tcolt

On a Cutlass or Vista Cruiser or ....? My seats were re-done wrong before I bought mine and my upholsterer can't do the original pattern just from the pictures.

Mostly, I need the width of the "filler" sections between the pleated area, as shown in the pictures. The ones on the front bench with the center arm rest look like they are as wide as two standard pleats which would make them roughly 3- 7/8", but it would be nice to get the exact number (I'll explain why it's not an even number below).

The second row split bench is a little more complicated. The "center" filler looks like less than four times the width of a single pleat and the narrower fillers on both sides of the bench look about twice the width. Can anyone take precise measurements from center to center of the piping? I also need the length of the pleats from the top of the seat back to the bottom of the "U"- shape and the dimensions of where the seem is located within the filler sections.

I've already figured out that the pleats that run up and down the seat back are 2" (actually, 1 15/16". I figure they were two inches when they sewed them and end up less because the foam backing makes them bulge

thanks, Tom

Greg Rogers

Did you get this figured out, Tom? I thought some one would answer so I didn't check, but I can go out and measure my Vista. I know the 3rd seat still has original cloth upholstery. Let me know, Greg.

tcolt

Thanks for your offer Greg.

I really could use some help still. I got to see one third row seat, but I didn't get to measure all I needed, since the guy was selling his VC and I was afraid he would think I was wasting his time which I kinda was, although we ended up bonding over cars...

The more measurements I have the better. I don't really need as much on the front bench, since I'm using one with a center arm rest which tells me the width of the filler panel (arm rest). The only thing I'd be curious is whether that "filler "cloth running up and down the center of the seat back is the same width on all three benches. Were yours redone in the original style so you can still see the pattern? Also, are the buttons attached at the same height on the three seat backs? The same goes for the height where the bead that borders the filler panel starts to curve from vertical to horizontal and there's a thin horizontal seem that cuts roughly across the middle of the filler panel. Are these the same dimension on all seats or shorter on the third bench? What is widest dimension of the benches (front, center twin, center single) and third rows). The important thing is that the seat backs and seat bottoms are quite different. This is so I can be sure my seat foam isn't too broken down and that I will know that the measurements from your bench would transfer to mine and that I won't run out of "space" if I try to use the width and same number of pleats as yours. As you can see, there's more to it than one would think. It took me quite a while to realize that the reason I couldn't possibly fit 14 vertical pleats plus the 8 inch filler panel on the seat back of my 35" wide third bench because I used 2 inches for the width of each pleat. Now, I believe that the pleats might be 2 in. nominally (when they're flat on the sewing table), but once they're installed on the seats they bunch up and measure a little less. One sixteenth or maybe even an eight of an inch more per pleat adds up to an inch or two over the whole width of the bench. Also, do the pleats from the seat backs and seat bottoms more or less line up? I know the seat covers stretch and settle over the years so there is some variation, but it seems like the idea would be for the to line up more or less. This is especially tricky where the second row bench single and twin seats have a gap between them.

Anyway, I hope this isn't too much, but still explains what I'm looking for before I want to cut up my $100 per yard NOS fabric

Thanks, Tom

Greg Rogers

I will go out today and get some pics and measurements. My 3rd seat is original, the 2nd seat is recovered so you cant see the upholstery underneath, same as the original front seat. I have a 2 door Cutlass Supreme front seat in the car now that has been reupholstered years ago by someone, so who knows about that one.

tcolt

Thanks Greg. If your reupholstered seats were done in the same style as original, they still might give me good information since chances are that the number of pleats, width length, etc. were kept the same. I really appreciate your help...

Greg Rogers

I'm sorry Tom, I cant get the pics or measurements now. I hope someone else can help you. If not I can recheck it in the spring. You know how it is having to store cars in the winter,etc... oh wait- no you don't.. you lucky devil! Anyway I went out to the Vista and I forgot I left my extra fenders,etc in the back. Ok so I was going to take them out but have to put in a battery to lower rear window, but battery is in storage in crawl space which is under the pantry which means I have to move canned goods shelf, bla bla bla. It's just too much right now. Maybe you could Pm oldspackrat he might have a 3rd seat he could measure. Well I did measure the pleats on the front seat they measured at 2", but as I said it's been recovered in a non factory velour type material with no buttons. I think it was out of a 72 Supreme originally and he had redone and then took out when he switched to buckets. Good luck, I totally understand you want it right.

tcolt

Haha. No, I get it Greg. I've lived places where the sun don't shine too :-)
Thanks for the pictures. I'm a little surprised your pleats seem to measure at least 2 in. maybe slightly more. Maybe there are some narrower ones to make up for it...

I noticed that your center arm rest has a seem down the middle. Was that part redone too?

Thanks again...

gratsoy

This is the large section of the seat back for the middle seat. I'm taking measurements with the tape on the middle of the bead at the top of the seat. This is because the fabric wraps around the bottom so it's harder to get a reference point to measure from botton up.


Here you can seen the seam at the bottom of the seat.

gratsoy

As for the pleats lining up on the top and bottom, not really. They're pretty close, in that they aren't intentionally staggered, but they're not perfectly aligned.

I've confirmed this on my seats as well as on an original '71 Vista bench I have.
Here's a cut from the '71 bench that shows the widths of the factory pleats.