Leather or Vinyl??

Cobra2top

Ok, here is my dilema. I have been pricing out upholstery shops in the area and to fix my driver seat was more then replacing with a kit from TMI (they sell leather and vinyl kits to Late model resto, LaurelMt Must, etc).

I spoke to a few people and they claim it is not a tough job to do and since this is my "toy" i guess that includes fixing things like my torn leather.

I am a purest and thinking of buying the leather replacements for my 92. They have the black piping and everything. The issue I am faced with is leather or vinyl. The vinyl is 1/2 the price. It's not really the $ amount that scares me but the durability. The vinyl will last forever vs. leather in a vert lasting 5 years without cracking and maybe 10 -15 years with tears. The car is a weekend fun car and mine is far from original. The guy I spoke to at the company highly recommended the vinyl. He said it looks very good and wears like iron. Since my car is not original I am thinking now going with vinyl.

Your thoughts?? The Purest in my is saying leather, the other side is saying, lowered, subframes, steedas, etc = not original, save a few dollars and no wear issues!

HELP...WHAT TO DO??

jburn57

I will start by saying that the seat panels are not all leather, just the inserts. There is even a piece of vinyl between the middle insert and the bolster.

If I remember right it only took a 1/4 hide to do both of my front seats. So to keep it original is not that much more.

Next the leather will last just as long as the vinyl with the proper care. The leather will need to be cleaned and conditioned at least every 6 months and even more if it is out in the sun. I condition mine once a month during top down season.

I will say what failed on mine was the vinyl rib and the vinyl insert between the bolster and the seat insert. Also some one had used "Armor All" on the front drivers seat, never use "ARMOR All" or a product like it on your leather, I really would not recommend it for vinyl seats either. 3M makes a good product in their marine product line that works great on vinyl and leaves it with a new car look luster.

Good Luck, Jerry

Cobra2top

Thanks Jerry. I am leaning toward the leather the more I think about it even though the guy at the seat company said vinyl is better. I am very particular about all of my cars and do add a leather treatment every 6 months to their leathers. It really is all about the maintenance!

I know that only the front parts are leather that is why I was originally thinking why pay double to have just have a small part leather. They also wanted another $130 added to the price if I wanted the leather rear seat. My rear seat looks like it has never been sat on but once the fronts are put in I am sure the rear will look aged.

Here is the cost breakdown if anyone is interested:

Leather fronts and vinyl rear: $619
Leather rear adds $130
New head rest $20 for 2.

All vinyl front and rear: $339

A local shop offered me $500 to install the kit. If I do it myself I have to buy a $25 kit that included hog rings and it's tool. I was told it's not difficult and I would need a good weekend. If I do do it I would just take my time and hope I am done by the time the warm weather arrives.

We'll see what I decide. If my car was 100% stock, then there would not be any question, I would go with leather. I want it done by Carlisle. Last year the car was new to me and came out as I bought it, torn top and driver seat. Anything is better then what I have now!!

On a side note, the guy said that he has sold 4 sets of 92 Feature upholstery. I asked and he said 2 were leather and 2 vinyl.

jburn57

That's not a bad deal.
I paid $600 just to have my fronts done. We did spend a lot of time looking at hides to get the one that matched the best. But it was worth it.
My car is not stock anymore either, but I have been trying to keep the outward appearance that it is, so keeping the interior looking like it did when it was new was important.
When I had the work done, I had more pics of it on the link below, but there is still one on there towards the bottom of the first page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jburnsfamilyfun/

Later, Jerry

Cobra2top

Looks like they did a nice job and you got a great deal. The quote I got to just fix the leather on the drivers and replace the bottom of the passenger (not ripped, just heavily creased) was close to $900. And then they were saying they could not guarantee it would match right. For $700 I can get all new covers all around and another $500 to install.

After asking around I may do the seats myself. I like to tinker and that is why I got this car to begin with. It does not sound like a difficult job and it may be fun to see how the seat is put together.

We'll see. The first thing is to get the new top and then the seats.

Thanks

Ken