Interior color codes and vinyl rear seats

[firebuilder]

On the '94-'98 cobras, when was the switch from the 4J interior color for the black leather? What did it change to?

Also, when did the rear seat switch from leather to vinyl? Was that in '99 or earlier?

Thanks for the help.

 

[firebuilder]

From what I can gather, 4J was used through '98. In '99 the color was switched to "dark charcoal". However, in '97, the front seats were changed slightly with different stitching and panels around the shoulder area. The quality of the leather may have changed (could it really get cheaper?) then too, making the color appear different to the eye.

Still not sure when the rear went to full vinyl.

 

[firebuilder]

For about a year now, I've been working on getting new leather for my '94 Cobra. If you've tried, you know that it is not available OEM. Katzkin offers covers, but they are generic for '94-'98 and do not match the '94-'95 and possibly '96 pattern. The original leather is also glued to the foam and new seat foam is not available for the mid-nineties mustangs from any vendor I could find. Not wanting to risk ruining my original foam, I never found a solution other than buying a set of seats off of ebay or having it custom made. I went the ebay route.

I do think I have a solution for the leather. I've been working for almost 8 months with an upholsterer to find a leather that matches the original black on the 94-95 and possibly 96 Cobras. Most have been too grey, too dull, or the wrong grain. We've finally found something that is a very, very close match for both depth of black, grain pattern, and gloss. It is also a much higher quality leather than the OEM. Furthermore, the upholsterer will be using the leather covers from my ebay seats to create matching patterns for the new covers.

I'm hoping I can save someone else the hassle of going through this again. If you are interested in more details, send me a message.