VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Upholstery - Interiors & Glass 1938 Chevy Sedan Seats

I am at the point of interior on my 38 sedan. I ordered samples from Lebaron Bonney. The seats I have are very old, I have always assumed original, but now I am questioning myself. First, the seats are tan, what I would relate to a camel type tan. I took a sample from the lower back of the front seat where I thought would be the least fade and it is not even close to the samples I received. Secondly, the front seats are two separate bucket seats. Not anything new type buckets, old looking buckets. The backs of the seat slightly wraps around. Before I buy a kit, can someone comment on what is right, wrong..etc. Thanks!!

With the bucket seats your car will be a Master. There was only one interior and it was called "Tan-Toned mohair" by Chevrolet.
The same color material was also used in the 1939 Master 85 and color was close to that of the Master Deluxe. I wou;d describe it as a tan/rose biege.
There were many variations of tan/brown colors used by Chevrolet and you will never find a perfect match today..

Thank you Chev Nut. And thank you for your guidance along the way as you have answered many questions I have had. We started with a pile of parts, now have paint and we are so close...thanks again.

My '38 coupe. One with the original though ragged interior and the new interior. I used a modern synthetic that mimics Mohair but wears much better.

Here are some photos of my "38 Master seats, front, bottom and back of rear. I purchased a complete upholstery kit about 10 years ago from the company that Lebaron Bonney bought out or took over. Can't remember the name of it. Material is mohair. Had the seats professionally done but haven't gotten around to putting them back in the car yet. Beamer

That looks like a very good color match.

I did have the foresight to send the company the sun visors so they could do them with material from the same batch as the rest of the kit. Have the arm rest material but that looks like a real job and is not cheap to do but I think I will send them everything and let them do those also. Beamer

Beamer I purchased a complete upholstery kit from Lebaron Bonney for my 1941 Coupe in 1999. Installed it myself with the help of my friend that helped me restore the '41. Was well satisfied with everything . My interior looks just like Lebaron Bonney ad in the G&D magazine. The door panel material was glued on the board and I had them do the sunvisors . It was a little pricey back then. I'll bet they are much higher now. I don't regret getting the entire kit. It looks great JIM

Those seats look great! Thanks for the pics!

If you are into a local upholstery shop they may do the same job for way less. Many major shops have access to the very same fabrics that Lebaron Bonney has.

The GM division of Lebaron Bonney is Hampton Coach. LB purchased HC when they were closing their doors. I work a lot with LB/HC and can tell you they are having a hard time getting the fabrics for pre-war cars these days, right down to simple Black vinyl. Lots are only run when large and if their order doesn’t meet the minimum, the manufacturer doesn’t produce until additional orders come in raising the yardage to the minimum. I’m personally waiting for my 32’ Olds Cabriolet type roof to be made out of a very popular T-39 tan product produced by Hartzz right down the street from LB in basically the next town over. Hartzz doesn’t have any in stock and hasn’t put any in production yet so it probably won’t be until the end of the year before I get my roof. I suggest to everyone these days restoring a car that they should order their interior at least 1 1/2yrs before they think they’ll need it for this very reason. Same with chrome. Need your engine rebuilt? Figure on a year there also. You have to plan ahead or you’ll be waiting a long time.

On other interior shops: what I’ve seen in my area is that some might charge less to make the interior, but will charge a lot to install it. Most will not make the interior for you for you to install on your own. Also, most shops don’t have the knowledge to duplicate an old interior to OEM unless they specialize in restoration work. Those shops would rather buy the kit from LB/HC than make it if it’s available. I get a discount from LB/HC and I pass it along to my customers only charging an installation fee. The tacked down vinyl roofs of the early cars is another area where most shops don’t give the customer a OEM type job using the aluminum moldings. Almost all regular upholstery shops will use Hidem and it just doesn’t compare to the aluminum molding. It depends on what you want. With outside shops you have to choose accordingly to what you want. Remember, the good shops are always a year out at least also.

Hampton Coach - that's it! Thanks for jogging my memory. It has been a long time since I purchased the complete upholstery kit, back when it cost around $3,800.00 if you ordered it at Hershey, and Hampton Coach had slipped my mind. Beamer

Has anyone attempted to install a kit on their own vs having a shop do it? Determined novice type kit or just way to difficult?

Yes, I did it on both a car and truck that I have. I ordered kit on one and had the other one made at a local shop. Both were installed by me. I also had a friend help sometime when it required extra set of hands. I found that taking lots of photos before removing the original or replacement material in layers as put in was very helpful when going back. Especially when I got stuck or confused. There is nothing like looking at how it was put together originally. See how and what was used to attach. I saved every torn out part and examined/photoed closely to see how it was attached. I saved and reused as many original tacks/screws and small nails as possible. I found it helpful to glue paperboard and or cardboard over the original wood parts [or metal] so as to give the nail/screw something to hold onto other than the old wood [or metal] and [in your case] into the metal slits, holes or cuts in the tin work. Using the hot glue gun afterwards or "lock tite"to hold in place screws/nails in punched out metal holes, toothpicks also or small pieces of small tie wraps cut off or small insulated copper wire can make a screw hold in an enlarged worn out hole with a glue added.

It is important to have clean hands, do the ceiling first with the seats out. Start with the rear window first, attach around the window, sides of rear seat and then move forward toward the front windshield. Place bow through the holding material. Place bow. Stretch each bow in the top by cutting the holding material with a razor and pulling the fabric tight [be careful not to cut the overhead fabric itself]. Holding, the holding material, pull and temporarily attach; go to the other side and do the same. Then adjust, go to the next bow toward the front of the car. Each section must be tight and good looking before going to the next. I found that setting on a milk carton saved my knees. After the ceiling is in then you can place the metal strips around the windows [garnish moldings]. To clean these wash with soapy water. paint a water based clear poly coat over them. You can also remove water base by rubbing a wet rag over it if you get a mistake like a run. The wood grain will really stand out. [same thing for the steering wheel and dash to give it the new wet look]. There is a section in the saved post that explain how to do wood gaining. Some get a spray bottle of water and give it a very light coating of mist to tighten further [not needed if done right the first time or you can go back and adjust before placing garnish moldings on.] Go slowly and carefully. May take a week to do. Good luck. I did it and I am a country mule headed farmer!

Thanks for the great reply!