed (paper?) on the face. This is what the upholstery shops use.

Nope, the only Bird dog in my hanger is named Gracy Mae, my Puggle puppy. Got a Pitts S1D and a Vagabond though, ya tain’t lookin' for a couple of planes are ya????

Nothing other than minor surface rust on anything so far and I've been crawling in, around and over big red every day for four months, scrappin’ and poking’. But thanks for the heads up, when I get the covers off I'll pay special attention to the spots you mentioned.

“My purpose is not the time nor the money but the task at hand ” got a little sign up over the bench that reminds me of this.
Gonna stick with the Mariner Blue, USAirForce ’64-68’.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Jim Carter's upholstery material seems to be a good match of colors, grain, and stitching with originals (except he does not have the original-style gray/maroon for '54 seats). He would probably send you samples of material, if you asked.

Some people varnish/seal the back side of the cardboard pieces. Some people buy plexiglas or tempered/water-proofed masonite board, or luaun plywood (varnished) and cover it with material to match the seats.

Tim

Denny,

If you can't get the right color or grain from them, I have a place I get original vinyls and fabric. Let me know if you need help and I'll find out for you. Tom

Hey Denny,

Just had a feeling you were a bird man!!!!! No offense intended!!!! Easy to read a fellow veteran....something sticks even 50 years later. Yeah...I keep my eyes open for old "bird dogs".

Most of the panels I've seen from the normal suppliers are flimsy cardboard....if you're going back to totally stock you may have to do some digging. I used tempered masonite with a velour fabric.....use the flimsy stuff as a pattern. I consider my truck a restification...
"sorta original looking at first glance" but with a few basic upgrades.

I'm sure you'll be able to find something close.
Ubetcha on "the task at hand"! Makes life interesting!