One of the subjects that magazine editors often debate is how much of the construction an average classic truck owner does on their vehicle. Certainly there are those who have a professional do the job from start to finish, others may buy a completed truck, but some of us remain convinced that many enthusiasts do much of the work themselves—with a few notable exceptions. Bodywork and paint are often turned over to a professional, as is upholstery. The bad news is learning to straighten metal and squirt paint will take time to learn if you want to do it yourself. The good news is if a trick interior is what you’re after you can do it yourself with help from TMI.
Family owned, TMI Products was founded in 1982 by the Tuccinardi brothers. They began by making Volkswagen door panels in their family garage. Today TMI makes a wide variety of interior components, including seating, interior consoles, floor coverings, door panels, headliners, kick panels, and more for a wide range of cars. And they haven’t ignored trucks—they offer a range of products for Chevy pickups from 1947-1987 (including Blazers) and Ford pickups from 1948-2004 (including Broncos).
Our in-house tech center manager, Jason Scudellari, can handle just about any mechanical or fabrication challenge. But, like most of us, turn him loose on a sewing machine and likely as not a few fingers could possibly be stitched together. So, when it was time for upholstery in his 1956 Chevy pickup, he called on TMI. From their assortment of seats Scudellari chose low-back Sport X Pro-Classics with seat mounts, large molded door panels, headliner, and carpet.
Installation of the interior began with covering all the sheetmetal surfaces with Dynamat insulation, then came the headliner, followed by carpet on the back of the cab, cowl panels, and floor—all of which was held in place by spray-on adhesive. Installing the seats was simple enough—the mounts were bolted to the floor, then the seats were bolted to the mounts. It should be pointed out that it is necessary to drill holes in the floor for the mounts and care must be taken not to damage the carpet in the process. Attaching the TMI door panels required drilling holes in each door, which is easily done with the included template.
While some upholstery kits follow the cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all philosophy, TMI offers so many options in materials and patterns they make it to have a custom and comfortable interior in your truck that is affordable. And you don’t have to worry about sewing your fingers together.
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