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Greg;
Believe it or not SMS does deal in reproduction
fabrics and vinyls, but they are extremely good reproductions. They may have
sent you NOS vinyl but I doubt it as there is likely a wider market for that
pattern of vinyl then the car you are restoring. Convertables were low
production cars in the post war period so most tops were likely made from off
the shelf materials to keep costs down. For example the vinyl, or oilcloth, used
in my 54' Imperial was also used in mid fifties Thunderbirds and T-Birds are a
fairly popular car to restore so it is likely being reproduced. The seat
fabric is much cheaper to customise then the vinyl; vinyl patterns are made with
an engraved roller, fabric patterns are made by simply setting up a
loom, hence why the 55'-56' cars had an eagle pattern to match the hood
ornament.
The only way to tell repro from NOS
sometimes is by the width of the rolls, standard upholstery fabric comes on
a 54' inch roll new old stock material comes off of a much wider roll, 70
something I believe. The reason for this was so the pattern could be manipulated
in more ways, railroaded for example, and likely for production efficiency as
well. Believe it or not they reproduce factory correct speaker grille cloth for
some types of 1930s radios, if there is enough of a market to set up for that
and still make a profit you can bet that someone will do the same for
most production cars.
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Tailight bezel and other trim
parts.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 3:19
PM
Subject: IML: Positive experience with
SMS
Hello List,
Thought I would share my recent positive experience with SMS in Portland,
OR. Last summer (2004) I called requesting a sample of
NOS vinyl top material for one of my other collector cars.
Within a week I had received it. At the same time, I requested
samples from another company in MI with whom I have done business. Once
they arrived, I could see the one from SMS was the best one of the three
regarding a match to the grain as well as to the color of the leather
interior. Over the years I've heard both good and bad about SMS so I
wasn't sure I wanted to deal with them. About three weeks ago, I
contacted the other company about their samples and they had sold out of one
and had very little left of the other. I had no choice but to either
deal with SMS or get some aftermarket replica that would never look like the
original. So, with a lot of doubt in my mind, I contacted them and
believe it or not, they still had the card in their
files with the sample on it identical to the one they had sent
me a year ago! The price had NOT gone up from their
original quote. I ordered the top from them as well as an extra yard
of vinyl. They said it would be about three weeks before I
would receive the top. Within a week, I had received the yard of
vinyl! Yesterday I received the top they fabricated for me.
It is perfect! Looks just like the old one only not worn out, the
color is perfect and the seams look factory!
The salesperson with whom I placed the order could not have been nicer,
the order was processed in a timely manner (they said it would take about
three weeks and it did) AND the quality couldn't be better! So, I
guess SMS has gotten their act together! I hope everyone
else who orders from them in the future has as positive an experience
with them as I did. I called them this afternoon to tell them how
pleased I was and they were so appreciative of the praise. Again,
very professional and 'delivered the goods' within the time frame they
promised. What more could you ask for?
Greg McDonnell
Mobile, AL
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