Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

[Bill N.]

Is it worth the extra $300 to have Al Knoch do them versus Corvette America?

Thanks for your opinions. I'm new to this segment of the industry as I've spent the past 16 years with '69 Camaros. Whole new ballgame.

Thanks.

[Eric J.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

Bill, Welcome to the TDB. What are the issues with the headrests? There may be other options then sending them off. Eric

[Eric J.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

I just redid a set for my 70 Camaro. A good cleaning, a little plastic and vinyl prep and a can of interior dye and they are now the right color and nice and clean.
head_rest1.jpg
head_rest2.jpg

[Bill N.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

Thanks, Eric.

They're brittle from age and discolored from the sun. I cracked one accidentally last fall while removing the hardtop. I flipped the driver's seat forward and it hit on the right side latch up by the visor. Bummed me out. I bought another set of headrests and want to set the originals aside. The ones I found are blue and need to be recovered in green. So that's why I'm looking at recovering. Just not sure if Al Knoch quality is worth $300 more that Corvette America or Eckler's for that matter.

Bill

[Gary H.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

I seem to recall that someone is actually redipping them in the proper plastic material...possibly thats what the extra $300 charge could be.

You dont want to recover these. They will have a leather cover with a stitched edge and not the proper one piece plastic look.

I looked into getting mine redone a few years ago because someone had them recovered but I got lucky as the covers were just placed over the originals and they were still in excellent condition.

[Tom B.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

Eric..are these headrests like the 69 Camaro where they have the dialectric seam around the edge?

[Eric J.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

Tom, I am not sure what a 69 seam looks like. They have a round "piping" like trim molded into the corners. The reason for the post was to show with proper preparation and cleaning rubber, plastic, vinyl can be re dyed to give a like new appearance. Not sure that applies to the OP. As stated in Gary's post sometimes the restored results are far from typical production.


Bill, are you planning on flight judging the 69?

[Edward B.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

Camaro and Corvette head rest covers are different. The Camaro has the seam (piping) and the Corvette is smooth (no piping). See the attached pictures (The Camaro is the white seat and the Corvette is the blue seat).

Ed

[Bill N.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

Eric, the car is a survivor and i've thought about going for the Bowtie Award. The headrests look like they're vacuum formed and seamless that's bonded together at the bottom...by heat I imagine. I certainly trust Knoch as they're reputation is stellar but other's are doing them for much less. Just wondering if anyone has used any of these sources and in fact does Knock have a technique that's more true to the factory look.

By the way, I've seen two versions of vinyl offered, seamed and ABS.

[Reba W.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

[QUOTE=Bill Neumiller (60510);737341]Eric, the car is a survivor and i've thought about going for the Bowtie Award. The headrests look like they're vacuum formed and seamless that's bonded together at the bottom...by heat I imagine. I certainly trust Knoch as their reputation is stellar but others are doing them for much less. ]If you are thinking about Bowtie judging, any update is not going to help. All items must be (or appear to be) what was installed at the factory. Unlike Flight judging, the condition does not matter.

[Bill N.]

Re: Question on redoing '69 ABS vinyl headrests for a '69

I understand that, Reba. I purchased a second set to recover and will set the originals aside because they've become brittle from age and sun. I'll put them back on for Bowtie judging. Still wondering if Knoch is worth the extra $300 to recover in vinyl ABS.