I bought several hides of russet colored leather recently. One is used as throw cover over the seats of my NY wagon. It is so big, I have to fold it in half or there is too much extra hanging over the edges of the large bench seat. Hides are about 40-50 square feet. 15 hides is a preposterous number,unless you are upholstering a 35-seat bus. Perhaps 1.5 hides was the intended number, although I can see the possibility of 3 smallish hides being needed. Only the seat surfaces are leather. With a couple of exceptions, the remainder of the upholstered surfaces in the car are done in matching vinyl. And unlike other years, the upholstery pattern in 1965 Crowns used relatively small sections of leather stitched together, resulting in maximum yield from each hide used. I think you need to re-examine that estimate and the person giving it. P.S. I am told the real trick in this project will be to find the delicate, thin, color-keyed, soid vinyl welting originally used on these seats. Most upholsterers simply make welting from the leather or vinyl being used, and it is always twice as fat as the original stuff. Spotting it is a fast way to tell if an interior from this era has been redone! Chris H. 60 NY T&C 66 Crown Convertible 66 LeBaron --- Mike & Christine Trettin <mtrettin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > My brother-in-law here in Iowa is planning to have > his '65 convertible's > seats redone, and will probably buy the correct > pearlescent leather from > Kileen's, but would like to know how many hides to > expect to need to recover > the front and rear seats--he was told 15 hides, but > that sounded like a lot. > I guess he actually has (3) questions: > > (1) How many square feet in a typical "hide"? > (2) How many square feet needed for the seats? (Or > how many "hides"?) > (3) What surfaces are actually covered in leather? > (i.e., is there any > vinyl used for the sides, etc.?) > > Thanks for your advice, > > Mike Trettin > 1956 Imperial Sedan, Turquoise > > >