For those who have done many interiors, has anyone seen fabric like this?
- Thread starter bcgreen
- Start date
IcarusLSC
New member
Twill weave fabric of some kind it looks like.
What vehicle?
What vehicle?
76 Porsche Carrera.
Was on Porsche 912E as well
I think the Twill or a Twill like fabric was seen on other manufacturers. Because this fabric is NA and I know because I have been looking for over 5 yrs., I am looking for a sub. from another vehicle.
I assume you are looking for an "almost" identical material to keep this Porsche as "original" as possible. Have you reach out to Porsche restoration shops, or other Porsche forums about this material??
There are specialty auto upholstery shops/business that may also be able to recommend a suitable fabric/material IF you bring the seat in to them.
You are up against one of the truly biggest challenges in vehicle restoration: keeping it "original" with no-longer available Original Equipment of Manufacturer (OEM) parts. And even if some OEM part or material IS available, the cost may be astronomical that it is not economically feasible to do so for your particular vehicle, depending on its make, model, and particular vehicle history, ownership, or rarity.
As a side line to this (Yes, it is called thread hi-jacking, which Captain Obvious is notorious for!), you also bring up a bring up a point about when is it "restoration" too much. I LOVE older vehicles that have been "restored" far beyond what was ever done on the assembly line without looking "customized". The chrome is just PERFECT, the paint had NO orange-peel and looks infinitely- deep, the seem gaps are close, and the interior material looks likes it belongs in a hi-end furniture gallery. The screw heads are PERFECTLY aligned straight up, and the "ugly" assembly quality control paint marks and chalk/wax marker notation are gone. It truly is a museum piece. BUT as Carroll Shelby lamented, this is NOT how they came from the assembly line. They came with large "irregular" panel gaps, orange peel in the paint, screw heads that were NOT aligned,but just tightened, and "ugly" assembly QC paint and wax marker notation, and interior material that was OEM cheap, but period correct. Today`s concourse judges look for that "assembly line" originality and less-than-perfect museum pieces. Then again, I see older vehicles that are summer-fun drivers (IE, the cars are actually driven on a regular basis or to a car-show and not trailered) but they have after-market, non-period correct parts on them just to keep them running because it economically feasible to do so. I enjoy those, too. The two extremes are at two opposite ends of old vehicle "restorations".
Don`t even get me started on the "un-restored original condition" vehicles. Those tend to be a truism of "What is one man`s junk is another man`s treasure", OR `beauty is in the eye of the beholder", (at least to me!)
There are specialty auto upholstery shops/business that may also be able to recommend a suitable fabric/material IF you bring the seat in to them.
You are up against one of the truly biggest challenges in vehicle restoration: keeping it "original" with no-longer available Original Equipment of Manufacturer (OEM) parts. And even if some OEM part or material IS available, the cost may be astronomical that it is not economically feasible to do so for your particular vehicle, depending on its make, model, and particular vehicle history, ownership, or rarity.
As a side line to this (Yes, it is called thread hi-jacking, which Captain Obvious is notorious for!), you also bring up a bring up a point about when is it "restoration" too much. I LOVE older vehicles that have been "restored" far beyond what was ever done on the assembly line without looking "customized". The chrome is just PERFECT, the paint had NO orange-peel and looks infinitely- deep, the seem gaps are close, and the interior material looks likes it belongs in a hi-end furniture gallery. The screw heads are PERFECTLY aligned straight up, and the "ugly" assembly quality control paint marks and chalk/wax marker notation are gone. It truly is a museum piece. BUT as Carroll Shelby lamented, this is NOT how they came from the assembly line. They came with large "irregular" panel gaps, orange peel in the paint, screw heads that were NOT aligned,but just tightened, and "ugly" assembly QC paint and wax marker notation, and interior material that was OEM cheap, but period correct. Today`s concourse judges look for that "assembly line" originality and less-than-perfect museum pieces. Then again, I see older vehicles that are summer-fun drivers (IE, the cars are actually driven on a regular basis or to a car-show and not trailered) but they have after-market, non-period correct parts on them just to keep them running because it economically feasible to do so. I enjoy those, too. The two extremes are at two opposite ends of old vehicle "restorations".
