Where can I get some pics of the original seat material for a 37 p/u,I know covers are available but I want to make them myself as I will do a couple custom tricks to them but I want to find a material that looks similar. I am going to make my truck look like a shop truck and I need to put a simpler interior in it,I put in something that will look out of place after I get the truck lettered. Jeff

This kind of interesting, Jeff!
I've been looking at the seats in your truck for a couple of months because I don't like the ORIGINAL seats in my truck. The bottom cushion in my truck is the ORIGINAL seat and the ORIGINAL material. It has held up very well. The back cushion is covered in the closest material I could find. I have looked for years for the same vinyl material like the bottom cushion in my truck to use on the seat back. I have written to all of the seat material suppliers who specialize in vintage car and truck interior materials. I have even looked at leather, hoping to duplicate the seat material. I have not been able to find it.
The closest I can come to it is what has been referred to as "school bus seat material". Basically it looks close to the material used to make a football, but not the same color. There in is the second problem - I haven't found the color, either. My cushions are brown and I'm not sure if they made all the truck cushions in brown or black, or if there was a choice. I think they were all brown. The rest of the entire interior of the truck, the dash and door panels and the metal trim was painted with black wrinkle finish paint. The door panels were metal, painted with wrinkle finish paint - no upholstery. No arm rests. The floor mat was black rubber.
Pretty simple and plain.
If you do find the correct seat material, I'd like to know what it is and I would "Thank you!" very, very much!
Joe

Joe,

In your post, you mention that the interior of the 37 was originally painted with wrinkle black paint. I was under the impression that it was actually wrinkle BROWN paint, to match the headliner and seats, and that's what I painted mine years ago. Am I wrong about that?

Thanks for your help.

Jim

jmmmn37-
My mistake!
Yes, the interior metal trim is painted with brown wrinkle paint and the upholstery is brown, also. I had also left the impression that the material for the seat might be available in black, but it was only brown.
Jim, have you ever found our particular seat cushion material in brown? I'm sure Jeff would be interested and so would I?
Thanks for the conversation and information.
Have a good time!
Joe

I was looking at the school bus material and will probably use it on my seats with a matching smoother vinyl for the trim around the sides of the seats and I am going to put a red bead that matches the paint of the body in the seats too and maybe some pleats so it wont look very plain. I was not planning on going back original but make it look more like a work truck of that period,I covered all the panels in a tweed and will be removing it to paint or cover with a matching vinyl to the seats. Since I have carpet on the firewall to keep the heat down some I will probably retain carpet on the floor unless I can get a firewall mat and then use a rubber floor mat,my interior was brush painted silver when I got it so I had no idea what color it was and it had some type of material covering the seats. Jeff

Joe,

When I recovered my 37 seats, I got the kit from Jim Carter Trucks; this was a while back now, but it turned out pretty well. I'm not sure if the material is EXACTLY the material of the original, but it is pretty close. I also have a 40 pickup which appears to be 99.9% original. The seats are perfect in it, though they show some surface wear. I'm not positive that they hadn't ever been recovered, but if they were, it was some time ago. The material is a little "softer" and a bit nicer than the stuff I got from Carter--though not TOO different. In the 40, the color of the material is not brown, but it's not exactly black either; hard to tell from the number of years, I suppose.

I hope this is helpful.

Yours,

Jim

I have found some vinyl that kind of looks like old style cloth and alot smoother to the touch then the school bus material and if it matches the brown wrinkle finish paint I heard about then thats what I will get. I am almost certain I will be removing the cloth I put on the metal interior panels and will be painting them in the wrinkle texture paint like original so I wont have to order so much material. I hope to change the interior this winter and will be building a table for my sewing machine so I can work in the basement. Jeff

Thanks for your comments, Jim. I have since found some ulta-leather that looks pretty good. I have been tossing that around. It might look sharp with that material, be comfortable and answer the question as to what I want. If I use it, I will maintain the same simple look of the original 37.
In the meantime, Jeff, keep us posted on your choice.
I'm always ready to talk about 37 tucks!
Joe

I decided that since the 37 is not totally original that I wont go with a exact original material for the seat but I want the simple look of that era,I put in a leather/tweed type interior that was done in stretrods and it looks totally out of place in a truck thats going to look like a shop truck. The material I picked might not hold up if it is a work truck due to the soft feel but should hold up well for a vehicle that gets about 1500 miles a year,its more expensive then the bus seat material but should be well worth it. I am also going to like the wrinkle finish paint for the metal panels and wish I would done it that way the first time. Jeff