[kpbrown31]

I am ordering vinyl to do the 2 bench seats in my 66 Catalina wagon and then have a shop sew up the seat covers. I have found that SMS and Distinctive Industries both make the turquoise color Pontiac used. SMS is the only one that has the checkered cloth pattern that was used in the middle portion of these seats and I plan to order that, but the plain turquoise vinyl that goes on the sides/back of the seat is a little cheaper through DI.

Curious if anyone has seen these two fabrics in person and is quality comparable. I have a sample from DI being shipped to my house.

DI is ~25/yd cheaper on their fabric. Maybe I'm pinching pennies too much and should order everything through SMS. SMS tells me they are at about 2 weeks on getting vinyl shipped out. I read horror stories on here about their timelines, so hopefully that's not the case because I need the car by May .

[unruhjonny]

from my dealings with SMS (I physically went there), they will tell you if their material isn’t original/vintage stuff;
In my case, I was there to get the hard to find cloth & corduroy for a ‘73 Firebird;
They had them both.
I believe that they also had the correct vinyl (for the sides of the seats), and if my memory serves me they also gave me an option of a similar, but cheaper vinyl - but I may have asked about this…

[vertigto]

SMS was the only one I could find that had the correct dark saddle/brown for my GTO. Others were way off.

[rambow]

Since you are combining cloth & vinyl next to each other it really shouldn't matter since they are different materials. A slight variation (or even extreme variation) on color is pretty much expected.

It would be a bigger deal if you were getting some kind of specialty stamped vinyl from SMS and wanted to use it alongside vinyl from DII, then any slight difference in color match would more noticeable and not easily dismissed.

-Ben

[PONTIAC LARRY]

Those new seats look amazing !

[kpbrown31]

Just following up in case someone else is ever wondering...the SMS sample and DI sample I received in the turquoise for my seats were nearly identical in color. The DI vinyl seems to be a little more "stretchy" and softer feeling, and the SMS is less pliable, but still very quality feeling and maybe even better than the DI? I'm not an upholstery guy, so I'll be curious to see what my upholstery guy thinks is the better material. Maybe that means the SMS would be more durable? I'm not sure. SMS was actually surprisingly quick to ship out as well. I've heard mixed reviews online, but the vinyl was at my door in exactly 2 weeks from ordering. Distinctive Industries is looking more like 3 weeks, but still waiting.

[jamesq]

SMS is (usually) fairly quick to ship upholstery material and head liners.
It's the door panels that take forever, I'm 27 months out and still waiting....

James Q

[kpbrown31]

Originally Posted by jamesq

SMS is (usually) fairly quick to ship upholstery material and head liners.
It's the door panels that take forever, I'm 27 months out and still waiting....

James Q

Holy smokes! I was actually considering door panels down the road if I end up liking this car enough to keep it around. Sounds like a guy needs to plan ahead if you are considering it. It’s funny that you’ve been waiting that long when the price sheets they send out they are still listing it as a much shorter turn around than that.

[jamesq]

At one point, they had quit taking new door panel orders to catch up.
They are not quite caught up yet.....
But I am told they will be beautiful when I receive them AND they are the only game in town for original panels.

James Q