I remember when I was a kid that seat covers were commonly used to protect upholstery in cars or to cover up worn out upholstery. You could find them for just about any make or model car. My 29 coupe needs seat covers. I do not want to have to buy a whole interior including head liner just to get seat covers. None of the suppliers seem to be willing to sell just the seat covers. Any ideas out there?
Seat Covers?
- Thread starter baba
- Start date
rotorwrench
Well-known member
JC Whitney and Warshawsky's pretty much hit the skids after Roy Warshawsky died back in 1997. The company was bought out, reformed, and and sold again since then. The US Autoparts is now under the CarParts.com brand.
Roy collected old cars so he always had model A, motorcycle, & VW stuff available since he knew it had sales appeal. Seat covers are available all over the flea-pay adds but they are for more modern cars. The days of stuff like this for the early antique & classic cars are now just in our memories.
I'm afraid that for anything like this to be profitable in this day and age, the labor and materials would have to be farmed out to offshore sources likely in Asia or the Pacific rim. Just the materials are expensive now and the time to sew the stuff up doesn't come cheap either.
Roy collected old cars so he always had model A, motorcycle, & VW stuff available since he knew it had sales appeal. Seat covers are available all over the flea-pay adds but they are for more modern cars. The days of stuff like this for the early antique & classic cars are now just in our memories.
I'm afraid that for anything like this to be profitable in this day and age, the labor and materials would have to be farmed out to offshore sources likely in Asia or the Pacific rim. Just the materials are expensive now and the time to sew the stuff up doesn't come cheap either.
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well I believe there is a mkt for inexpensive seat covers. offer them in dark brown only and start out only with coupes, roadster sand pickups.
can add sedans later.......
thick vinyl can be had for about 20. a seat..... yes it prob would have to be offshore, since 20. an hour is pretty typical now in the US for labor.
can add sedans later.......
thick vinyl can be had for about 20. a seat..... yes it prob would have to be offshore, since 20. an hour is pretty typical now in the US for labor.
burner31
Well-known member
J Franklin
Well-known member
Don't be lazy, buy some fabric, a staple gun, a hog ring set, and go to it!
fundytides
Well-known member
A few years ago, I bought "universal" seat covers from "Marden's", a discount store chain in Maine. Think I paid less than $20 for a set that fit the front seat of my 1951 Standard Vanguard Saloon (sedan). They were even a nice shade of maroon which blended well with the red "leather" upholstery in the car. No accommodation for the center fold down arm rest, but you can't ask for everything. Another time I picked up a set of new mid 50's seat covers, in the box, and resold them at our annual swap meet. Keep looking, you never know what you will find. Another potential source might be to buy usable upholstery from someone that's doing an upgrade on their similar model car.
JoeCB
Senior Member
Back in the day, new cars in our family got custom fit seat covers right after rolling out of the dealership. When grandpa gave me his 1956 Ford Fairlane 292 , three on the tree, in 1963 off came the seat covers to reveal the most beautiful blue brocade upholstery that had never seen the light of day.
Joe B
Joe B
Keith True
Well-known member
I bought a couple of sets of the JC Whitney seat covers at a swap meet.They were just marked,Model A sedan,bench seats.One was red plaid,and the other green plaid.They were nylon and looked like lawn chairs.I sold both sets on this site,maybe 10-15? years ag
ne guy had a lot of questions,I just had to explain to him they were JC Whitney fit all-fit nothing right.He took the chance and bought them.I later heard from him,he said they worked out,they were ugly and garish,and were the prettiest part of his car.
ne guy had a lot of questions,I just had to explain to him they were JC Whitney fit all-fit nothing right.He took the chance and bought them.I later heard from him,he said they worked out,they were ugly and garish,and were the prettiest part of his car.
nkaminar
Well-known member
One of my better investments was an industrial sewing machine. I first bought an industrial Singer and then a new machine from Sailrite. I have made lots of things from sails for my boat to canvas covers to seat covers. I use it to patch my work jeans. I made seat covers for the rear seat in my Fordor where the dogs ride. Lots of different material is available at a reasonable cost from Sailrite.
Here is what I have done so far. When I bought the coupe last summer I took the seats out and stripped them done to the wood and springs. The upholstery was shot and the padding was a giant mouse nest. Recently put in new burlap and padding and covered all with a new seat cover made from an old sheet just to keep padding covered and clean. Yesterday wife bought some upholstery material and will attempt serviceable seat covers. Curiously, the entire inside of the cap had been redone, door panels, headliner, rumble seats, etc. All done but the seat and seat back. Never intended to be a show car, just want to drive it and have a bit of fun.I
have tried on several occasions to buy just the seat covers from various dealers but they all want to sell the entire interior.
have tried on several occasions to buy just the seat covers from various dealers but they all want to sell the entire interior.
rotorwrench
Well-known member
I purchased a used Consew 206 due to my interest in Mercury cars and other off beat models that no one makes kits for. A good walking foot machine will last forever no more than I use it. I takes a lot of sewing machine oil but it pays me back in other savings. I put a digital motor on it so as to slow it down. It would fly too well with a clutch motor on it.
Ayers1
Well-known member
375 for a pair of covers for the front seats on my Tudor. I wasn't going to complain, they look much better than bare springs!