Who is making seat upholstery kits now?

[LateFan]

Not the L-seat types. We don't want leather, maybe quality vinyl Pearl bolsters with maybe the tan houndstooth centers. It's a Pearl interior, sport seats. The back seat is hard but fine, the fronts are shredded.

There used to be some people out there. What happened to Ninestitch? I checked their site and its shift boots, shave bags, accessories. No mention of seats.

[LateFan]

I looked through ebay and these are pre-made kits, but it looks to me they can make any combination of original fabrics.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26676672024...Bk9SR9ynzL_yZA

[Kevinxkrazy]

That dude has been around for a while. Ebay scrubs all negative feedback. There's been a lot of people on R3V that had negative experiences with him.

[LateFan]

You're talking about the ebay guy, not Ninestitch? He's been around quite a while, and used to do a ton of seats here, but stopped at some point...?

zoomzoomzoom ebay not so good?

[Kevinxkrazy]

Yeah there's multiple threads about zoom-zoom-zooming's ebay shop dating back to 2012 and maybe later. Almost all of them are negative. Dudes name is Steven iirc.

[BMW_TUNER]

Lseat.com full customizable and reasonable.

[kronus]

that's ... not a great example, unfortunately.

I've had experience with a couple different kit manufacturers.

LSeat - their default material sucks. I won't even call it leather. their upgrade leather is better. Customization is possible but they have <50% success rate understanding and following instructions.
zoomzoomzoom - I've had reasonable experiences, the owner has been in the business for a long time, running a local upholstery shop in LA. Customization is possible, he'll happily use materials that you send him, and things are generally well made. Expect it to take longer for non-premade things.
falvalle2012 - vinyl only, but the patterns are really good. Communication, unfortunately, is bad, and no customization.
GAHH/WorldUpholstery - $$$$, seem to be very well made. I've only interacted with their kits secondhand, but they look near factory quality.

[ghrays]

When I wanted my sport seats recovered in vinyl, I found it was cheaper to have a local auto upholstery shop fabricate the covers from "german vinyl" they order and then install than to order pre-made seat kits and install them myself. I first rehabbed the frames and rails and all mechanicals. Most of the parts needed are inexpensive and still available. They turned out better than I could have done as an amateur upholsterer.

[brutus]

i havnt got any infomation on kits ,,, sorry. ...but i do have some oem leather & cloth bolsters & seat skins available, many good condition items !

[mmoyer11]

i havnt got any infomation on kits ,,, sorry. ...but i do have some oem leather & cloth bolsters & seat skins available, many good condition items !

Hey there. Have you got any OEM grey houndstooth fabric?

[Vincenze]

that's ... not a great example, unfortunately.

I've had experience with a couple different kit manufacturers.

LSeat - their default material sucks. I won't even call it leather. their upgrade leather is better. Customization is possible but they have <50% success rate understanding and following instructions.

I visited several leather stores.

A typical 50-square-foot cowhide can cost from $150 to $700 and more, even at the same store.

Two front seat covers will require a full hide or even two. They can't cost $350.

Cowhides can be 6 mm thick, so leather professionals split them into layers.
The top layer is the best, of course. It can be 1-1.5 mm.
The bottom layer is the cheapest. A shop can add paint and pebbled finish on it, then sell it cheaply.

Then, parts of each leather hide are different. The neck has stretch marks. The belly is the worst as it's softer and stretches a lot - it's usually considered trash.
The Bend is the best part.


I have many samples now.
I can definitely say that only the most expensive Italian leather is good. It's smooth, it feels nice to touch, it doesn't show imperfections.

[McGyver]

What's the consensus about vinyl these days? I assume it holds up better than leather and is easier to clean. Does it feel nice, or does it feel plasticy like the original vinyl seats?

I was planning on doing natural uberkaro centers with beige leather bolsters. Less sweaty back with the cloth seats, but good wear protection with the bolters. Zoomzoomzoom-ing has the front for $950, I haven't reached out to ninestitch yet.

[Vincenze]

What's the consensus about vinyl these days? I assume it holds up better than leather and is easier to clean. Does it feel nice, or does it feel plasticy like the original vinyl seats?

Vinyl certainly looks very nice even after 30 years.

Actually, most leather seats are not 100% leather. Backs are often made of vinyl.

I just visited a big warehouse full of artificial leather. I looked through their sample books and asked them to cut me 1 yard of nice vinyl. I was more interested in the one with the matching color, though.

[Vincenze]

Actually, very cheap leather feels very plasticy.
But automotive chrome-tanned leather is always covered with pigments and sealants to protect it.

You can buy vegetable-tanned leather that feels very natural, but it loses color easily and it's easy to scratch it.