...before I went for the racecar look, I was quoted $10K for the coupe...all distressed leather/wool carpet. It's now gonna be all aluminum and steel....
Depends what your after and materials selected. On my '47 convert I went with 100% red leather in the interior / convert well and trunk, with wilton wool carpet, and a mercedes cloth top. The car was well prepared for the shop (all wires hidden, fully insulated, windows etc done. and it ran 6K. I would guess the top to be $1500 of the bill. I could have went vinyl, less expensive carpet, simplified the design and got this down to 4K to $4500. I was very happy with the results. The guy does some basic coupe interiors for 3500-4K I though this was a good deal. Some other shops were quoting leather, with a top in the 7-10K range.
Like Oldcarmike described you get what you pay for. And before people start bashing interior shops/people. Most of you probably don't realize interior work is hard work and ever harder to do a good job. Its just like body work, engine work or anything else. Lots of people do it but few people are really good at it and those people are the ones that charge those prices because they can. You really need just ask yourself what you want and what you can live with. If you want a really nice interior without all the bling you can probably get away with 2-3k.
I wanted the seats in my lakester to look like they were upholstered using old bomber jackets. Bottom cushion and back cushion have baseball s***ching on high zoot designer distressed leather: $1800. Worth every dime to me.
Muttley, looks like your Dad got a hell of a deal. Looks like an awesome job. I've been paying ALOT of attention to interiors and have been comparing prices to quality and checking out work in person. I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for. Fat Lucky in Austin TX (South Austin Speed Shop) has fair prices for EXCELLENT quality. I've been madly saving my pennies.
How fussy are you about things? If puckers in the covers,misaligned pleats ,crooked seams drive you crazy. Spend the money and get a good shop to do your work. Spend some time and do your homework. There are many variables that comprise the cost of the interior . The labor will remain consistent for the job but the materials are going to be the greatest variable. Labor costs the same to sew together a leather seat cover or a vynil one. Whats your car like? If the exterior has a flawless finsh and the interior is the only thing left to complete . Make sure the quality levels match each other. Whats the future hold for the car ? Is it a keeper or not? Every one has a different opinion as to what they would spend or do. Remember expensive is a relative term.
The local upholstery shop does some real nice work, rods & restorations, along with a few daily drivers. Everyone *****es about his estimates, but he's figured out that 99% of the guys have overspent on every other phase of the build, and want to skimp on the last item, the interior and top. It's 50% of the overall look of the vehicle and takes real skill to do it correctly.
Mine cost 1,200 for everything, capet, fuzzy headliner and sound deadening. Its not a 7g panda fur job, but it looks good enough to me. you should be able to get a REALLY nice job for 3 grand.........
A shop by me quoted me at 12k for a 51 ford. Me and the ole lady did it are selves and it turned out great. it all depends on what you want. hand sewn pleats are going to cost more to do then pre pressed pleats. I used zodiac vinyl in some areas and that cost all most three times as much as the normal white i used in other areas. I see it as preety hard to make a quote unless you were to sit down with the shop and figure out what you wanted to end up with. im sure they quoted you high just to cover there ***. A little selfish promotion here... any one in the detroit area that needs something done let me know the ole lady wants to try to make a living out of it since she enjoyed doing the ford so much. We work cheep haha
For top notch work, that is not out of line. I worked for a shop that saw top notch show cars, and the time and materials that went into them justified the price. Everything was done by hand in house, and not one imperfection or wrinkle was to remain. If it's that kind of quality for a show car you are looking for, do it by all means. I build to the best of my own ability, and with lots of help from the HAMB Tech articles. Try it yourself - most of that $$ comes from the time put into it, and if you really want to value your car, elbow grease is the best way to do it.
Check out this site. blktopbandit did his interior (53 Chevy) for $450, but he had to make his own door panels. Looks great. http://www.automotiveinteriors.com/index.htm
My initial reaction was jaw dropping no way! But after seeing what you need. It may not be that far out. Choprods, and HotrodladyCruiser pimped Sean "Fat Lucky" already so I'll jump on the band wagon. Sean did my Riviera. Its on the SouthAustinSpeedshop site if you take a look under "Upholstery" Sean is by far the "BEST" at what he does. And he is very reasonable. In working with him, I had no idea how much an interior job was going to cost. So I shopped it out to 4 shops here in Houston and they were all within $500 of Sean. Materials being a HUGE factor. I wasn't missing anything on mine, I just wanted my 1965 vinyl replaced with 2006 matching vinyl with the Sean flair to it. And it cost quite a bit, but its freaking perfect now, and quite possibly the cornerstone of that car.
