Thread: Interiors-What is cost of and best material

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While we're on the subject of interiors; what's the right way to prep an old seat frame for upholstery? I've got an old T-bird back seat I'm narrowing for my car and the frame has a fair amount of surface rust. Should you just have it blasted and paint it? Will blasting negatively affect the springs?

Just picked up my T yesterday.
full cloth interior and carpet = $2200.oo
Hartz material top (on my frame) = $450.oo
photos as promissed = priceless

Russ

Your T looks very nice. I like the color you chose. Congrats!

Originally Posted by lotsatoys

Just picked up my T yesterday.
full cloth interior and carpet = $2200.oo
Hartz material top = $450.oo
photos as promissed:Russ

Very nice. At those prices you got a steal.

Russ, good combo and color. I really like that dash layout. Post some pics. of your rides in your photo gallery. Me for one would like to see.

Looks great !! did the upholstery folks tell you to loose the green steering wheel though !!! LOL

Falconvan.... I've alway had our blasted and either painted or powdercoated depending on the budget. if the springs are that bad to start with they need replacing anyway regardless of blasting or not.

Originally Posted by R's 2

Looks great !! did the upholstery folks tell you to loose the green steering wheel though !!! LOL

No. He was curious if I had it made special to match the body color though. The green was sprayed over a black base, so it needs lots of light to show off the green. My wife loves green, but me.... not so much. so this was the perfect color.



Thanks for the compliments guys. I didn't intend for this to become a post about my cars. just showing what stiching I got for my money on the T. I'll try and post some pics of my "collection" in the gallery shortly.

Cheers,
Russ

Hey,lotsa..nice bucket..Love the stance,,and the interior..looks kool,enjoy..

I bought a near new industrial sewing machine quite a few years ago.
I have yet to fire it up and have a go.
Seems, at these prices, I best start learning how to use it quick.
My Lincoln coupe interior is HUGE.

Originally Posted by falconvan

While we're on the subject of interiors; what's the right way to prep an old seat frame for upholstery? I've got an old T-bird back seat I'm narrowing for my car and the frame has a fair amount of surface rust. Should you just have it blasted and paint it? Will blasting negatively affect the springs?

If it is surface rust, I would simply spray it with rust converter and then paint it with rust encapsulater.

www.eastwood.com/rust-solutions.html

Originally Posted by RECOVERY ROOM

Ultra is not real leather.Half the cars I have posted on different threads have leather and the other half are Ultra or Soft touch vinyl and is hard to tell which is which.It all comes down to what you want,Nothing is like the look and smell of real leather.Vinyl looks good if sewed right,easier to clean and mantain.Alot of the cars on my website are vinyl the others are leather and they both have won many awards.Good design and craftsmanship is the main key.

Ultra in white...easy to clean

Soft touch Rave

leather

yup!

Originally Posted by LIFESTYLZ

I bought a near new industrial sewing machine quite a few years ago.
I have yet to fire it up and have a go.
Seems, at these prices, I best start learning how to use it quick.
My Lincoln coupe interior is HUGE.

I'm of the same mind I guess,I just don't see near $2200 on the inside of most T-buckets[that one looks better then most],there's only two door panels with a top lip ,rug and a seat. Ok the last time I worked at a seat cover and boat top shop was in 1959,but it an't that hard IMHO,seems it can be done for $500,but then I'm old and still think $1 is at lest 50cents

Well after reading this whole thread I thought I'd present my opinion.

I got run out of the last upholstery shop because I demanded a fixed price and a fixed delivery date. Absolutely no project car. in the shop and out ASAP. 14 days or no go. The car has new oak roof bows, all the new tack strips are in, I have a temporary carpet installed just the way I want it, the insulation is installed, all the wiring is in, interior lights, seat belts, floor tunnel, kick panels and moldings are ready.

I had the car painted under the same terms except 30 days due to time for paint process. No problem as this was discussed up front.

