Seat Stitching

[Vinn]

Hey all,

I have a 1970 Vette which rolled off the assembly line 34 years ago tomorrow (Feb 20). I am currently recovering my seats, which brings me to my question..

I ordered the covers and foam from Corvette America, and after receiving my covers; I noticed a difference in stitching on the lower part of the seat. After returning them along with photographs of my current seats, I was told that the back portion of my seats are '70 covers, while the lower part has a '69 cover. To the best of my knowledge these appear to be original covers. Does anyone else with an early '70 have something similar to this? It sounds to me like something GM would do. And secondly, should I special order (20% extra) my new covers to match this configuration? Would this matter if I decide to have the car judged in the future? I think I might be putting too much thought into something as simple as a stitching pattern, but I hope on only refurbishing my seats once and using them for a long time!

Thanks for any input!
Vince

 

[berky2500]

Unless you could show proof that your car rolled off the line that way, I'm not sure that it would matter to judges. At least I wouldn't equate mixing seat covers during the changeover to say having a factory big block hood on a small block car. I guess that wouldn't be documented either, but it is more noticeable and a known anomaly from the factory. Just my two cents...

 

[Eric]

Vince,

I would have to side with berky. I checked the judging manual and it doesn't mention your seat cover anomaly. There are a couple others mentioned for early 70's but not that one.

 

[Vinn]

Thanks guys. That's just the information I was looking for. I wasn't sure with all the anomalies of the early 70's, if this was one of them.

Vince

 

[Eric]

Thanks guys. That's just the information I was looking for. I wasn't sure with all the anomalies of the early 70's, if this was one of them.
Vince

Just because it isn't documented doesn't mean it isn't real but just extremely rare if it is real. The catch is in the restoration - if you go with what you have and replace exactly, you're still stuck having to somehow prove the car came that way. If you replace with the normal 70 style then you have a normal resto. The latter is safest without a doubt but it would be interesting to find out if others have seen the same thing. Either way it would be up to you to prove it.

- Eric

 

[red70vette]

I have a 70 cpe with a build date of 1/29/70. It came with the delux leather interior and the seats were 70 style. Replaced them 2 years ago so I don't have them now to reference. I used Al Knoch covers and they were an exact match.

 

[Vinn]

Mine came with the standard black interior with vinyl seats. Maybe someone else has an early vinyl '70 here to compare. Guess the real problem is there's no way to prove it is original as-is.

-Vince