Question: Leather vs. Vinyl.

[lagnaf]

Question.... I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on the issue of pros and cons of both leather and vinyl seats. When I redo my interior I might go with leather... but I'd like to hear from the experts first.

 

[jan willem]

i've had some problems with vinyl durability.(on my furniture not in a car.)
so i'd gues parts like the seats can best be done with leather and the rest vinyl.but i am no expert.

 

[Koop]

Question.... I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on the issue of pros and cons of both leather and vinyl seats. When I redo my interior I might go with leather... but I'd like to hear from the experts first.

I had to replace my Vinyl seats twice in my '69 in 40 years. The first time it was because the foam had disintegrated and the covers didn't survive the removal to replace the foam. The second time it was because the car caught fire. The vinyl itself wears like iron, but apparently it isn't fireproof.

 

[fine69]

Like Koop, the foam in mine was disintegrating. I opted for the stock comfort weave vinyl - it's less costly and I also like the way it looks.

Ralph

 

[6880 Mike]

I have stock vinyl in my '68 and stock leather in my '80. I personally find the leather more comfortable.

 

[Koop]

The '69 has a weaved vinyl that really breathes, it offers the comfort of cloth and the durability of cement. I may be wrong, but the seat covers in '68 were either perforated or had a different weave. I think the head rest on a '68 might have had stitching unlike the molded head rests in '69. I'm not beating up on leather, I prefer leather, all of my other cars are leather interiors. But all of those other cars seats are showing age on the leather, my Vette interior always looks perfect (except for that little fire issue hnoes). Since the tops have rarely been on the car durring it's life, I don't suspect the leather would have faired so well.

 

[6880 Mike]

Stock '68 material is called BasketWeave and does not breathe particularly well. '69 and later use ComfortWeave material which allows for better air circulation.

 

[76okievette]

I had mine redone in the leather look vinyl for Corvette Central and it looks great, not a sign of wear but it's only been about 7 months. Looks like the orginal leather but its vinyl.

 

[paul67]

I am not an expert but leather-like is more than adequate for my 1,000 miles/year needs.

 

[Evolution1980]

I've had both. My belief is that the leather will last longer, but is harder to keep clean. Vinyl is much more tolerant of things dirtying it. And if it does get dirty, it's more tolerant of cleaners and whatnot.

You're gonna sweat in either one though unless you get the perforated vinyl as referenced above. (And you'll probably still sweat in that, but not as much?)

If you are looking for non-stock / custom color combos, it looks like more vendors are doing that now with leather.
Note: If you are considering a light leather color such as oyster or white, stop reading right now and deliver a solid punch to your groin because you have to be a masochist to get that color. Ask me how I know??? :eyerole If you even look at your seats funny, they'll get dirty. Really, I just gave up on trying to keep my oyster-colored leather seats super clean. It's just not possible if you actually drive your car more than twice per year. And lucky me, I got a matching leather steering wheel as well. YEA!!!!!

 

[paul67]

Matching leather steering wheel.

Just had that done as well.

 

[petes74ttop]

100% leather

I redid my leather seats in Nov 2001 and 32,000 miles and 6 years later they still look new. PG

 

[Curby]

I bought some leather-like vinyl covers but I did not get new seat foam. The car I am puting them in is a 73 and the original seats are flat.

My best friend is an embroiderer, so I am getting "Stingray" put in red on the backs to match the floormats I have. They will look great with the red paint.

Where is the best place to get just the seat foam?

 

[lagnaf]

I am not an expert but leather-like is more than adequate for my 1,000 miles/year needs.

My car aspires to look this good on the inside.

 

[Evolution1980]

Where is the best place to get just the seat foam?

I think most of the Corvette houses carry just the foam. I seem to recall reading somewhere on here (long ago) that just getting new foam doesn't seem to work as nice as just getting all new seats. I guess everyone's mileage may vary. :confused

 

[LorinD]

Leathervs Vinyl

I replace my '71 with leather- also replaced
seat foam. That was in really bad shape , the
old foam just fell apart when I was removing
it from the seat frame . I had to repair one frame .
The weld broke , then I clean and painted both frames.

 

[paul67]

I replace my '71 with leather- also replaced
seat foam. That was in really bad shape , the
old foam just fell apart when I was removing
it from the seat frame . I had to repair one frame .
The weld broke , then I clean and painted both frames.

Weight on the bottom frames does lead to cracking. I used aftermarket brackets to reinforce them.

 

[White75]

Weight on the bottom frames does lead to cracking. I used aftermarket brackets to reinforce them.

How did you get the bottom rails off. It looks nearly impossible to get to the bolt heads in the seat rail.
I had one set of welds break and got a nice coat of rust on most of the seats. Now to find a place that will sandblast them for me so I can send them off to get the new foam and new leather

 

[paul67]

To be quite honest, I got the solid "new" frames (without tracks) from salvage yards, had the reinforcement plates welded on, and painted them. Then I paid a local auto upholestery professional to finish the job with new foams, covers, hardware, fasteners, etc. I do not know how the tracks are removed and installed.

My old frames were in pretty poor shape with rust and cracking issues. They were recycled (i.e. garbage).

 

[White75]

To be quite honest, I got the solid "new" frames (without tracks) from salvage yards, had the reinforcement plates welded on, and painted them. Then I paid a local auto upholestery professional to finish the job with new foams, covers, hardware, fasteners, etc. I do not know how the tracks are removed and installed.

My old frames were in pretty poor shape with rust and cracking issues. They were recycled (i.e. garbage).

:ugh Thanks.