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Re: [oletrucks] Seat Cover Kit

To: "Dave Thomas" <dthomas@series2000.com>,
Subject: Re: [oletrucks] Seat Cover Kit
From: "Mark Self" <markself@discover.net>
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 06:40:46 -0800
Dave:
    Boy, Am I interested.  I'm getting ready to sew my own cover.  I've
never done this before, and can use all the help I can get.

Mark Self
Redlands, CA
'55 1st 5-window 3100
"Sentimental Journey"

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Thomas <dthomas@series2000.com>
To: Chevy Trucks <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, December 23, 1999 8:14 PM
Subject: [oletrucks] Seat Cover Kit


>Hi All,
>
>This is just a general message concerning seat cover replacement.  I
>ordered a seat cover from Chevy Duty a while back.  The kit said it came
>
>with instructions.  First, I was disappointed by the quality of  the
>vinyl.  It was more like thin plasticky stuff, with very little stretch
>to it.  Second, the  "instructions" were basically: "apply the cover so
>it has a smooth appearance" Duh!  Like I would apply the cover so it has
>
>a wrinkly, crappy appearance!  Any way, it came with hog rings and
>pliers, so I thought I would give Chevy Duty a call to see if I could
>get some pointers on just exactly what to attach the cover to with the
>hog rings.  I figure that it would be pretty irritating to poke a bunch
>of holes in a cover trying to attach it to the wrong things (they
>probably wouldn't take it back at that point), and then still not have a
>
>good installation.  When I called, the guy I talked to (Robert) acted
>like I was from Mars, and then insulted my intelligence by saying that
>in all their years of selling the covers, they had _never_ had a call of
>
>this nature.  Now, I have rebuilt my truck from the ground up, pretty
>much on my own and figure that I have the intelligence to do what needs
>to be done, but I like to do things the right way and don't like to
>guess about it if I don't have to.  Considering that the seat cover was
>held on from the factory in a completely different way, I figured there
>must be some pat way of doing it with the hog rings.  As it turns out,
>you clip the thing to the nearest part of the seat frame that you can.
>I think this is cheesy at best.  If you pull the vinyl tight enough to
>get a good fit, you take the chance of tearing it with the hog ring.
>Robert's response was "well you sure ain't gonna bounce quarter off of
>it".  Well, Robert convinced me by his attitude to return the whole
>$130.00 mess.  This is the first time that I got less than satisfactory
>service from Chevy Duty (aside from an exterior rear view mirror that
>rusted almost immediately).  Since then, I have learned how to do it
>right.  I sewed my own seat cover (in the gray that I wanted) from
>marine grade vinyl (used for boat seats).  It was easier than I thought
>and cost about $30.00.  I then went to a place here in town that
>specializes in auto finishing fasteners and guess what?  They had the
>exact same semi circular clips that the factory used to hold the seat
>cover on (the seat bottom actually uses a little V shaped clip, but the
>new circular ones work just as well) .  I can't, for the life of me,
>figure out why you would want to do it any other way.  I used about 35
>clips on the seat bottom and about the same on the back.  I have the
>cover on very snugly (you CAN bounce a quarter off of it), and did not
>come close to tearing it, since there is only an inch or two between
>clips.  The question in my mind is WHY HOG RINGS?  You can get the clips
>
>at A&W Auto Upholstery  757-671-7933.  The seat cover looks good even
>from the underside (just like the factory installation).  If anyone is
>interested, I can post exact directions for making your own seat cover.
>
>Dave Thomas,
>'54 3100
>
>
>
>
>oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
>

oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959

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