1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

The dark "marbling" is original as far as I know. I have seen it many times. That's what makes 1970 Saddle interior parts so hard to find.

Again my 70 has original carpet & vinyl trim that is in a 20,000MI Coupe VIN # 3893 & is in all light saddle with NO dark marbling. Do you have the VIN #'S of the many ones you have seen. I incorrectly listed my VIN as 7601 which is my70 454 conv. Of all the 70 light saddle interiors I have seen none are 2 toned. Al said he had never seen it either so it would be nice to have VIN#'S of ones that have.

[Larry M.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

So you've seen this marbling also, yet several folks (including one or two owners of a '70 with Light Saddle) posted above they've never seen this before.

Maybe some Light Saddle cars are marbled and others are not?

Mark:

For what it's worth, there was another make/model car (other than Corvette) during this period with mottled saddle interior. My mid to late 1969 build American Motors AMX was one of these. This was well know and documented for the AMC cars, and my mottled saddle interior is pictured in one of the published books on the AMX. The mottling was on both the vinyl and leather fabric/hides used in my car.

I believe that I have seen this on some 69-70 period Corvettes with saddle interior also. There may have been a common single supplier. Not certain all cars with saddle interior had this mottled pattern, so it might have been from a single material source......which might explain the intermittent/randon sightings.

Larry

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

It might be interesting to see if there's a serial number range for Light Saddle "marbling" or if it just depended on which supplier's vinyl was installed on a particular car. For example, what if two or more suppliers were used concurrently throughout the year for interior vinyl?

My marbled interior is on SN 12,931; trim tag says F22 (June 22), 424 (saddle leather)

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

I just found this 2008 thread talking about marbling in '70 Light Saddle:
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthread.php?58827-1970-Interior-help!&highlight=1970+light+saddle

From Joh Herrick's post: "...the dash and the new door panels have the correct marbleized pattern in it. What is the best way to replicate that on the other interior parts and the dash to match? Also does anyone know the correct paint code for the dye."

I'd like to know the technique to add the darker color on repro vinyl as well. Any suggestions? Nobody really answered Jon's question.

[Dennis D.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Someone wiser may correct me, but I'll offer my opinion. I would expect vinyl to have been supplied from commercial manufacturer to a vender contracted to cover interior parts. Dye lots and even how, or if, the vinyl was distressed would vary. Bottom line, GM would certainly have had to approve samples and variations. Have no idea about vin and date.

Been involved in the vinyl industry longer than I care to remember in the design world. Have seen vinyl's colored to simulate buckskin which is similar to the blotting of the darker tone on your piece. The darkness in the recessed grain is a byproduct of the blotting. If you're not comfortable doing this yourself, I would look for a faux painter, as this is a technique common in that field.

As far as the interior vinyl, the original pieces should be solid color through and through as the vinyl would have been produced in that color, or any particular color of the time. The dupont interior paint colors would have been used as touch ups, or once stock of a piece manufactured in a color was no longer available, I'd suspect all service pieces were supplied in black with a "paint to match" note.

Picked these up from an auto supply years ago and was told once the colorant was depleted there would be no more. Fortunately there is are still suppliers of elastomeric paint used on interiors. SEM seems to be the go-to and an auto body supply house should be able to match for you.

dupont interior tans.jpg

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Dennis,

Thank you for your helpful reply.

Would you be willing to post photos of your interior? I'd like to see the pattern. And which pieces are marbled vs. solid color? Are the brake console, and trim along the seat backs, T-tops, windows, etc. also marbled? I assume the leather seat covers are solid?

So far, five folks (Dennis, Larry, Sal, Jon from 2008, and me) have seen marbled Light Saddle vinyl on 1970 cars. And others have posted that they've owned or seen these cars with a solid color Light Saddle vinyl.

This is strong evidence that both types of vinyl were used originally, and there may be additional subtle variations during the year.

Right now, I have a car with marbled vinyl on the three original dash pieces. The door panels and front console are in poor condition so I have reproductions of these in solid color vinyl not yet installed. I need to figure out which of the many interior pieces were marbled vs. solid, and learn how to create the marbling to match the dash.

[Mike E.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Mark,
check out ebay 331636894527 (completed item). Doesn't look to be a terribly original car, but there might be something to learn off it.
Mike

[Dennis D.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

changed color to silver in 78. then back to saddle. Only original piece is this lower steering column cover. Seems the same color as your pieces

saddle int 1.jpg
saddle int 2.jpg

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Thanks Dennis. I'm glad you came to your senses and returned to Light Saddle.

Photos of other members' Light Saddle interiors are appreciated.

