I took some side panels in to the local interior guru and to have some speakers installed, 2 months later he hacked them up. My interior was done by Larry Sneed in Kentucky i called him and told him of my problem he said send them to me ,2 weeks later i had perfect panels at NO CHARGE. Class Act
I have found in my 35 plus years of interiors most do not realize all the time it takes and most want it done the cheapest and done yesterday so I am glad to say I no longer do it for the public and work in a private car collection.
I'am with you Junkyard, my interiors are now my retired income. I let my customers know up-front, if they need it quick, go to the local upholstery shop. This way I can enjoy doing it for friends and acquaintances.
I still have 6 years to retire but glad I do not have to deal with the public too much,I also still work part time at my old job and someone dropped off a o/t car for reproduction covers,headliner and vinyl top without talking to us first and after I changed jobs so I told them to tell the customer its going to be there a very long time since I can only work on it 4 hours a week at the most and now they are crying I am taking too long then my mom got sick so it might be fall before they get it back.
In 2014 I was ready for an interior for RPU. After getting recommendations from a number of my friends, I got a bid from Sid Chavers and decided to go with him. He's always busy and said I could bring my car to his shop the first of April, 4 months later. I left my car after going over all the details, I was very specific as to what I wanted, and eight days later it was completely finished, ready for pickup, at the price he quoted. It was done exactly as I'd wanted with a few extras that Sid added. Eight years and 30,000 miles later, it still looks as good as the day I picked it up. I now know why Sid is in such demand! Not cheap, but you get what you pay for. Later I had him do my side curtains and bed cover.
I didn't LEAVE nice old cars, nice old cars Left me.. $$$$ 40 hours one person times $165.00 per hour =$6600.00 AND usually 2 people so double $6600. = $ 13,200.00 (One week, what gets done in a week ? ) Wow, no wonder I peck around.
And he's in demand because he SCHEDULES the work!! Too many upholstery (and paint) shops become jail because the shop operator doesn't want to let a sucker out of their grasp!
It's funny how guys on this site are always lamenting the death of all the trades associated with this hobby. Not hard to figure out why they are all dying out when no one wants to pay them a fair wage for what it costs to do the work.
Meanwhile we have members bumping FS ads 250times for 7 years without ever dropping their price! I was asked to do a headliner on a 30's sedan using correct original - type, matching materials. I consulted a pro friend and he said if it was his job he would mark off a full work week for this particular one. What would you all expect for a full work week plus materials? Seriously. D
This is not rocket science guys; the nicer the nice, the higher the price. You have guys like Glenn Kramer (retired now) here in Arizona that is known for absolutely stunning workmanship and attention to detail. That takes years and years of practice to hone the skills to do work like that. There is no comparison of his work to my Hobby Lobby job done in my garage. Some of you seem to want bargain basement prices for penthouse work. How many of you are holding out selling some old manifold at the swap meet until you get what you think it's worth? Okay, rant is over.
52 years ago I had my first interior done in a 39 coupe. Complete original style interior in vinyl with a carpeted trunk, 1500.00. This winter I will have the interior done in my chopped deuce 2 door, The seat is already upholstered and I am furnishing the leather and the shop the rest of the materials including the top insert and the cost will be about 7000.00.
Well, it s only fair to look at things from both sides. The upholsterers complain that too many prospective customers want it fast and cheap and have no appreciation of the skill, time and cost to do a quality job. As customers, how are we supposed to know that? How many of you pros have honestly taken the time to educate your potential customers as to exactly what is involved? There are probably way more car folks who know and appreciate what a good paint job and finish will cost than those who could reasonably estimate an interior. The paint men have done a better job of educating us. Add in the shops that don't stick to the time or cost estimates and/ or produce crap work they won't stand behind and it isn't really hard to grasp why upholstery craftspeople aren't appreciated.