Don`t even get me started on the "un-restored original condition" vehicles. Those tend to be a truism of "What is one man`s junk is another man`s treasure", OR `beauty is in the eye of the beholder", (at least to me!)
GearHead_1
Long Time Member
That’s hard to believe. I happen to be in complete agreement with this comment. I love to see a car that appears to be basically an OE vehicle but with all the little manufacturer’s oversights perfected. I like to see evenly spaced body lines and corrected stripes/decals, even to the point where modern conveniences have been added but you’d need to look hard to see. Things like 4 wheel power disc brakes where drums once existed or coil-overs where leaf springs once lived are things I really like to see. I realize this doesn’t make a Concours vehicle but I like to see them driven too.
I am not going for that Pebble Beach finish and when I am done it will retain some patina. My interior is black leather and I am trying to replicate the tan that was original. Most people want original so I am aiming for that as it will sell easier. Most people would not be able to tell it is not the twill that was used by Porsche as long as It compliments the inserts, then I will be happy. I was able to have an upholsterer in Victoria B.C. send me a sample that would have been just perfect but he would not tell me where he got the sample from other than to say VW or MB. His quote "I’ve found and ordered some more sample of Mercedes and VW twills that have the right weave texture and are close in colour". It seems to me that some other manufacturers such as MB and VW may have used this fabric on seats over the years, maybe Japanese or domestic as well. I am not involved in detailing interiors of vehicles as most here are, so I was hoping someone would remember running across something similar.
I have been at this for more than 5 yrs and its infuriating at not able to find that fabric that is available out there some where.
I have been at this for more than 5 yrs and its infuriating at not able to find that fabric that is available out there some where.
rlmccarty2000
Active member
I replied over on AG. Many manufacturers used twill back in the 60’s-70’s era and I am assuming you know this as you have been searching for the “right” one for 5 years. Wouldn’t the VW one be close enough? I’m sure Porsche and VW shared many of the same materials in the 70’s. Back then these cars were just driven and not collected. Man, times have changed. Makes me feel old.
bcgreen:
Post pictures of your Porsche when you do find the interior fabric that is suitable. Might be a while, but please, take the time to do so.
That is one BIG difference between you and me: you ARE an actual Porsche owner. I am a wanna-be admirer. I can tell you that the Porsche 911 is my favorite sports car and all my (many)1:24 scale models of Porsche 911s along with various framed photos of this iconic sports car are on display in the man-cave, but they are that: just a display of a dream. You own and can drive the REAL thing. Might be little older, might even be a work-in-progress, but it is still the REAL thing, hence my request for the photos.
Post pictures of your Porsche when you do find the interior fabric that is suitable. Might be a while, but please, take the time to do so.
That is one BIG difference between you and me: you ARE an actual Porsche owner. I am a wanna-be admirer. I can tell you that the Porsche 911 is my favorite sports car and all my (many)1:24 scale models of Porsche 911s along with various framed photos of this iconic sports car are on display in the man-cave, but they are that: just a display of a dream. You own and can drive the REAL thing. Might be little older, might even be a work-in-progress, but it is still the REAL thing, hence my request for the photos.
I have not found the VW one yet. I know he is out there but as yet I have come up empty. I have tried many upholsters here in the USA and Europe. I belong to 5 Porsche forums and nothing but a dead end. There are a couple of guys who have been looking as well and we have not found anything. I am not being fussy but I am realistic by trying to find a sub. but it is proving to be almost as challenging as trying to find the original Twill. It is very frustrating to know there is a fabric supplier out there some where but I can`t find him.
Okay, here is a teaser.
