Removed seat cover (1962) Sixfins, Mike, Dan, Ericdev voted for it!

[62 driver]

I started to fix my rear elect windows as they have not been moved for the last 40 years. Took the rear seat and side panels out. Removed the rear shelf to recover it as the sun took its toll.  Doing the rubber sweep seals as well. Interior is out and though I would do a good cleaning of it.  I needed to remove the red bottom seat cover as the 1 inch foam pad was waded up and looked like hell. Under the seat cover which was installed in 1965 was a nice cloth bottom seat (photo) it has wrinkles but they will stem out. So I am now thinking that the rest of the seats are in good condition as well. I know the front seat bottom cloth has glue stains that need addressed.  I tried to remove the rubber cement glue that was used to glue the 1 foam rubber to the seat before the seat covers were installed in 1965.  They did not use glue for the back seat and I am hoping the seat backs are unglued as well.

But my question is would my 62 look nicer with the red seat covers or the (44) off white interior? It is cloth and not leather. I have not been able to find a photo of a 1962 maroon with the cloth off white/light tan Interior. I found one with a new white leather Interior but mine would not look like it. One photo is the glued front seat before I removed the glue, now leaving the stains. I would have the seat it recovered.







More progress today. To bad the upholster glued the foam to the cloth. From what I understand it going to stain it. I tried goof off and it removed the glue but not the stain in the cloth.  Is the carpet color right?



As some of you know, I been working on my Interor.  The sun had turned the light tan vinyl door panels to gray.  The vinyl was in good condition and the shop wanted $800 in labor and I buy the materials.  So I tried to do them my self. Use SME vinyl paint.  Got the cloth from SMS. It took 6 hours and this is the results. First photos shows the faded color. The armrest was recovered in factory color purchased from SMS.  SME paint was matched to the armrest.







I painted my dash yesterday.  Removed the easy parts and left the hard to get parts on. This is just a driver and I did not want to dismantle all of it. This took about 7 hours so far.  I had the correct color mixed for the Interor. Washed all parts and used gray scotch pad to ruff it up. A few small runs and the paint is sim gloss I guess!













Update! It took 5 months of messing around. It started as a Sunday afternoon fix the electric back windows.  It turned into a interior repair.  It's back on the road for now.  Wife want me to get the seat redone due to stain. I'm not so sure!















This dash has been recovered befor I got the car.  The color was just to light.  Did not have the caddy look. So I used SEM vinyl paint.

   

[62 driver]

Art,  I am going to put my hands the correct material and vinyl from SMS.  I think I want to wait till summer is over before I do the seats.  It just gets to me that I can't the stain out.  The seats have only been used for 3 years. The old owner had the seat cover in 65.  I have used Goof Off, Lacquer Thinner, Dry-cleaning fluid, MEK and Acetone.  I removed the glue and lighten the stain but not gone. I will never get to your level with the testor can.  Dave

[Chris Conklin]

Absolutely amazing work! Those seats photograph pretty well, they don't look bad at all.

If you have a good dry cleaning establishment that you trust with your clothes you may want to check with them for possibilities and advice. There is one near me that does a lot of costume work for the studios and they've rescued some expensive shirts for me. They can even clean Ugg boots at this place.

[Smedly]

Looks good, I too would loose the maroon, looks more Caddy like in the white.
Sheldon Hay

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Outstanding Dave.

I applaud you on your work and for returning the interior to original.

*We'll have to keep an eye out for '62 steering wheel spoke. 

Again, fantastic job and a solid & worthwhile improvement.

[Dan LeBlanc]

That looks much better Dave.  Those vinyl seat covers ruined the look of the whole car.  She looks MUCH better now.

Eric, I sort of thought that was a 63 centre cap on the steering wheel.  I kinda like it.

[62 driver]

Thanks Guys. Is it just the steering wheel center or the whole wheel that's 63? Dave

[Dan LeBlanc]

Looks to me like the whole centre.  With the colour of the car and interior, I must say, it fits in very well.

[dadscad]

Tremendous improvement of your car's interior! Looks much better. The steering wheel, horn bar and center cap look to be '63 vintage.

Have you tried TuffStuff upholstery cleaner? I've had good luck with it, removing grease and other stains in carpets etc.

[C.R. Patton II]

Hello Dave

Nice work kudos!

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Thanks Guys. Is it just the steering wheel center or the whole wheel that's 63? Dave

Excellent question and the answer is that I do not know if the center spoke (& hub) will interchange with that for 1962 without replacing the entire wheel.

Yes, the wheel (or the center hub & spoke, at least) are 1963.

Although the burgundy center harmonizes nicely with the exterior, I feel the correct wheel spoke would be a worthwhile improvement - particularly since the center crest had been redesigned in 1963 and does not match the crest on the passenger-side dash plaque. 

[brian faull clc#25881]

You could probably dye the seats. You can get a product called SEM color coat. It works very well on fabric and vinyl. If the seats are still soft and pliable, give it a try. I have had very good results. Good luck. Brian.

[62 driver]

Brian,  thanks for the advice. I painted the door panel vinyl with a custom mixed SEM color.  (http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=130237.0#lastPost). I have some left over and Art also though I should try to blend in the stain.  Not sure how the best way to apply. Cotton balls, rag, Q-tip or a air brush.  Any ideas in that?  Thanks Dave

[62 driver]

The steering wheels stays. You see the old guy that put it on really loved this car. He purchased this car in 1965 and would not sell it.  He passed on and I was able to acquire it from his estate.  I feel a need to keep this wheel as he would have wanted me too. And just the other day I received a box in the mail with this most absolutely perfect Eldorado red horn button! Now when I slide behind the wheel I will have two people to think about! The previous owner and my friend. Thanks from the bottom of my heart!

[62 driver]