A separate thought: Has NCRS considered adding a gallery filled with photos of known original cars? Maybe categorized by year and area (exterior, interior, etc.). That would be really helpful.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Thanks Dennis. I'm glad you came to your senses and returned to Light Saddle.

Photos of other members' Light Saddle interiors are appreciated.

A separate thought: Has NCRS considered adding a gallery filled with photos of known original cars? Maybe categorized by year and area (exterior, interior, etc.). That would be really helpful.

I can't tell you what NCRS thinks, I can barely articulate what I think, but I will offer my point of view. I have spent over 30 years looking at early C3 Corvettes to determine various factory features. When I was 1970-72 National Team Leader I solicited descriptions of various features to produce several Judging Manuals. In those days the Internet was not what it is now. Does the term SSAE mean anything? I can not tell you how often I was told: "My car is original; I bought it that way." You would need a committee of "Supreme Judges" to filter the images to be sure what was posted really is original. And who would endorse those Supremes?

In light of your current thread, I think you could see where that idea could get to.

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Does the term SSAE mean anything? ...

In light of your current thread, I think you could see where that idea could get to.

Could it be a variation of Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope (SASE)?

Terry,

I hear what you're saying, but wouldn't a photo gallery of Bowtie cars representing each year be of tremendous help to guys like me trying to understand details about what's correct? To address your point, aren't Bowtie cars authentic, never taken-apart examples? It's certainly better than what I'm doing now for research- trolling through eBay for photos of unknown cars, or looking at diagrams and grainy BW pictures in the JG.

An idea for NCRS.org- What if NCRS commissioned a professional photo shoot for every car that wins a Bowtie? If this had been done from the beginning, we'd have a library of 292 very original cars as reference.

Such a visual library could drive significant traffic to the website for a modest cost. Heck, the car's owner may even pay for the photo shoot if it meant his/her car is honored by being featured. This would also make great content for a photo book NCRS can sell. With 292 cars, maybe even a series of books by year or generation.

I'd buy one.

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

I found another '70 Light Saddle for sale on the internet with some nice shots of the vinyl. The ad says it's an original interior, but who knows. Note the marbling on the dash and front console. It appears the seat surfaces, brake console and door panels are not marbled (they look lighter but it's hard to tell about the door panels).

Lt Saddle Delux Int 920g.jpgLt Saddle Delux Int 920k.jpgLt Saddle Delux Int 920e.jpgLt Saddle Delux Int 920l.jpg

[Terry M.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Could it be a variation of Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope (SASE)?

Terry,

I hear what you're saying, but wouldn't a photo gallery of Bowtie cars representing each year be of tremendous help to guys like me trying to understand details about what's correct? To address your point, aren't Bowtie cars authentic, never taken-apart examples? It's certainly better than what I'm doing now for research- trolling through eBay for photos of unknown cars, or looking at diagrams and grainy BW pictures in the JG.

An idea for NCRS.org- What if NCRS commissioned a professional photo shoot for every car that wins a Bowtie? If this had been done from the beginning, we'd have a library of 292 very original cars as reference.

Such a visual library could drive significant traffic to the website for a modest cost. Heck, the car's owner may even pay for the photo shoot if it meant his/her car is honored by being featured. This would also make great content for a photo book NCRS can sell. With 292 cars, maybe even a series of books by year or generation.

I'd buy one.

Bow Tie cars are not 100% un-molested. If that were the standard we would have far fewer, maybe even no, examples. The quantitative portion is 80% originality for Mechanical and Chassis and 85% for Interior and Exterior, with the caveat of 75% of the exterior finish must be determined to be original.

The idea of an "Originality Library" or "Bow Tie/Crossed Flags Library" of images is a good one. I am just concerned that policing it would become a major task, and once the library was diluted it would no longer be useful.

[Mathew S.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Mark,

I have a 1970 saddle interior that I recently acquired and it has the marbling that you seem to referring to. All the trim panels seem uniform, but I don't know the history on the car prior to the previous owner. It's a July car with a VIN in the 15,xxx area. I know the car has been painted, but the interior is mostly original appearing.

I used an interior cleaner that I have had good luck with removing dirt and other build up on other cars, and there was no change. Some of the texture is flat, and thought someone prior had screwed it up. The majority is lighter colored with the later model dark saddle type color on the recesses.

The only comparisons I have are a bow tie 70 LT-1 with blue interior and another 70 with black interior. They obviously don't exhibit the same color differences.

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Light Saddle "marbled" coloring- How to duplicate?

Thank you Mathew.

Which pieces of your interior are NOT marbled? In particular, are the door panels, brake console, seat-back trim, T-top trim (if applicable), quarter panel trim, A-pillars and rear window trim marbled? I suspect some of these pieces were not.

Would you post close-up photos of your interior?