less expensive upholstery options? 55 Chrysler 300

Mike McGuire

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Hello Fellow Forward Lookers,

Trying to find reproduction seat covers for a 55 Chrysler 300 (cloned from Windsor).
Best price I can find is $4,500., for just the covers. They don't have to be leather, vinyl would be fine. Does anyone have any other sources for le$$ dough?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Hello Fellow Forward Lookers,

Trying to find reproduction seat covers for a 55 Chrysler 300 (cloned from Windsor).
Best price I can find is $4,500., for just the covers. They don't have to be leather, vinyl would be fine. Does anyone have any other sources for le$$ dough?

Thanks,
Mike

Part of the reason that the quote is so high is that the Chrysler 300 had perforated beige leather on the seats and that has never been cheap. If you do not care about the leather, search ebay "'55 Chrysler Windsor seat covers" there are some for sale there.

Dave
 
Part of the reason that the quote is so high is that the Chrysler 300 had perforated beige leather on the seats and that has never been cheap. If you do not care about the leather, search ebay "'55 Chrysler Windsor seat covers" there are some for sale there.

Dave


Thanks Dave. I'm shocked to see some NOS (aftermarket) seat covers there. Very interesting. I'm still looking for the unicorn. Beige and leather-like is important to me, doesn't have to be perforated. Perhaps I'll change my mind after considering the $4000 + savings.... thanks again.
 
gary goers i think thats right , he does letter car interiors .

Gary sold to another person last year? But the business still exists, as I understand it. He was the BEST earlier 300 interior person, period. Perhaps they can sew the patterns in a quality vinyl instead of leather?

CBODY67
 
These things should be taken into consideration when choosing a restoration project. Your car is a VERY expensive car to restore and any shortcuts will reflect in the value. I see it all the time, especially with Forward look cars. Incorrect interior equals big hit on value.
 
Perhaps get a cheaper upholstery for now, whilst saving up for the "factory correct" perforated leather later. At least you could enjoy your car.

Chances are good that those with the $$$$ to buy cars like yours will have experts closely scrutinizing prospective purchases and will deduct the cost of any necessary work from the amounts they're willing to pay

Best wishes with yours.
 
These things should be taken into consideration when choosing a restoration project. Your car is a VERY expensive car to restore and any shortcuts will reflect in the value. I see it all the time, especially with Forward look cars. Incorrect interior equals big hit on value.

Thanks anyway for the advice, but not VERY expensive. It was a stalled Windsor project, that I scooped up in pieces. Just sniffing about if there is any middle ground on seat covers... I could give a crap about value, (its a clone anyway), I'm driving the rig into the ground. That said, it is not the intent to be the lowest buck 'high-school' project out there. I'd opt for vinyl beige over blueish woven seat covers though. Especially if it saves a few grand.
 
Perhaps get a cheaper upholstery for now, whilst saving up for the "factory correct" perforated leather later. At least you could enjoy your car.

Chances are good that those with the $$$$ to buy cars like yours will have experts closely scrutinizing prospective purchases and will deduct the cost of any necessary work from the amounts they're willing to pay

Best wishes with yours.

Thanks!, Yeah, I think that's the way to go, I'm still on the hunt for under $4500 upholstery. By and by, this Windsor to 300 clone project will never be for sale, so no worrying about values being scrutinized while I'm alive.

Mike

p.s. I guess the take away from these comments is, where about on the spectrum do I want the finished project to be?.... somewhere between a show car I don't drive much (no) to something that just doesn't look nice up close (also no). I want it to be the car I drive all the time on and off dirt roads (not so much in snow), but still looks sharp, and runs great. stay tuned.
 
Thanks anyway for the advice, but not VERY expensive. It was a stalled Windsor project, that I scooped up in pieces. Just sniffing about if there is any middle ground on seat covers... I could give a crap about value, (its a clone anyway), I'm driving the rig into the ground. That said, it is not the intent to be the lowest buck 'high-school' project out there. I'd opt for vinyl beige over blueish woven seat covers though. Especially if it saves a few grand.

