Hello, everyone!
I am looking for a replacement seat cover for my '85 F250. The truck has its original upholstery which is wearing pretty thin after all these years. I have the red interior and my bench seat is covered with red velour fabric with red and gray striped inserts in the drivers and passengers positions. I would like to find a replacement cover that is as close to that pattern as possible. I have seen what LMC and NPD offer and they are close but I'd like to get even more like the original. I have even asked Parts guy Ed about it and the seat covers are LONG obsolete from Ford. Junkyards are no help because most of the upholstery I find there is much worse than what I have. Again, originality is what I'm looking for. So, forum members, hit me with your suggestions!
Thanks!
Dave B

 

I think your best bet would be to talk with a local upholstery shop and see what they can offer for you. They shouldnt have to much trouble coming up with something to match what you have now. Might be slightly more expensive but its probably your only option if you want an exact replication

 

Custom sewn covers with the correct matching material? I would say way more expensive.

 

Thanks guys!
Franklin2, I gotta agree with you there. The local auto upholstery shops wanted around $600 to replicate what is in there, and they said they could only get close. Apparently the vinyl "piping" material that is in between the velour and the striped cloth is a real problem. They can get close to the velour but the striped fabric is also hard to match. The design of the bench seat covers from NPD for the '87-'92 trucks looks very similar in pattern to what I have but with different material. Do you guys think that those covers would work or were the seats for those years a different shape than mine? If so, would I have to replace the foam as well to make it work? Then would the new foam and covers fit on my existing frame? My wife hates my threadbare seats and so I'm trying to spruce things up a bit while still staying as true to the original as I can without breaking the bank!

 

Look at how your seat covers are attached to the frame. I do know my 89 seat cover did not use hog rings like the upholstery I am used to seeing. The seat frame had flat areas and the seat cover has long plastic clips and they snap onto the frame. If your cover uses hog rings, I bet the seat frame will not accept the later model covers with the plastic retainers.

I am assuming the aftermarket later model seat covers are using the plastic clips. Or possibly you could use the hog rings anyway if that's what yours uses.

 

Aah, good advice! I will take a look as soon as I get home and see how everything is put together. That could definitely explain the model year differences though... Have you encountered anyone else during your time on the forum who was trying to stay as original as possible or am I the only one who worries about such things!?!

 

try to get the uplstry as close to possable. take your seat apart as carefully as you can. use the old material as a pattern. stich up a new one. replace the foam, and repair the springs as needed.instal the new cover, and the whole project will only cost you around $100

 

I used spray adhesive, and a $40 "Bell Bench Seat Cover" and called it a day.. lol

 

Doing upholstery work is sort of like rebuilding a automatic tranny. There is a learning curve and you need special tools, or you won't make it.

My wife can sew, and I hinted around to her about helping me do some interior work, and she said I need special heavy duty sewing machine to sew through all the layers of heavy vinyl. I looked around a little bit, and they are expensive. And I have found it's not cost effective if you have to buy your interior materials retail, when you can find them. Sometimes they will only sell some of the special fabrics wholesale.

 

I use an old singer tredal machine. you are right, some practice runs are in the book. material can be found on line, usually they will send a sample of what you want.

 

Find a custom/hot rod upholstery shop in your area. These guys do wonders with upholstery. Stock stuff is not their normal thing, so it's considered easy. I used to be one of them...well I worked for one of today's legendary custom upholsterers. Our hot rod interiors started at $5k an were upwards into the high teens...very high-end magazine stuff. Every now & then a friend of a friend or whatever would bring in a stock seat or seats to be recovered like original. It was always a quick 1-day job for stock seats or door panels/etc as long as the material was in stock or could be purchased locally. We did a bench seat for a guy's late 70's Chevy pickup for about $250. He dropped off the seat and picked it up the same day, looked original and much better fitment than any aftermarket "oem style" seat cover. I recovered the bench in my '64 Chevy C-10 in vinyl on my lunch break one day. It had been recovered in the 70's or 80's with diamond tuck velour material. I yanked the seat out, pulled the hog rings, split the seams in the velour, made my patterns from the velour, and sewed up new vinyl "pleated" covers. I ran out of time on lunch, but buttoned up the covers, and installed the seat back into the truck within an hour of getting off work. Cost me less in material than one of those saddle blanket seat covers you can buy at the parts store cost.

 

smsautofabrics.com (located in Oregon: 503-263-3535) has the correct upholstery for ALL 1930/2000 American vehicles.

They can make up the seat covers exactly like the Ford originals.

 

Thanks again, everybody! Bill, that sounds EXACTLY like the kind of place I'm looking for and I will call them today!

 

DBrawley, let us know how this company turns out for you. I am also interested in getting my bench seat re-upholstered, and I would like it in the correct fabrics, if possible.

 

Thanks, Lariat! Will do! It's nice to know someone else is interested in originality!