Does anyone sell "Proper FITTING" 1987 tan (was originally leather/suede). ( Naugahyde/ Pleather) seat covers for a 1987 GT ? I don't want leather (Too hard). I don't want "Covers" that go over top, I'm looking for new upholstery to replace the original, but in artificial leather. Does anyone make them ?? Thanks
Not premade I know of. I did have naugahyde upholstery done in my Ferrari kit. I had a local guy do it and wasnt that much...I think around $300. It looked like leather but def outwore it. Looked new after 7 years of driving it as a daily driver. I also had one of my Corvettes done with naugahyde that was originally all cracked, split and seams breaking. They looked like the OEM, but without all the pinholes that made it crack. The only leather I like is suede. Its factory in the Sebring and still in excellent condition...10 year old convertible. Have you checked to see if the Fiero upholstery guy (I forget his name) will make them for you ? Hes upholstery was top quality.
the Mr Mikes are nice, but are about $100 overpriced. at that price I'd sooner go get a set of Corvette seats from a boneyard. I'm thinking I can get them MADE locally for about $275-300. was just wondering What is available. Thanks
the Mr Mikes are nice, but are about $100 overpriced. at that price I'd sooner go get a set of Corvette seats from a boneyard. I'm thinking I can get them MADE locally for about $275-300. was just wondering What is available. Thanks
Good luck having them made locally. Mr. Mikes is in all of our cars. Well worth the dough.
what I'm "seeing" in every one of those pictures is Wrinkles ! I've had naugahyde before, it's not like vinyl or leather, it stretches, there should be no wrinkles, especially for $400.
Just about every Corvette I've seen has "wrinkles" in the seat upholstery. I think it has more to do with the shape of the seats than anything else
You do. Corvette seats are trash. The only part thats leather is the top and bottom insert, and theyre not quality...they crack and split very early on...if you drive it. The rest of the seat is cheap vinyl...they only LOOK all the same. The perforated ones are the worst. They tear and split right along the 'dotted lines'. Naughahyde is much better quality vinyl and very durable. Cars Ive had done in it locally looked brand new many years after they were done. I also had Mr Mikes in several cars and they are nice too...but didnt have them long enough to rate their wear. When I was doing a LOT of work, mostly Corvettes, nearly every one over a couple of years old was having upholstery issues...m ostly side bolsters falling apart.
Essentially, the wrinkles are my fault. You do have to install the seat upholstery yourself. I'm not an upholstery expert, but I'd say some more stuffing would've filled in the wrinkles. The seat upholstery is hod ringed and stretched down into the bottom of the seat and its hard to get them perfect. You might have more patience than me though, and you could get a tremendous fit. BTW I also have seat heaters.
I had the same thing happen with my seats. I didn`t use enough of the foam that Mr Mike sends and had a couple of small wrinkles. And it doesn`t matter if you use Naugahyde, if you have a void under the fabric from worn foam then you can have wrinkles too.
Having installed four sets of Mr. Mikes, the seats can wrinkle some. But , near as I can tell the wrinkling comes froom poor installation. The old seat foam has shrunk, and unless repaired and padded with extra foam and cotton a person will end up with wrinkles. I've certainly had my share. Mike includes plenty of extra padding, but sometimes that has just not been enough for some of the old seats I have covered. The leather is definitely easier to get the wrinkles out, but it can be done with the leatherette version with patience. You can see in the picture, the right one is more wrinkled than the left-on the back. I used original foam on the right one, and added foam on the left one. The bolsters have some wrinkles, but only because they are under padded. Hard to notice while assembling, but once one critiques our own work, we realize more time and padding and patience will get it near perfect. Also, letting them heat up in the sun helps before installation. In NW Oregon that means the seats would never get covered. I think Mikes products are great-it is us installers that create the problems. This set was tougher, than the other three, to install because they hade been in the shipping carton for years and I installed them in the winter months.
vinyl shrinks, Naugahyde Melts/burns, does not shrink. be careful !
This is not true. I have been doing upholstery work for many years. Naugahyde is still a vinyl product by a different name, it is a brand name sold by Uniroyal. ALL vinyls shrink just like ALL vinyls melt. Most blow dryer will not get hot enough to melt any kind of vinyl. If you use a commercial heat gun like i do, then you need to be VERY careful not to melt or even "sheen " the vinyl. But with a blow dryer, just keep it moving and you will be fine with any kind of vinyl weather it is called Naugahyde, pleather, or any other crazy name they come up with to try and sell you something.
Another tip, is if you buy new seat covers lay them out in the sun for an hour or two and let them soften up. They will be much easier to install, and when they cool they will shrink some and you will have less wrinkles. You can even do what we call "shocking the vinyl" by putting heat to it getting it pretty hot, and then immediatly put a plastic bag full of ice on it. You will be amazed how big a wrinkle you can get to go away by doing this. Van
the original Naugahyde I used on my 1960 corvette in the early 70s, had an elastic cloth backing and would stretch in any direction. that car saw Alot sun and got wet plenty, and in the 20 years I had it, it Never Shrank a hair. maybe the stuff they make now is different somehow. I've bought some in the last few years and it just doesn't seem the same. I'm sure you know what you're talking about, but that is MY Experience with it.
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