Well, My car is currently in the interior shop. Im not doing a headliner, and not doing the trunk. Its a business coupe with only a front seat. Im wating on the headlinr as the car wont be painted with its proper paint job for maybe a few years, and I dont care what the trunk looks like. There is a huge difference between a shop putting in 5-15 days of work on an interior, and a shop that puts several months into it. I have seen $1500-3000 full interiors around here, and I have seen $7000-8000 interiors, and trust me, there is a big difference. Do you want REAL tuck and roll pleats, or just top stich? real T&R takes 3 p***es on the machine for every seam, and takes a LOT more material than you would think. Do you want door pannels that are covered in just pleats from top to bottom, or do you want a nice pattern with a smooth area, and then pleats? Do you want stainless trim deviding the areas? Same for the seat. Now you have time invested in design work, and a lot more measuring/layout. Do you want the pipng to match the coor of the vinyl exactly? well then chances are it needs to be hand sewn from the same vinyl, not purchased as a pre-made roll. Same for windlacing. Do you want heavy duty carpet, that will wear well, and not show the backing weave when molded around the trans hump? The carpet alone for a car, if the good stuff that will last is used, could be around $300-350 alone. Do you want floor mats as well to protect the area here you put your feet when driving? Do you want the firewall, package tray, kick pannels, anywhere else in tuck and roll? When your using cheap pressed vinyl, or presewn T&R, thats no big deal. When the shop is hand sewing the pleats, its a big cost factor. Does your seat need new foam? That high densty foam is really expensive. Do you want sound deadening, even if you dont go with Dynamat, thats a few hundred bucks at least. There are many more factors though. look at a $1000-3000 interior, chances are, there are wrinkles in some of the pleats, pleats arnt all straight, and not everything fits right. Its all in the details. Fat Lucky does great work, thats what a top dollar interior looks like, I dont know his pricing, but I would expect it to be in the same range as your quote. If its significantly less, dont even think twice, use him. I am having my interior done in vinyl. The package tray area that didnt exist is being built, the storage area (business coupe) thats behind the seat is being extended foreward, all in wood (soaked and bent wood for the curves) and the everything, inclusing the heel pads on the carpet is getting hand pleated T&R, and contrasting smooth pannels. My reference pics are several interiors all done in the early 50's by the Carson shop, with the Matranga Merc being my main reference. The work these guys do is better than what was done back then I think. There is no exact quote from this shop, but they have done work for me in the past, and are very honest, and they expect it to run about $6k for the work, they charge time and materials. If I were to do the headliner, id be right in there at 7-8K. I checked out 2 other shops in Maryland, and their quotes were in the same ballpark, also for top quality work. I'll attempt to do just about anything myself, but doing an interior that really looks like a pro did it isnt somthing you usualy get right the first try (unless your Rolf!). And I know this is in the gold chainer price league, but I want a 100% traditional early 50's custom interior, and if you look at the Matranga, Hirohata , etc mercs, those interiors were not the exquivalent of a $1500 interior today, they would be in the $5-8k range today. I figure I might as well get it right, and work my *** off this winter to make it happen.
I wonder if his pricing went up since Overhaulin? Personaly, after looking at those pictures, Im not 100% impressed. It is in no way bad, but for the money he's asking, it should be perfect. I see wrinkles in the seats, and the door pannels just look fair in many of the pics on his site gallery. If you have seen the work that Gabe does on Boyd's show, its better. I dont know how that guy is priced, but I think his work is much better. Im sure he can do a great traditional interior, asuming thats what you want. Heck, I wish the whole Boyd show was Gabe's shop! Maybe some dont see the difference between a $3k interior, and a 7k interior, but the differences are huge, I dont know how one can miss it. I see guys here "drool" over interiors with wrinkles in the pleats of door pannels, bad fitting seat covers, lumpy carpet, etc. I dont get it. If your on a budget, I understand, perfection isnt always needed, and I truly believe only a long time veteran interior guy is capable of perfection, or close too it. If you can afford to spend $7k on an interior, I wouldnt do it with the place you put that link up for. I personaly wouldnt give $7k for anything I see on that site. I would check out Fat Lucky's work to see what a high end interior should be. Do a search here. You'll see how perfect the stiching is, and everything fits so well. Its all in the details. I dont personaly care for the stiched "pinstripes" that he does so well, for my car, as Im into a more traditional interior, but all of his work is really high end. Its a bit far from you as well. Id also check into Gabe's work, but im sure its expensive too.
My '62 Impala was $4,800. But about the only thing it didn't need was seat frames. Two-tone, tuck n roll, lotsa pleats, etc.etc.. Took about three weeks.
Sometimes though a person just wants to say something nice to encourage someone who might be trying to do some interior work themselves for the first time. Most of us know the difference but are just being nice. I know I for one wouldn't let just anyone do the interior on Big Olds , even if they offered for free, cuz ulitmatly the interior reflects on the owner tastes, or lack of in some cases. I would rather drive around without any interior then a ****ty one.....and I do.
haha - if you guys do good work, I am sure you can make a decent amount of coin at it. I was talking to one of the local guys and he was going to cut be a deal on a black tuck & roll interior for the fleetline....only 5K!!!! I might try it myself over the winter. Depending how it goes, I might be getting you to do it in the spring!
I could never pay 7 grand, but I will say that a friend had his 57 chevy belair done by Paul Atkins in Cullman AL, and it totally blew me away. He used distressed leather and suede, and basically Paul told him, "Just trust me". He made the console, door panels, etc and a lot of stainless trim pieces for the interior, even suggested some non-interior related changes to the car, The price was 7500.00, a lot of money to me, but you could really see the quality, I really thought it would have cost 10 grand or more. If I ever hit the lotto, thats where my cars going.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129657 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143204 No need to go further than the HAMB!
Do what I did.....borrow a sewing machine.....spend 180 bucks on naugahyde....get a couple books on interiors and get to work. This was my first tuck and roll job. I gained a bunch of respect for trimmers during this part of the build. They work for their money.
might as well put my .02 worth in, I got my chop top merc done for $3500.00 in ultra leather (man-made product that will out wear leather) from the fire-wall through the trunk, including the dash & garnish moldings.
i feel exactly the same way. people constantly tell me to throw in some home depot patio carpet "for now" , but i just cant do it.
That looks killer, like pro quality work there hatch, How many hours did that involve? I think your roadster must have been a subconsious influence on mine, because i've been thinking shiny black/red for mine since I started it.
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