From looking at these I am operating on the assumption that these were never painted at the factory and came their natural metal finish. Any views on this issue would be appreciated.
Yes, both of you have been most gracious in sharing info for restos on this Board. As you might suspect I Am now working on the interior Including the seats. Duane no one has your interior expertise and I have the same old question faced by most A body restorers. It is about the pre-formed plastic chromed molding that goes around both the back and the bottom of the seat. I have never seen it remade ( never seen NOS either). The coiled sustitute does not have the same opening or diameter and just does not want to stay put. Our originals are nice but not perfect. Do you know or anyone that has attempted to have a plastic rechromer redo a set of the original molded ones? If so how did they turn out and who did it?
Jim, The biggest problem with originals is the plastic material becomes yellow over time. I just went through 5 sets of bucket seats and not one was clear or had shiny chrome due to age. Also, I think every one had hairline cracks. Let me know what you find out.
I will. So far I have never found a NOS set and never found anyone that has tried to refurb old ones. Now these would be a good repro project as they are needed by all. I think I even once tried Chevellle suppliers with no luck.
Jim, The only repro is the thin type, which was not developed for cars anyway, but was "stolen" from it's intended use. It has glue in the center so it should stick when pushed all the way on. We accept it in Concours, because currently it is the only thing available. Now if a better repro is made in the future, we may need to adjust that, the idea is to make our restorations as close as possible. I don't think this part was ever offered as a replacement part, I have seen NOS seat backs, but never the chrome trim. Duane
getting it "rechromed" is most likely out of the question Jim as the original stuff seems to be a "chrome tape" sandwiched between or under a clear plastic outer layer. This is why the stuff never really looked like chrome (like the thin cheap repro stuff)....the outer layer of clear plastic "tubing" tones down the shiny factor. If you find good original ones that appear somewhat dirty or yellowed then try rubbing them with some Meguiar's plastic cleaner...remember-you are polishing the clear plastic outer layer so there is no fear of ruining the "chrome" inner layer. Many times this will clear up the finish enough to make them acceptable. The only other problem is that the original ones have shrunken in length over time but I would rather have this clean, non-shiny stuff than the ill-fitting repro stuff any day. I don't know how the judges would treat this---I would hope in the cases where the aftermarket is providing less-than-desirable incorrect pieces that good clean originals (albeit slightly faded?--whose to say how shiny these were originally--I suspect not very) would get the same points rating. So many of these crappy aftermarket parts are resulting in a "revisionist history" of our cars. Patton
Yes, I see what you and Duane mean. I have used the coiled chrome ribbon but the bite needs to been bigger so the adhesive will hold. I will try the plastic cleaner.
Plastic chrome trim available yet? Is anyone offering a better reproduction for the plastic chrome seat trim yet? I realize this thread is 18 months old, and I am hoping there is something new available. Duane - As far as the seat tracks/feet and the bare metal color, the Dynacorn repros are gold zinc. Is that acceptable, or will that be a point deduction? Thanks for any help on the chrome trim.
back on the subject of bucket seat feet--I have a car that had the ends (the "down legs") painted black from the factory...bucket seat '70 W31. Can I prove it? No--as I pulled them from the car and repainted the black years ago---this was well before digital pics/cameras were prevalent. There was nothing on the car to lead me to believe these were replacements or had been pulled by a previous owner and shot black (original seat covers, carpet, interior,floorpan, etc).
There is a wider repo that works much better. I thought this was posted last year as I got a coil and used it on my 71 W-30 conv. John
plastic chrome seat trim OPGI part # CHV0259---perfect repro...this is as close to original as has ever existed
