Thread: Interiors-What is cost of and best material

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And thanks for your input Ken. Much appreciated. And thanks for posting the interior pics. My dad's shop had an upholstery shop next door when I was growing up. I was always fascinated at the interiors those guys could create. I will never forget the smell of those new interiors and the shop for that matter.

Aluminum is the only way to go,You can get powder coated from a supplier that sells to race car builders or trailer builders, .040 and .050 is what we use.That is true about fiber board.Humidity can make it warp..We have had builders make there basic panels and we trim them to the final gaps and shape.No big deal to me as long as we talk before hand to get on the same page.Saves the customer money in the long run

First let me say that I have the higest respect for all the interior guys like RECOVERY ROOM. Your work is top knoch. It's a combination of LABOR TIME (quality workmanship) and QUALITY MATERIALS that produce the results shown in your many photos. Interior work is just like body and paint work, you cannot take shortcuts and expect a great result. Both require a lot of time.

So my question to Recovery Room is, How many hours would you estimate to do a complete interior in a roadster, panels, seat, carpet, and a full trunk at your high quality level? I'm looking to do a basic/traditional interior in leather with a "built-in" style bench seat.

My guess is something like this, one guy, for one month is 160 hours times $25/hr is about $4K, without any materials. The 160 hours might be high, but the $25/hr is most likely on the low side (at least it is in So. Calif). I have no idea how much material to estimate but it's got to be $1K to $1.5K just for material and likely to be another $500 to $1000 for foam, wood, glue, abs board, powdercoating on the aluminum panels, hardware, etc. So.....now I'm at $4,ooo. in labor and $2000. in material. So even though I can't afford to farm it out, I do understand why it's going to cost $5K to $6K to get a quality interior done.

How much would it cost to buy a used "quality" upolstery sewing machine? Any brands advised? My next major roadster project will be to tackle my interior and I want a nice looking, but practical interior because it's going to be driven.

You are right,WE get 4to5k for roadster interiors with good materials.A good machine is around 1000.00.Are labor rate is 55hr.I have customers that think that is to low for the work we do,I like to think we are efficient with are time in getting the most bang for the dollars spent.Buy a sewing machine and practice with it,You might be better than you think,Start with something simple and work your way up.

I went back dug up some construction photo's and the rendering for my interior in my roadster. Recovery room, I don't use aluminum because i have panels that clip into other panels. So the panel by it's self has to be strong enough to pull another panel off of it, does that make sense?

Ken

NICE LOOKING RENDERING!,Steve is one of the best out there and has been for a long time,Looks good,That should look killer when done.Those would be great panels to attach to,Nice and strong.

Thanks for sharing that,Those are the kind of guys that I look up to,They stayed with the trade for a very long time.That many years of experience is worth every penny!.

Originally Posted by RECOVERY ROOM

You are right,WE get 4to5k for roadster interiors with good materials.A good machine is around 1000.00.Are labor rate is 55hr.I have customers that think that is to low for the work we do,I like to think we are efficient with are time in getting the most bang for the dollars spent.Buy a sewing machine and practice with it,You might be better than you think,Start with something simple and work your way up.

Can you show the diff. between 4to5k for roadster? Thanks

Originally Posted by IC2

I had a leather soft, very expensive vinyl interior made up for my roadster. It includes both kick panels, two Glide Engineering seats, both doors, a surround behind the seats, a console, a fully upholstered trunk and the top done in a Hartz type cloth, side curtains plus full carpeting and a water resistant padding. The price - well let's say it was less then expected and less then what has been noted above. I'm not currently using the console, but this is how the passenger compartment turned out;

looks like money well spent if that is indeed what your interior looks like. i guess the brake caliper keeps the seat pucker factor down?

Wheew. I'm glad I'm building a T bucket then. I just deliverd my T this afternoon to THE upholstery guru here in town. he does 3/4 of the top show cars as well as street rods in this area. I'm having a 60s style button and tuck cloth interior done, as well as Hartz material for the top and bed cover. I'd already done all the interior wood work as well as a finished top frame etc, so it's pretty much ready to sew and go. $2200.oo for the interior and $400.oo for the top didn't sound so cheep until I read this post. it should be ready to pick up in a week or 10 days, so I'll post pictures for the non-believers that are bound to surface soon

Russ

Being in business for 20 yrs. I know from experience that there is competition to compete with. Guys that operate from their homes and garages can do a job for less monies than say a buisness with heavy overhead. The only advantage is with a large head count you can deliver a job much quicker. If waiting in line is not a problem, I would shop around and you will be surprised what might come up. You might have to go out of town to get the job done at a better price.

I shopped and found a guy who worked from his home 15 miles from my house. I had to get in line and wait but it saved me hundreds of dollars. I chose the ultra leather at half the cost of leather and really do like it. I furnished the panels and design sketches and he furnished the materials. He had the car for 1 week and it cost me 1200.00, this was back in 2007. I still can't believe the cost , the quality is unreal. You just have to shop.

Check my gallery..

Wow $7-12K is a lot more than we pay here in england, a normal roadster is usually around $3,200 maybe a bit more for a complicated job & another $650 for the top, a 5w Coupe would be around $5600 - $6400, this is based on the prices of the best guy in england.

I got lucky with my roadster as i have a friend that trims, my costings were $3500 including the top and trunk, mine is diamond pleated so a bit more work involved.
I made all the panels in 1/8" marine ply and installed all the clips etc etc, When making the panels you need to have a slight understanding of the trim materials as you need to allow for foldover.

Originally Posted by John Palmer

Yea, I also need to look into a sewing machine, because THE COST for a nice "name shop" interior is well beyond my budget, LOL.

The going rate for a NICE roadster leather interior is going to be in the $7K to $12K range. I attended the Goodguys Del Mar show this past weekend and looked at many roadster interiors and talked to their owners and found one that was VERY NICE, but "not done" by one of The Name shops and it was still $5K.

I guess it comes down to how much of the job you are willing, or capable of doing yourself. When you start counting up how many separate panels you need in a roadster, it's a lot, which drives up the labor time and cost. I can count 17 to 20 panels (with vinyl/leather or carpeted) in my car to do the firewall, two kick panels, two door panels, two quarter panels, behind the seat panel, 6-7 pieces of "edged" square weave carpet, and a full trunk and floor.

I'm sure that it's about like paint and body work. That cost of materials is going to be double what "you think" they should cost.

[QUOTE=Don Dalton;416510I shopped and found a guy who worked from his home 15 miles from my house. I had to get in line and wait but it saved me hundreds of dollars. I chose the ultra leather at half the cost of leather and really do like it. I furnished the panels and design sketches and he furnished the materials. He had the car for 1 week and it cost me 1200.00, this was back in 2007. I still can't believe the cost , the quality is unreal. You just have to shop.

Check my gallery..[/QUOTE]

Don, that is one gorgeous interior for $1200! Around here the job would have been at least 3 times that!

never use black board. even if it does not get wet it will usually warp. last one i had done looked great but a year or so later it is wavy. i prefer aluminum . i too am in the market for a machine. seems every stitcher in my parts has problems. the latest has sat for 6 weeks for a 2 week job.. think it just time to do it myself.

We were just talking about this the other night. Bass just built that killer 32 roadster and had a Fat Lucky's interior done. We were venturing guesses at what his shop charges to do a first rate interior like that and we felt it might be in the $ 6-$8,000 range.

Sure makes those old days $ 100 Tijuana jobs like Jack F got on his 35 Ford in 1961 look pretty good, huh?????

Don