VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 48 fleetline tan striped seat fabric

On my screen the visors look to be more the correct color. There may have been a choice of headlining colors back then and the too dark version was selected.
The seats probably are a little too gray which makes the headlining look more brown.
Its just impossible to match all the colors and materials..

Thanks Gene for the opinion, I appreciate it. If I just look at the seat fabric without the headliner in the background, it looks tan; but put it against that headliner and it turns gray.

By golly.....it must be magic, or gremlins...or somethin'. But it can make ya crazy sometimes. I just enjoy it the way it is......and most people that look at it don't remember or don't know the difference.

One of these days, maybe I'll get the visors recovered in a color closer to that of the headliner so the contrast in colors isn't so great. Maybe.

Thanks again Gene, and again good luck to you Chef Chevy, I hope you can find the "right stuff".

I Guess you all can see what I mean now about the gray in the fabric Ken 48 and Chev Gene send me a PM,I would like to send you guys some samples of the original fabric from my Fleetline...Ken 48,nice to see you left the underside of your sun sheild the correct green...I failed to do the same..I bad,chef

Hey Chef, I sent you a PM on the fabric color.

Fixing the color on the underside of the sun shield can be easy. When I got mine the previous owner painted the topside black to match the car, but left the original medium green underneath. It was in pretty bad shape, scratches, scuffs and many dirt stains I couldn't get out. One day I was in our local hardware store and happened to see a rattle can of Rustoleum paint with a cap color that just said "Take me home and paint the underside of your visor, I'm a perfect match." So I did and that is what you see in the picture. It was Rustoleum American Accents Moss Green,satin finish.
Noboby, including Fulton, could make a better match. So take that visor off the car Chef, get a can of Moss Green and go for it!!

Sometime you just get lucky, huh?

I will be looking for that paint,thanks,chef

Hello,
Been reading the thread and have a couple questions. Coincidentally I looked at a 48 Fleetline the other day that still has it's orig interior. I made a point of taking a close look at the seat fabric. It was faded but definitely had a blue and brown stripe like the picture from ken48. Didn't take notice if it had a nap or was smooth. The headliner was too faded and stained to say what color that was originally.
Relating to a comment Chevgene made; was the seat fabric the same in the Fleetmaster & Fleetline as far as color and stripe with the only difference being the nap? Wasn't there a grey combination offered in the Fleetline in addition to the tan?

Ken

Hi KenK,
Welcome to the "Is it gray or tan debate" .

Here's what I found on page 24 of the Chevrolet 1948 Specifications-Passenger booklet I got from GM.
Under Upholstery Materials: Seat and back cushion front and rear....FLEETLINE:Light tan;color-striped, broadcloth type, flat woven fabric. No options. FLEETMASTER sedans and coupes: Tan striped, pile fabric, Tan cloth optional. See option RPO 355.

The only gray I see is in the Stylemaster sedans and coupes.

Headlining in both FLEETLINE and FLEETMASTER reads as follows: Plain tan cloth to match seat upholstery.

So there ya go......that's the best I can do......I was only 6 years old when the 48s were new.....and probably not paying much attention to seat covers and headliners at the time

Maybe Gene will come on and expand on this a little more.

Enjoy the Chevy

The 1948 Engineering Manual describes the 1948 Fleetline material quite correctly
"A much lighter tan tone forms the background in the 1948 Fleetline interiors. The flat wovenseat upholstery introduces rich slate blue and brown colors in closley spaced pin stripes - a material simialr to that used in much costlier cars. In the Fleetline interiors, the background color is now the same overall, the dark colored scuff pads have been replaced by light tan"

"Fleetmaster Interiors" A new, high quality pile fabric, known as "Sea weave" covers seats in the Fleetmaster series. The design of the pile of the seat clothe is bolder than previously. .......An optional cloth upholstery is again offered. The novelty weave seat material is highlighted in light tan".....
I have never seen a 1948 Fleetmaster with the optional interior. This includes back in 1950 when they were a popular used car.
The 1941-1947 Fleetlines used dark brown tones material with slight stripes in the seat cushion and back rest material. I always thought they were more rich looking than the tan tones used in 1948. The tan tones probably were more modern though.
Its also rather difficult to see and describe a light tan and grey on a computer screen. In my opinion the 1948 Fleetmaster would best be described as a tan/gray.