Sounds like all you need is a beige "rolled & pleated" naugahyde interior. Pretty much anyone in the upholstery business could do that for you.
 
Sounds like all you need is a beige "rolled & pleated" naugahyde interior. Pretty much anyone in the upholstery business could do that for you.

Yes, thanks. I kicked in an interior specialist nearby who gave me $6k as a number for non original seal restoration. Either, I'm out of touch with interior restoration prices or I have bad luck at finding a deal. I suspect it is the former, and the problem being with me.
 
Yes, thanks. I kicked in an interior specialist nearby who gave me $6k as a number for non original seal restoration. Either, I'm out of touch with interior restoration prices or I have bad luck at finding a deal. I suspect it is the former, and the problem being with me.

Sounds like the guy didn't wanna do it. . .
 
What about later model seats?, could go buckets for better support.
 
What about later model seats?, could go buckets for better support.

That's not a bad idea either.... ... I betcha there is much compatibility in back seats. I'll have to sit back (crack a brew) and decide exactly what will work best. Thanks.
 
Learn to live with it?
Mexican Horse Blankets?
Learn to DIY it?
Find a friend that sews and have them sew some up some covers?
There's not a lot of low cost options out there. Good Luck
 
I've got $8K total in my interior including upholstery, door panels, dash pad, repairing, covering and dying the rear convertible panels, recovering and dying the seat backs, seat belts, etc. If I remember correctly, the vinyl upholstery alone for my '65 300 was $3K.

I chose to not skimp on the interior as this is where you spend most all your time. I didn't want to have the shoulda, woulda, coulda, feeling.
 
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cbody67 , meet him at a letter car show out here on the west coast . he was the underside judge and final say on any other issues that came up . it was quite the show with a main street parade marching band and a line of letter cars cruz'n down the street to the park for the show , even put my 64 k beater driver in the line up . i was the only k there .
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Thanks anyway for the advice, but not VERY expensive. It was a stalled Windsor project, that I scooped up in pieces. Just sniffing about if there is any middle ground on seat covers... I could give a crap about value, (its a clone anyway), I'm driving the rig into the ground. That said, it is not the intent to be the lowest buck 'high-school' project out there. I'd opt for vinyl beige over blueish woven seat covers though. Especially if it saves a few grand.

You might contact www.smsautofabrics.com to see if they have the perforated leather and what it costs.

Dave
 
As for labor costs, how different are the seats you have from what the 300 had in it? Aren't the basic seats the same, with buckets starting in '57?

Is that price including a complete rebuild of the seat structure/frame with new burlap, foam, etc.? Include door panels and such, too? Or just the seats?

As with paint jobs on older "collector" cars, just specify that you want an "O.E.M.-spec new car job", NOT mentioning anything about "show car", "custom car", or "collector car" in the conversation. What that means is no puckering on the seams, the sewn pleats are all straight and index with the other parts of the seat assembly, just like it is on a new car of recent vintage. IF they do warranty interior work for the local new car dealers, they'll be able to do those things as a matter of course, I suspect. That gets the upholstery itself taken care of.

The condition of the "underlayment" of the upholstery will probably need some attention/upgrades too, I suspect, but that can be a variable situation. New zig-zag springs, as needed. New burlap to cover them. New foam on top of the springs, etc. No real rocket science there, just the cost of the materials and labor to fix them, as needed.

From there, that leaves the cost of the upholstery fabric itself. Be sure to get the "O.E.M. spec" stuff there, too, for best results. You can probably shop the different vinyls to find a grain that close-matches the leather in the "real" 300s, too! Plus matching the correct three colors themselves, as close as possible.

I'll concur that if somebody gives you an estimate that seems too high, that's a clear indication they don't want the job. Look elsewhere. Be sure to get the job priced by the different aspects of it. The covers, the seat frame/underlayment, and installation. That way, you'll know what each segment costs, to make a possibly better decision of which shop you decide to do the work.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
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