I am not a pro at all(I'm not too sure many on this thread are) but I did mention educating the buyer in a prior post and it has been mentioned several times about buyers not being interested in "what the buyer can't see". It's kinda been the crux of this whole thread so I think both sides are represented. I've asked here what people would expect me to do for certain challenging jobs and get no responses. People often hear what they want to hear. In my limited experience it's exactly when educating the client that you hear, "It's not going in a show car or anything so..." That means, "I don't want to hear you explain all this as it sounds like you are justifying charging me more and I don't want to pay much so let me just cut you off right there." LOL I've had a small business before so am familiar with the common "Do me a solid, bro" dance when prices are set. Interestingly always a one-way dance. When people take a job price and divide it by hours and think that's your hourly pay, it's an uphill battle with business education. If in 7 pages of this, we still feel it's a roll of the dice then we will never get it. The info is out there but, like anything else, you have to become educated. How do you know what the engine builder really does to your internal parts? Not asking might be perceived as you just not really caring. At risk of dominating the thread even more, I have also given tips for a buyer. I'll add to them to stop in and check on the progress as an interested party - not as a helicopter. Ask if that's okay to do and, if not, maybe keep looking. Also ask for references. Ask if you can call a few prior clients. I sincerely believe that if an upholsterer is a cheating hack there has to be some warning signs and we either ignore them hoping to benefit or we think we will be the exception. It's not likely one does outstanding work on one job and then randomly screws the next guy over. That's a character thing. I'm also sure there are many details left out of some of these horror stories. Over and over - like above - I've mentioned how we subtly ask for things - like a budget job or asking to supply our own materials(that are often purchased as drops or on clearance). Even saying, while laughing, "Anything is better than what I have." These will knock a job down the scale based on perceived expectation. Chances are the OP's $15K quote would not involve this type of dickering. Just sayin' - ask what they do. Then know that those things they do each cost time and money. Asking for shortcuts or not asking at all but wanting a low price are both asking for the same thing. I'm not the only guy here who says they won't do upholstery anymore for others and this is why. Painters have collision work but custom upholstery is typically optional. Best of luck. I think I'll bail from this one.
I just made up this ultra-basic interior for my T. Got lucky and got a couple huge rolls of vinyl at an auction for $8 so there's probably only $20 worth of materials here, but the amount of hours it took to do this was a lot, and it's extremely basic. Most of the time involved was making/fitting the side panels and seat base. If I was charging someone else, all of the cost would be in the finicky labor. I think the difference in cost between a $2K job and a $10K job could be more to do with what is still intact in the old interior and not just how fancy you want to get it. Having old door panels, carpeting, seat upholstery, intact tack strips and such to work off of as templates would save thousands of dollars worth of work by a professional.
Hello, We are all into this hot rod stage in varying degrees from the early days to the current one. If the original hot rod is your thing, there is no amount of quality items that we would not want on our builds. We looked back to the cost of a full interior, including the trunk for our 1940 Willys 671 coupe, two bucket seats, doors, headliner and trunk. The local hot rod upholstery shop was where a lot of older hot rod guys went. The shop was well known and did a great business. But, their cost for our full upholstery was beyond our teenage budget. We had saved money to get the final finishing items in place so we could go to the 1960 Detroit Nationals in our 671 SBC C/Gas Willys Coupe. It also helped that our dad gave us a few extra dollars to get the tires and wheels, that we eventually had to send back to the dealers. The upholstery in the USA was reserved and we also had to cancel that appointment. So, the cost can be adjusted for any budget and willingness to forgo the extras to save some money. Now, the attitude and cost are more restrictive, but if the design and materials are what you want, then cost should not be a factor. There are many ways to itemize the overall cost over months or even a year into a cost per month factor. Instead of saving $200 a month for a year, you have a $2400 budget in place and for the next year, every month is cutting back to save the $200 per month. It can be done and for a lot of people, it is the “extras” that give the savings, a whack in the head. Jnaki Why go to a Cineplex movie for the latest movie, when it costs an arm and leg for two people, let alone a family of 4. So, the movie, even the top Academy Awards Movies will be on streaming for a lot less, if not free. So, think of the money saved in the long run. Also, you will not be inside for a super spreader event during these trying pandemic times. It is not over and is still around, despite what a lot of people are saying or doing. We are not the only people during the pandemic that have forgiven traveling on our two annual road trips, for the last two years. The savings in gas, food and lodging have been saved for whatever we would like to spend, and that is for 2020 +2021, let alone another two planned road trips this year. So, there are ways to save and still enjoy life as it should be enjoyed. Retirement or not… There are ways, you just have to commit and stick with the program. Factors that cannot be scrimped are safety for you and the family. (brakes, shocks, tires, reliable motor, etc.) Upholstery is an added expense, but the design and patterns can be adjusted to meet the savings from your commitment. YRMV
My 31 is in shop right now. I'm not looking for show quality, but just a good job. Here's a pic of work so far. 1650.00 including material. I think is a great price. I live in Northeast Mississippi.
