Maybe I'm behind the times on this, but.... I was astounded when I got a quote to redo the interior on my '46 Ford coupe. $15000 for no frills vinyl! Am I just crazy, or has it been this ridiculous for awhile?
Depends on where you live, I suppose. Supply and demand usually dictates price, but that sounds exorbitant.
Hey, treeman53; This may help, & should be worth your time: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/wicked-stitch-upholstery.1248136/#post-14277834 . Lloyd n Ashley, good folks. Marcus...
While that sounds high, it depends on a lot of things- how much work has to be done, and condition of existing parts- do the seat frames have to be rebuilt? Door panel boards fabricated? New headliner? Carpet? Restoring garnish moldings and dash? Doing any of the work yourself? If it is a complete job by someone, that cost may not be too far out of the ballpark.
.....There are a whole lot of variables involved. Are we talking about rebuilding a seat, carpet, headliner, is the trunk included, Dynamat included and on and on. Like @Special Ed mentioned, your location, which by the way you didn't indicate, might further clarify things. Who knows, there could be a great upholstery person nearby that works cheaper.
There aren't a whole lot of good upholstery shops left, and many of the good ones are so backed up with work they can throw some very high prices out. If you've only got time to do 1 out of every 10 jobs that walks in the doors, you're going to price things out so that only 1 out of 10 customers comes back. It also depends on what is left in the car. A headliner is a lot easier to do if the old one is still in place. if it's missing and there's just a pile of unmarked bows in the trunk, that probably adds a day or more of time to the process. Same with door panels. If there's at least a tattered old one, it'll be easy to make up new cards using the old ones as patterns, but with nothing, you have to start from scratch. Depending on what you have and where you are, that might be crazy expensive, but it might also be the going rate.
^^^ Sorry Don, fingers working well today. Another factor in cost is how many pleats being sewn, and how many different colors being used.
An neighbor back 4 years ago had the console and arm rests wrapped in an accent color and cost $1500.00 .
Not only the cost factor, but the time it takes to start and complete the project must be added to your job! Most upholstery shops here are backed up at least a year before the start date.
That's why I bought a used industrial sewing machine about 10 years ago and learned to sew straight lines.
It is nuts. I thought LeBarron Bonney was expensive. I figured out where they sourced their material and buy from them now. Just the mohair, wool broadcloth, and short weave carpet material for a '33/'34 Ford is about $3,500-$4,000. I bought a sewing machine and learned to do everything but the seats. The seats still cost 1200-1500 each (bucket seats labor only). This will be another hurtle for many to overcome. It does not pay to build a car now, buy one already done.
Just for shits and giggles lets say $2000 for materials. That leaves $13000 for labor. Divided that by $75 an hour. That's 173 man hours. I mean I know Rome wasn't built in a day but even God only took 144 hours to build the world. Or did he lie and worked on Sunday as well?
Out here in Calif is is crazy. On one of my last builds the guy charged me 1200.00 to a install LeBarron Bonney seat cover on my 3-W. That was when I realized that things were out of control.
The cost of an outrageously expensive interior has only doubled since I've been on the HAMB.... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/7k-for-an-interior.143039/ (check the date of the thread)
Like the time when George Washington was a surveyor and settled a property dispute between neighbors. After he was done and drove stakes in the ground, they asked how much they owed, he said $100.... they both freaked out and asked why so much? He said it's $1 for the stakes, and $99 for knowing where to put them $15,000 must be one amazing upholstery shop. Full, complete, out the door, carpet, headliner, everything is under $4000 here.
Had a bunch of 40 coupes done here--leather sq weave etc trunk too and dynamat-top notch work!!-$8500-9000 a few yrs back guessing maybe $11 now for same. Got a call into him for a 40 2dr sedan--gonna be pricey!
This is why I am going to fab all the panels and mounts and whatnot and hire out the panels to be wrapped by someone. Whether it's a HAMBer hobbiest or a start-up, I am not sure. Thankfully my interior will be pretty spartan... no frills, just "enough."
I literally just finished this. I bought my own material, bought my own machine, built my own table and asked a few questions. I don't think there's enough $$ to make me do it again.... I'm betting it's a 7-10K job. My hair is all grey already, the next one will make me pull it all out. The past 3 months have been consumed by this. Tons of new found respect for trimmers.
I had a few cars upholstered in Tijuana, Mex. in the late '50s-mid '60s. First Model A Coupe tuck-n-roll, white naugahyde with red piping, black carpet. $154.00. Then my black '40 Coupe: my bud told me about 'Victory' Auto upholstery, straight down past the border, left turn off the main stem... An Italian guy owned it, whole job (off-white tuck-n-roll, red piping, black carpet $325, I bought everybody lunch, and 4 bottles of Tequila (Mescal, w/worm) My '46 club coupe was high, (in 1962) $475! But what a job...All silver "Elast-o-Fab", (naugahyde) looked like a fighter plane. Never a problem with T.J. upholstery, but we sat there and watched. Never had thread fail, or shred. But I heard the war stories...Rolls packed with donkey shit...Tucks spacing shards of newsprint... Never happened to me. Nowadays, they are way costly. I'd never go down there again, for the possibility of the car becoming a 'mule', lots of that went on. ^^^^Fantastic job, @Anderegg Louie! Whole car turned out. Glad Ray got to see it... Wish he could have sat in the "white & yellow rolls"!
The term "the nicer the nice, the higher the price" is in effect now. The cost of materials, the cost of labor, time involved, quality of work, all come into view. additionally, quality shops are few and far between. I just spent $140.00 this morning and all I got was gas and windshield wipers!
What are you asking for? All leather, fancy stitching? How much of it can you do yourself? If you go with a commercial shop, get a firm price and a firm timeline. Like a contract, maybe.
It may bother some one? ,when I say that too much* of our now world* of hot rods is too faked up!!= Things are done now an thought of as,"How it was",but was not! I have in the passed said some,but for OP, talking upholsrety. I like to point out,that what we thought was very nice* in the 1950 n 60's,and I'd like to add it worked real well,was not the over the top fake show crap they get super $$$$$$ for now. Many rods that could get the top prize at shows in the 1950s n 60s,were done by skilled teens,not some high $ shop that get prize now days. Point being,don't over set your need for perfect. Set it for use an enjoy!! In the late 1950s an early 60s,I had a old guy that was great to me,I'd clean up his shop an other odd jobs,too help pay for his work on my hotrod seats an stuff. He let me watch too,and many years later after he passed away,I did get a big shock at the cost when I need some work done . So did it my self and made a tech for HAMB to do same if they like to try. So I did the tech for fellow HAMB;; Some tip that maybe handy. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-sew-at-home-upholsrety-hot-rod.604077/
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