Mar 19, 2016
208
329
Georgetown, Kentucky 40324, USA
VetteCoins
4,613
Car
1967 Coupe
I don't have my coupe back from paint shop yet but this past Friday I started on the install of new foam and seat covers for both seats I have at my place. Wow ... this was sure a lot harder than the videos from Corvette America made it look! It took me about 7 hrs to complete one seat bottom. There are some techniques that have to be learned and the right tools if you've never done it before. Only 2 hrs to complete the second seat bottom ... I guess that shows I'm trainable. Then another 4 hrs to complete both seat backs. After spending about 6 hrs on the first seat bottom I was about to give up feeling that the covers were made wrong and were never going to be able to fit over the frame so they could be secured. In frustration I took a ride to the body shop as I needed some encouragement. The owner asked me what I was so frustrated about and I told him. He asked what I was using to heat the leather seat covers with and I told him a hair dryer ... after he got done laughing ... he handed me his heat gun and said try this but don't burn up you're new seat covers. An hour later the seat cover was on. It was amazing. I had the proper tools for the hooks & clips and hog rings but the proper heat really made an amazing difference. It was still a lot of work, especially with the new foam but doable. Here's before & after pics. I haven't got the seat back actually attached to the bottoms as I'm reviewing all the old hardware to see what can be reconditioned, re-plated or needs to be replaced. The reason for the before pic looking so bad is this car sat for the last 40+ years and the whole car looked pretty much like this seat ... but it's coming back to life ... slowly as progress is being made. I still need to use some heat to smooth out a few wrinkles but the cover to fit. :Party:

Seat Before.jpg

Seats.jpg
 

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Yes, I'm doing everything myself except tranny, diff, and paint. The internet is a fabulous source of information and how too videos!
Too many original parts missing for NCRS, but I will keep it as original as possible. Most of the parts restoration are done. I still have gauge cluster, steering column, and a few odds and ends. I can relate to your experience with seat covers, I certainly learned a lot too!
 
Wouldn't that be neat to get a picture of our cars side-by-side when they're finished. Two Marina Blue 67 Vettes, a roadster and a coupe. Too bad we're so far apart.
Mine won't be NCRS either ... too far gone for my pockets to be able to bring it back and then wouldn't want to drive it if it was.

Good luck with getting yours back together. I've still need to address my steering column (telescopic), so I might have some questions for you if yours was a telescopic.

This morning I took the heat gun to my seats and it really does a job on wrinkles. Took about 3 minutes with just circling this area with gun about 2" from surface. Here's a Before & After pic of that process on one of the seat bottoms.
Before.jpg
After
After.jpg
 
Nice job with the heat gun, wonder if it would work on those wrinkles starting to appear on my face...

My steering is telescopic, so we can definitely help each other. Not sure yet when I will start on the column, eager to see some progress on the car first! In the meantime, I have attached a 2 part paper that I found on telescopic column restoration some time ago, very well documented. This is for a 'Late' 67 (which mine is, April 67). Not sure what the differences are with earlier columns. If yours is earlier, I can try and look for the right doc.
 

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I wouldn't recommend the heat gun for skin :Nono1:... I touched the seat leather as I was doing this and it was hot enough that a quick touch was all I could stand.

I think my '67 would be classified as early. The research I've done shows that the serial # is the 6,330th built out of 22,940, with a final assembly date of 12/20/66. Also the emergency brake handle is all black. I believe late '67's have some chrome on that handle, at least according to places that sell that piece. Do you know how they differentiate Early from Late?

I think something in my telescopic column is broken or missing. It works except when you pull it out, the section next to steering wheel separates and you see the greasy steering column shaft, instead of that assemble also moving out with the steering wheel. I'm hoping it's something like a broken or missing snap ring of some sort. It's on my workbench right now but I haven't started on it as I'm working on sandblasting the (4) splash shields right now. This car is certainly keeping me busy.

Thank you for the manuals ... I'll look through them and maybe the problem I'm noticing could be common to early & late models.

If I have any more question on the steering column I'll start a new thread for that ... to help anyone else that has questions about one.
 
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I don't know that there if a firm date or serial number that defines Early or Late, it appears to be based on which part change. You mentioned the emergency brake handle, the changeover for those was Dec 66 so your car could have had either depending on which plant it came from and how much stock they had to deplete before incorporation of the revised part. The same applies for the side mirror, also changed sometime in Dec 66 to a version without the bowtie on the chrome backside. One small difference on the steering column was the traffic hazard knob which was changed from a long knob to short knob version at approx. serial number 9000, mid Jan 1967. So it varies.

My telescopic is a mystery too. Nothing moves no matter the position of the lock nut. I'm guessing this is gonna take some time to figure out! Might be a good idea to dedicate a thread as we start digging into it.
 
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