Hey, Ww; If the rest of the interior comes out that nice, & for $1650.00(not a typo ?) , that looks rather nice, & seems to be a hell of a decent deal. If this is correct, maybe you could drop the owners' name, & shop info. Thinking they're going to be *real* busy, soon. . For that work & cost, I'd travel from MN... Marcus...
These posts on ‘how much should it cost to get xyz done?’ always attract a lot of interest. The answers are often astounding when it really all depends on a few basic factors, mostly: cost of materials, cost of labor including overhead, and how complex or extensive is the job. Then, the answer is just a mathematical calculation. What seems to draw interest is that some folks are 1, unwilling to pay a professional adequately for his expertise, shop space, overhead expenses, and their specialized tools; 2, they want premium materials at prices from decades earlier; and 3, they don’t have a clue as to what level of effort is required to get the desired job done. When I need help on a build, it is because the work I want done is beyond my skill level or available time. If it is something I can do at the quality I want, I will do it myself. Paint and upholstery are the primary things I can not do at the quality I want. The folks I use, I keep using over the years because we work together well as a team to get the job done as I want it to be. I want their businesses to succeed, and they help me develop my skills to do more of the job myself, and I learn to understand the effort it takes to do a quality job. I want every car I build to have better quality than before, and for me to have done quality work that I previously not done myself. I’m almost 76 and don’t have many builds left in me, but I am slowly working on building a hopped up Model A motor with minimal outside help using the new Burtz castings.
Ww; Would it be out of line to ask what the quality of the materials is/was? Sure not expecting leather, much less show - but those seams look straight, pleats seem to match-up, & the piping also looks straight, from those pics. Perfect for a daily driver that there is a little pride in, just low-budget. I've seen worse on show-only cars. Could you ask him about expected life: sun-fading, wear resistance, thread strength, etc? Not even sure I could get the materials around here for that. Would much rather do things myself, life took a few turns, & I get to consider other options, although not by happy choice. Would be in the future a bit anyways. Always good to have good contacts. TIA, hoping I'm not stepping on toes here. PM would work, if it's "sensitive". Marcus...
$1650 is the price as it looks now. With more cost to come as the job progresses ? Or $1650 total for everything ?
That's the total cost completed! The material is a good quality vinyl. He has used it many times without wear or tear. It ran forty dollars a yard. This is a young guy and learned his craft from a well known shop in our area. He has been on his own for about a year and a half. He is great to work with and has a nice shop.
Looks nice. Hopefully the vinyl is UV protected. Is is the lighting?_the seat color looks different from the door panel.
It's the lighting. The lighter color in seat is done in a swede. Wanted a material that breaths, hoping it will be a little cooler.
I'm doung one just like this one in vinyl and it's about $3000 here in So Cal. Anything more is just silly so do it your self and be happy.
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