MyBlue72

OK Folks,
I've run into a frustrating issue on something that should of been simple. I wanted to see if any of you have had the same issue.
I have a 1972 Cutlass Supreme, Viking blue, with blue interior. Both of my arm rests are the originals, but the drivers side has tears in it. So I ordered a set of DARK blue repros from OPGI. They arrived and were too dark. I sent them back for MEDIUM blue. They arrived and were too light. Then I ordered their BLUE. The right one arrived and was close enough to live with, but the left one was on back order. After waiting about two months, the left one arrived but didn't match the right one!!! They were two different colors, the grain itself did not match each other, and even the plastic bags they came sealed in were different. I'm assuming they came from different suppliers perhaps. I spoke with a supervisor at OPGI and told him of the issue. He sent me a picture of the left and right arm rests he had in stock, and they were the same as the non-matching set I had. I was given a refund and told to keep the ones they sent me. I now have non-matching blue arm rests and am back to square one.
My questions:
1) Has anyone with a 72 Cutlass with blue interior replaced your arm rests, and if so, what vendor did you use and what color did you buy?

2) Has anyone ever had their original arm rest recovered in vinyl by an upholstery shop? How did they turn out?
I would rather go this route because the originals have metal bases.

Thanks for any input,
Doug

61Bat

Maybe you can go to a paint shop and have the door panel color scanned and have some upholstery dye mixed up to shoot them with?

scottv442

try Legendary Auto Interiors. they do high end resto work. expensive though.

http://www.legendaryautointeriors.co...ID/detail.html

redoldsman

That is what I would do. You should get pretty close to an exact match that way.

MyBlue72

Thanks for the input guys. I'm thinking if I can't get both of the originals recovered for a decent price, I will bite the bullet and go with a set from Legendary. Heck, with all the money I've spent already I could have already bought a new set. :-(

stevengerard

FYI, I understand how frustrating it is as I find the same issue with Pearl. its pretty easy to find white, even ivory but not everything comes in Pearl. One thing to remember is if you look around your interior, from many of the blue interiors I have seen. There is a wide range of the blue. Many of the items, from the dash to the console to the armrests and seat backs, are all a various shade of blue. Will it really matter if both your armrests match each other but are just a little off form the kick panel or console? I know it may drive you crazy but there may be not as much difference as it seems to you.

I'm in the same boat with my 04 Marauder. They do not make any of the interior parts anymore in the Marauder Dark Charcoal color. I was going nuts trying to match a switch bezel until I noticed that other interior parts were slightly different shades if put next to each other. No one but me (and a few other Marauder geeks) would ever notice.

MyBlue72

Thanks Steven. It was a sad day for me when they stopped the Mercury brand. Me and my brothers used to hang out at the local Merc dealership in Northern Indiana back in the late 60's to early 8-0's. My dad and uncle both sold cars there, and I remember those early Marauders, Cougars, Cyclone Eliminators, Comets, and Lincoln Mark cars. I love me some Mercs! Good luck with yours. I would be proud to own that Marauder.

Thanks for the input on the arm rest.
-Doug-

70Post

Contact Legendary and/or PUI and see if they'll send swatches of the '72 Cutlass blue interior vinyl. They may have one swatch or multiples of that color with each being a bit different. If you get a "match" then you should be able to buy a yard of the material. Their grains should be correct and match your original.

A good upholstery shop would be able to re-cover your original pads. Hopefully your foam pads, under the vinyl, haven't worn away which sometimes happens once it gets exposed from the vinyl tearing away.

I've re-covered numerous sets of the armrest pads....it's a bit time consuming and you may find a local place to do it for fairly reasonable $.

MyBlue72

Will do. Thanks for that input. If I can just get close to the original that would be great.
-Doug-

MyBlue72

I ended up contacting Legendary and purchasing a 1/2 yard of correct vinyl to recover the original armrests. I chose to go that route because the originals have the steel bases.
Thanks all for your input.
Happy motoring,
Doug

MyBlue72

OK Folks,
I did what a few of you recommended and bought a 1/2 yard of blue vinyl material from Legendary Interiors that came very close to my original armrest color with the correct grain.
Since the original armrests have metal bases, I had an upholstery shop recover them for me. I think they came out pretty good.
In the photo of my interior, you can see that the LIGHT BLUE pads I had bought were too light.

*NOTE: I will be listing some of the BLUE and LIGHT BLUE armrest pads that I got from OPGI that didn't work out for me if interested.

Thanks again for all of the input.
-Doug-