That said I went and spent the last 6 months studying the upholstery tech for cars. 4-6 hours every night. Hundreds of sites. Serious study with the intent of doing this job myself. Material costs money, some cost a lot more than others.
It's not uncommon to find Ultra leather for $105 to $125 per yard 54 inches wide. Other fabrics and vinyl are from $4 to $30 or so per yard. some come 60 inches wide. Understand that many materials are directional in that they stretch one way but not much the other so you may not get the panels you think you will without buying a lot more material than you would think.

Sewing machines are about $1000 maybe a little less depending on condition and make. anyone know how to thread one?? You may not get a manual with it. Don't expect one. If you are lucky there may be one on line. Be carful what you down load. there are 'traps'

I bought a very nice machine in near new condition after much shopping. these are industrial machines made for operators who know what they are doing. 3000 stiches per minute...500 inches per minutes. Either on or off . It is not easy to slip the clutch on these. A servo motor will cost another $200 or so. Good buy.

Needles and thread are an expense but still more stuff. How do you make windlace...know what it is??? How do you attach it.. Know how to hang the headliner?? Know how to attach this thing?? How do you install the edge or binding on carpet?? know what sewing 'in the ditch is'?? How do you get the headliner tight and smooth.???

These are thing the U shops do all the time.

When you bring your car into the U shop it better be completely ready for them or you will pay a lot for them to do work which they are not equiped or well versed in. They are not especially interested in replacing all of your roof bows and brackets or repairing rotted out tack strips. Oh you cut all that junk out did you!!!! haha you just added a couple grand to the job.

The shop rates ran from $35-$75/ hour. It took me 40 hours to make all the roof bows out of premium oak...$125 in material alone and there are lots of cut and glued joints as the wood does not come in wide enough sections to make it in one piece. Cut fitted and mounted. Sounds like a lot of time but I don't sit around drinking coffee and talking cruising. I have top notch shop equipment too but it just takes a lot of fitting, sanding and shaping to get the things right. I also 'upholstered' the headliner with plastic to make sure the shape is what I wanted and that it was indeed possible to do what I wanted. this is one area that you can save some cash on if you get the shop to tell you what they want.

Paper backing boards don't work as noted above. Lots of shops like this stuff as it is easy to work with. Get it wet and you have a mess. If you live where it is hot and humid it will fail. I have some that wrinkled up just storing it in the garage over the winter. Where is the car going to be stored over the winter....in the garage so you can have a problem. I use it to make patterns then toss it. aluminum is nice but more difficult to work with. ABS plastic works great as you can cut and glue it easily and it is pretty crack resistant.

Anyway this is just an insight to what you can get into. If you can afford to just drop the car off and have it upholstered great. but if you want ot at least do some of it yourself plan on readin up on how this stuff goes together.

I went thru the local upholstery shops here and they are just like the paint shops. Everybody wants to get your $$$ and have your car in the shop for months. I finally got fed up with it and bought a nice used industrial sewing machine and a bunch of accessories. I then spent a few months learnning enough to do the job myself to my satisfaction.

This is not for everyone...you may simply not have the patience to do this....no offense. Sewing thru your finger with an industrial sewing machine is probably the most painfull injury you will ever have. Nothing like having dig around trying to find you scissors after sewing your finger to the fabric to cut the thread meanwhile bleeding all over your project. Dang that hurt even to think about it now.

Just the design of the pieces so they fit is beyond most guys I think. You have to plan ahead and once started you are commited. Sewing up a bunch of Ultra Leather and getting backed into a blind corner is not a lot of fun at $100 a yard.

So the shops get pretty pricy as you are paying for their talent and expertise. But be carefull and demand a finish date. I started right out demanding 4 weeks. I did this with paint too. Next time I will just buy every piece of protective equipment and a breathable air supply and do the job myself....I'll be money ahead for sure. I have no patience with shops that want your $$$ up front and your car for endless hours of work.

Some one said "well it took you a couple months to learn this and no work was done on the car" Yeah well it also took 5 yr to finish engineering school, 4 yr for tech school and 3yr apprentice to learn a lifetime of background for my careers. I'd say a pretty short learing curve for my upholstery ed.

The bottom line is keep pestering the shops and make sure you have an iron clad contract before you start. If they balk go elsewhere but get it in writing and signed before you commit.

I'd go with a new stretch vinyl before leather ....JMHO.