1950 Coupe upholstery

J

jarretts70

Junior Member
Piecing together a 1950 coupe for an older gentleman, and it needs seat upholstery. I've done a bunch of musclecar stuff including installing reproduction upholstery kits. So I told the owner if we buy a kit I can recover his seats.

I've spent hours on the internet trying to find seat upholstery for this bomb with no luck; honestly. I figured it would be something I just picked up the phone & ordered....The only thing I've found online is thru Ecklers/Macs parts, and I'd rather avoid the criminals at Ecklers. Otherwise I guess I'm going to have to learn how to sew.
 
I have a 52 Crestline. My wife is going to sew new seat upholstery. I found the original material at SMS Auto Fabrics in Canby OR.They have mixed review here but worked for me. I was going to use something looking period but since he had the original, I got it. One of my wife's first jobs in this country in the 80s was making canvas boat covers. She helped me (Actually, I helped her) install pre-made covers for my 56 Chevy and came out great. We found a couple of used commercial sewing machines, had them tuned up and ready to go. Just starting to figure out what foam or padding to use and where to get it. There is a 1 man upholstery shop out of his garage a mile from me and I think he will be a good resource. He has done a few jobs like headliner, and new covers for my son's Ford Ranchero. I will take tons of photo but it will be a slow process
 
My brother is going to use these guys for the headliner for his 30 sedan.I don't know anything about them good or bad.It might be worth a phone call. I re-upholstered my '36 coupe myself using a VERY old Singer household machine.It was surprisingly simple.Not much different than carpentry,but more forgiving.
Newstalgia Parts 800-681-0710
Good luck.
 
jarretts70 said:
Piecing together a 1950 coupe for an older gentleman, and it needs seat upholstery. I've done a bunch of musclecar stuff including installing reproduction upholstery kits. So I told the owner if we buy a kit I can recover his seats.

I've spent hours on the internet trying to find seat upholstery for this bomb with no luck; honestly. I figured it would be something I just picked up the phone & ordered....The only thing I've found online is thru Ecklers/Macs parts, and I'd rather avoid the criminals at Ecklers. Otherwise I guess I'm going to have to learn how to sew.
Click to expand...


I own an upholstery shop within my restoration shop. The last I knew, Cartouche (-who was a subsidiary of MACs/Ecklers) is no longer an option since Turn5 purchased them and scrapped their upholstery department. Mike Francis at Classtique has picked-up the slack with manufacturing Model-A fabrics, and Bill Hirsch has some Bedford materials which may allow you to purchase piece-goods that are close from either of these two companies, but based on what the word on the street is, there is no one manufacturing any early V8 kits at the present.
 
LB and Cartouche were the only ones that delved into the later V8 cars but that never did me any good since the only things they made for my mid century Mercs was convertible only. I purchased a used walking foot machine years ago since I had no other recourse but to farm it out to a local upholstery shop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top