Recently purchesed a 72 Cutlass vert and finishing with my mechanic this week. New fuel pump, shocks and tie rods for the 77K mileaged car was a great releif and better news, no rust. The interior is next and I'm debating between vinyl or leather seats. I'm purchasing door panels from OPGI as well as door and window handles.

I'm not planning to sell the car once complete and think leather would be more comfortable and look better. I am keeping the car stock and original as possible but wanted to get some opinions from the forum...

One other thing, going with cut pile carpet...so I guess I'm straying from the original on that also.

Thanks,
Ed

 

Leather and vinyl get very hot in the sun especially if they are black.

 

I actually did mine in cloth in my 72 Olds because I liked the cloth seats in my 68 vette convertible. Sitting down on black vinyl on 100 degree Missouri days was not fun. Leather was my next choice, but no way would I consider vinyl.
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I don't think vinyl will help with this either. Any dark colored interior whether leather or vinyl will be extremely hot with the sun shining on it.

What you need to do is price the diference and see if it's worth the upgrade to you. I'm easy to please and like vinyl.

 

You caught me before I had a chance to fix my post and add vinyl as well

 

the cloth seats look great Gary. My interior will remain off-white.

thanks for the feedback.

 

I was wondering who offers cloth material for Strato-Bucket Seats ?

 

Well if your latitude and color are not factors, it comes down to your preference and cost. Have you priced leather?

 

I have Gary. If I go with leather on the parts of the seat/interior that I touch and vinyl on the backs, etc, it adds about 50% to the seat cost. Going with a automotive leather that has matching vinyl colors. It also changes the door panels from "buy to build" which also adds a little cost. I think I'm going to pay the premium and go with leather as I'll only do the interior once and I plan to drive and enjoy the Olds. apprecaite your thoughts...this is a big cost...

 

Let us know how it turns out.

 

If you choose a quality vinyl such as from Legendary, it looks and feels quite a bit like leather.
In fact I have fooled many a folks at car shows, as they have complemented my "leather" interior!
It is thick and supple, has a similar grain, and has low shine.

 

Pics??

 

Here are a couple. Being in the sun gives it a much richer look - need to get some pics outdoors soon.

 

Not to be Debbie Downer, but I ordered door panels from OPG and was disappointed. The quality is good as far as materials and construction but the fit was way off for the window crank and arm rest holes. I had to cut quite a bit off the top to match the originals and there were no holes for the fasteners and clips. I got 'em on sale around Christmas and let them sit 'till now when I just got started installing. We're talking 3 hours per panel to get them to fit. Nothing so bad that I would send them back but wow their templates are wrong!

If I had to do it over, I would order the Legendary panels for about $150 more. Your newer model may be a different story.

I prefer vinyl for cleaning. Dumping a beverage on cloth encourages too much drama with cleaning stuff that never quite gets the stupid stains out.

Edit: I love L&R's interior! Those BAS (big a$$ speakers) in the rear seat panels are owner color matched. Nice work.

 

No need to worry about the negative. Appreciate the feedback on the OPG door panels. As the mechanical repairs are dragging out (Fuel pump took a lot of time to change, and I'm replacing a lot of the front end suspension), I've decided to have the door panels custom built so they match the leather interior 100%. Since I'm going with cut pile, the carpet needs to change also so custom is the way to go. looking forward to drivig this car soon!

 

Thats the way I went with mine, but I went with vinyl.

 

Hello LAguy - I am about to pull the trigger on a 100% leather interior on mine including the door panels like you mentioned. Do you happen to have any pictures and an estimated cost? I just want to make sure I don't get taken for a ride.

Thanks!

Ben

 

 

Ben - I paid $5k and that included a new rag top. If you shoot me your email, I'll forward photos. Really happy with the leather and vinyl mix. Laguy59@live.com