The head liner in ken 48s interior matches my original very well...when i put a sample of the seat fabric which i took off the underside of the rear arm rest up to the hampton coach sample it is not too far off...if you were to use the pannel fabric for the head liner the seats would match every thing pretty well,i dont understand why the headliner is so different then all the other tone.must of been the era..chef

Chef,
Would just like some clarification. Is the sample you took off the underside of the rear arm rest the original 1948 fabric? If so is it smooth or does it have a nap to it?
Also, when I earlier asked about a grey combination, in addition to tan, available in the Fleetline I should have specified I was referring to 42-46 model years. I see these colors listed in the specification section of Chevs of the 40's catalog. I recently requested samples from SMS. They sent both a tan and grey striped fabric. The stripe pattern is different between the two. Just a thought on my part but considering shades of blue and grey were offered in 48 I'm surprised a grey combo wasn't offered to harmonize better with those exterior colors. But, on the other hand, I guess cost being a factor in production isn't anything new. Ken

The 48 fleetline fabric is smooth,I have seen a few pics of the slightly gray tone striped seat fabric...When I send for samples I give the trim code so I pretty sure they are sending what they think is the correct stuff for the car

OK Chef......here are a few photos of my HC seat fabric with the samples from HC and your original fabric sample you sent me.........









Well there you are.......pretty close but no cigar for HC.

I gotta tell ya Chef, when the sun shines strong on my seats, they look tan, but when you look at them against the headliner....gray. Unfortunately, that's the best we can do these days. Like I said....close but no cigar. Trust me, I won't tell anyone it ain't EXACT.

Let me know if I can help any more. No I won't contribute to the "Bruce's Interior" fund

Just so everyone knows....in 1996 the entire HC interior kitfor a 48 Fleetline Aerosedan cost $1215.01......Chef might tell what it costs today

In 6/01 the HC interior kit including truck was $2651. and in June of 08 the same is $4560.You would wonder why I,m looking for perfection...Yes after all that $$$$ I would need an expert to put it in.I would guess an easy $2000..I'm going to have to sell alot of Salmon to pay off this project...Comment???chef

As long as "we" keep buying, they'll keep on raising the price.

You can count on that.....

Wow! I hadn't priced a kit. That's a lot of bacon. There are some who believe SMS is the way to go for correctness of material but one has to consider they just sell yardage. Then you have to add burlap, padding, etc and find an upholstery professional to do the work. I wonder which way would be less. I saw some recent posts here that were saying around $3,000 for a complete interior which I thought wasn't completely outrageous all things considered. Unfortunately the antique car hobby isn't a poor man's hobby.
Ken

The seat fabric SMS offers as correct for the 48 Fleetline Aero is the same fabric Hampton Coach will send you...Except for the seat fabric all the other interior components as for color from HC match my original exactly...the biggest problem,with out the little extra tan in the seat the other fabrics especially the headliner are a bit off,chef

Well if they can get the color correct for all the other interior coverings why not the seat fabric? Too bad.

I sent HC the the sample of the original seat as you see in Ken 48 pics and they were not interested and said they had nothing to match it with.Must be Like Bill Hirsh and the engine color,they have a lot of the not just right color.chef

There ya go Chef......close but no cigar for Hampton Coach.....they've got a product that isn't quite right, but it's the best you can get and they will stick it to ya....just like Bill Hirsh did for years with his paint (I bought his engine paint before I knew any better). But after years of complaining by VCCA members, I think Bill Hirsh now offers a correct color engine paint. Too bad another company doesn't put out a kit like HC in the correct patterns, colors, etc.....then Chevy guys (VCCA members) could stick it back to HC.. I guess you just gotta put up with the BS sometimes.

Anyway Chef, I hope my photos were helpful to you (it was fun helping out) and I wish you the best of luck with your 48 Aero.

Now, go peddle some salmon or shrimp or something so you can pay for that interior.