Matt Chapman

I ordered this fabric from werk924. They say it's the correct fabric for my 1988 Celebration model. I just don't think it is the correct color. Is anyone familiar with this or have a suggestion?

Noahs944

I have a 1988 celebration pass side seat seat, oem, but has a small bit of damage.

Noahs944

Damn cat thought it was a scratching post!

Matt Chapman

Thanks so much for the offer on the seat. I just need the correct fabric. I'm getting the tops of the rear seats redone.

mrgreenjeans

The replacement cloth made today is not a correct match perfectly.

There is a similar pattern to the Jubilee cloth, used back in the day on European delivered cars. The car I drove in Germany, a '90 - S2 944 had this cloth. It was different than what's in my '88 Jubilee/ Celebration 944. The best you can hope for is to obtain 'old cloth' from a wrecked or parted car and piece it in.

OR, live with the mismatched fabric. It is all that's available for our cars at present.......

If enough orders were to funnel into Porsche Classic for the demand to spike, it may get made available, but that is highly unlikely, as there were very small numbers of these manufactured originally, and we are a voice in the minority.

Best wishes.....

BReif61

Could the difference just be the effect of the seats fading over 30 years? They look similar enough to me that it seems plausible.

neunfünfeins

That was my thought as well.
Additionally, it's similar enough that I would just go ahead and use it and not worry about it, for lack of any realistic better option.

Matt Chapman

I went to a well respected auto upholstery shop today and they think it's the correct fabric. So I just ordered 6 more meters. I'm going to have the top folding section of the rear seats completely redone first because of a few holes and sun fading. I'll keep the rest of the fabric to do the rest of the interior when I feel like it's time for it to be done.
And the shop went crazy for the fabric interior and told me to never sell the car. And they said fabric lasts many more years than leather. They said the leather dries out and damage happens at about 10 years.

mrgreenjeans

Absolutely false in this conjecture.

Believe me.

I have BOTH. And with proper care ( Lexol Leather treatment ) treated several times a year, proper garage parking, out of U.V., the leather seats will FAR outlast the cloth. These polyester/wool blend seat fabrics are VERY fragile. The cloth is quite thin and subject to abrasion as one sits in them and rubs across the surface.

My '84 seats ( leather ) have the same mileage as my '88 Jubilee/Celebration cloth seats and the difference of care is virtually the same. 10 to one, leather will outlast this cloth. Why did your seatbacks degrade ? Sun and the resulting effects of UV. Same with what happens to the side bolsters and seat surfaces on the bottom. This cloth seating surface needs far more attention to how you sit on it and rub your pants against it than leather ever will. I have seen MORE cloth seats in 944s degrade with same mileage and years.

Leather kept clean and treated is a very durable surface.

Problem is: people don't do it.

neunfünfeins

Well yeah, exactly. You put quite a few stipulations on leather care required to keep it pristine.
And that's why the reality is, locating perfect high-mileage leather is a bit of a fool's paradise.

OTOH, if you had both cloth and leather and didn't do crap to either one, I'll wager the cloth wears better. And has a reputation as such.
I have 90k-mi Linen Porsche script cloth centers with vinyl bolsters that, other than a bit of soiling, are perfect. No rips, tears, scuffing, loose seams, etc., nada. I don't think it's because the parade of previous owners were especially kind to the cloth either.
Meanwhile, EVERY set of leather seats I've seen with similar age & miles on them is at a minimum cracked/crazed, and in most cases worse. Driver's side leather bolsters rarely seem to hold up to that kind of service life.

Sure there may be some perfect leather seats with high miles, but based on what I've seen they're the exception not the rule.

mrgreenjeans

It is all about the care and keeping of your seats. BUT I stand by my claim about leather, as it is a heavier material than cloth.

Here are the seats in my '89 - turbo, my '84- M456, my '82 944 Sport seats all in their original leather. The '88 Jubilee cloth is in a 70,000 mile car which had little u/v exposure, but am very careful about sliding into them on entry, as they want to grip or hang up on your clothes; not as slippery like vinyl or leather. They are all original to these cars. NO cracking, no torn seams, no degraded material due to wear. Treated with Lexol Leather care twice a year on the leather seats. Wiped clean with clear, warm water in between treatments, maybe once. It isn't hard to keep the regimen up, you just have to love your car.

You mention script seats in your analogy. There is no comparison of the shiny, heavier cloth seen in these cloth seats to what is seen in the much more fragile cloth as seen in the patterned cloth on a Jubilee/Celebration fabric. OR, the cloth seen in the Silberossa '88.2 turbo car, as the cloth is the same, only the color is different. It is a wool polyester blend with a thinner substance to the weave.









(sorry for the poor quality of the photos..... they weren't taken with a very good camera)

mrgreenjeans

The Sport Seats in my '86 Sport Touring (I82 code) - 944. Granted these are in an original 28,000 mile car, but they are still 30 years old, and when I first treated them with Lexol, they drank in nearly a whole bottle of it. I don't think it had been done toooo often, but they still are crack free and without scuffs or tears ....... the leather today is as soft and pliable as a new pair of fine leather driving gloves. Buttery smooth and flexible; they were stiff to the touch when I got the car.

mrgreenjeans

Matt,
I guess what I am saying is do what makes YOU happy about your car.

For me, it's all about the originality. Well earned patina. It can never be replaced or duplicated except by time. Mismatched cloth is a dead giveaway, like fresh paint is on an otherwise well worn car. A super clean engine bay in a rusty derelict, or fresh satin clear on a body with rust holes; some stuff works. Some doesn't. It has to be taken within the context of the whole picture.

If the degraded material is so bad it bothers you, then change it. Or match what you can. Keep what's lending credence to the car's wholeness, or replace it all, it's ultimately your car, your money. Just be happy with the result and accepting of the outcome, before you throw out the 'old' just to have it new.

Hagerty adds value for original paint; they subtract value for entire repaints or half repaints ( like the front half of a stone bruised Porsche. ) An original interior car tells a great story that 'original car' buyers love and in many cases (most) collectors gravitate to.

Something which has recently gained enormous strength in the market .....

neunfünfeins

You are correct about the care, as you've obviously taken exceptional care of yours. However, if we look at your black seats for example, while not dry/cracked the least bit, they show plenty of wrinkles and "beauty marks". While some may see this as desirable patina, others could argue that it makes the leather less aesthetically pleasing, as does ripped cloth. Your red sport seats are to die for, but even those are starting to belie their age. I love leather and have it in other vehicles, so I don't say this to be critical at all, but it's just an unfortunate fact of life with leather, be it seats, shoes, whatever. The only way to avoid it is just not sit on them.

Okay I didn't realize that, I thought they were similar material just different weave & patterns. Makes sense though. The script cloth seems to be damn near indestructible.

Matt Chapman

Here's the werk924 Celebration Fabric on the upper part of the rear seats. The lower part is the original 28 year old fabric.