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[shortmort37]

I have a '63 Valiant station wagon, and the upholstery is in excellent shape - except for a wear mark on the piping as you can see in the attached, from years of getting in and getting out of the car:

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I have some vinyl piping that's a pretty good color match. I've thought of removing the stitches from a loose piece of new piping, removing the core, and gluing it over the seat piping. Bad idea? Have better ideas?

Dan

[Rhonda]

no worse than that is i would almost get a sharpie and color it in !
Let the criticism begin on my answer.

For a true fix , you would have to take apart and replace all the piping, cause if that part is chipping it wont be long till another spot will be.

[shortmort37]

For a true fix , you would have to take apart and replace all the piping, cause if that part is chipping it wont be long till another spot will be.

It's not actually chipping, Rhonda. It's wearing. Since it's piping, it's not flush with the surface of the seat vinyl, and has seen 60 years of contact abrasion when sliding in and sliding out. The vinyl is altogether pliable and not likely to chip anytime soon.

That said, I recognize that anything I glue over it will see friction as well, and likely will not stay in place for long. Still, I'm not going to have the whole seat reupholstered because of this one spot. I just want to do something remedial.

A red Sharpie is actually not a bad idea.

[fibersport]

With an interior that great looking, I would hate to have to open it up just to fix that. Besides a sharpie, I think I would try and find some RTV to build it up or anything else that might work. The rear window on my Audi convertible keeps coming unglued, I keep re-gluing it rather than pay a few thousand to have it replaced so I can feel your pain.

[JimmieJoe]

You could do a vinyl repair, but you will have 2 primary issues.
1) getting the color right
2) getting the tight smooth curve formed

[WILD BILL]

for that I'ld be tempted to try my hand at one of those vinyl repair kits that you can mix the colors to try and match as close as possible.

[shortmort37]

You could do a vinyl repair, but you will have 2 primary issues.
1) getting the color right
2) getting the tight smooth curve formed

I agree about the color; this is fairly close, but I'm ordering something less bright that might be a better match.

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That curve isn't that tight, though. I did cut my sample and removed the core, it looks to be a fairly good fit before gluing. I also plan to feather the ends using a razor blade to cut at an angle. And if I have to periodically redo it as @fibersport does, that's not so bad.

[BigRig]

There has to be a trimmer around to repair that properly and with matching material. I would not hesitate to replace that welt cord.