I see a lot of guys say it is high for a truck cab but what I don't think most realize or at least take into consideration is most trucks had very utilitarian interiors like cardboard headliners that were screwed in and metal door panels. This means that everything from door panels to headliner bows right down to tuck strips for the healiner have to be fabricated and installed. None of it existed on the original vehicle so you can't even just go to a vender and pick it up you have to make it all from scratch. This added labour starts to add up quickly.
Word. S***ching a proper interior is an art. From experience, you need to be exact in what you want and expect. I could go in but I wont.
LOL! You're crackin me up Saxman. I was wondering the same thing. I can't wait to see his pics. I'd love to see what a $20k interior looks like.
Exactly, which is why I said I thought it was high for a basic truck cab which I thought was what the OP was looking for. Upon review, I see he is looking for more than the basic interior, therefor, once again I have proved that I don't know WTF I'm talkin' about. Carry on.
As hard as the chop is on that Merc maybe the trimmer added anther 100 to the tab every time he banged his head. I'd have to believe that there are a number of variables in the price of upholstery work. First being the location of the trim shop and the expenses of operating said shop. Second, you are sometimes buying bragging rights along with getting the work done. Interior by________________ can add to the tab these days just as engine by _________ or paint by______________ That skill to earn the reputation of consistently putting out award winning work took years of getting it right and now they are getting the pay off for that. And the material you choose along with how much they have to do to create the interior or sometimes undo. Those hides from cattle raised on a small island with no fences that were hand m***aged by nubile virgins daily from the time they were weaned until they became beef and hides costs a lot more than a hide off an old range steer from the reservation. And I'm going to have serious sticker shock when I haul my 48 in for upholstery. I just hope the guy I am thinking about taking it to is in a good mood at the time.
As you wish......... Let the flaming begin. Buckets and centre consul in a custom. No, It's not made from artic monkey scrotums (snake skin) and yes it's a hard chop but he never charged me extra for banging his head. We did the interior with the roof off. There is almost 100 hours into the headliner alone.
Supply and demand + location. We have a guy here in N. Alabama who does very nice work and with vinyl you could get the entire job done under $2k. Or...for leather about $4k. 2-3 weeks normal turnaround.
Dang. I guess I am naive also. I never thunk it had gotten to be that expensive. Now I know why Mexican blankets are so popular. I could never afford those prices, might have to try my hand a upholstery also I guess.
Impressive stuff! Don't know that I'd ever pay that kind of money for interior.....but then again, I don't have that kind of money.
I dunno... sounds high to me. I had a 1970 Z/28 totally redone in black leather, headliner, seats, door panels, rear side panels, package tray, dash and even some trunk panels for $2200 in Phoenix about 4 years ago. Maybe it's time to get some regional quotes and maybe pay a little money to haul the car where you can get it done more afford ably. I could even FIND anyone in Iowa to do it like I wanted back then, so i paid $600 to ship it down, $2200 for the whole interior job and then flew down and drove it home. I will try to find some photos of it and put them on tomorrow.
Thanks all I talked to them about basic stuff maybe pleats on the seats and doors that did not seem to phase them or make a difference in price. I have a couple of other leads on local and one other shop out in the central valley about 2 hours away that I am going to look at before I do anything. It is a father and son shop and there work looked excellent, they should me a BMW the just finished and pictures of a couple of other cars.... I guess I could try doing some stuff again - I did cheap carpet and it looked OK at first but not now and I did upholster some cardboard panels for the doors but again they look like I did it not a shop - I had never done this before..... The truck is my toy and I am having fun with it, the paint was a must do.... but if I have to spend 4K on an interior Im then like 21K into the truck. I never expected to get what I put into it, working on and driving it and showing it are entertainment for me but I just don't know 17K in sounds like enough - maybe thats for now and Ill change my mind later
Thats sound outragous if its a close to stock interior not sema stuff. I had my truck done about a year ago in PHX for about $1500 and that was really nice custom doorpanels and bench seat both black vinyle and black cloth headliner made from scratch with custom domelight and sun visors from scratch in my 57 dodge truck I didnt do carpet though i just got a 50's replacement rubber floor. and it was a Nice clean interior shop. link to there site maybe its worth the drive > http://www.theinteriorshop.com/Home.html
Pleats are definitely a LOT more work than just a plain vinyl seat so I find it hard to believe it wouldn't change a quote. Sounds like it may have been a throw it out there and see if it sticks kind of thing. I am no upholster but I would think to give an accurate quote they would need a pretty good idea about what you want not just I may want this or that. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Im glad I know of an old shop that has low overhead. Great work at decent prices. I would never pay that kind of money for a small job like that.
I had a complete interior installed in my 1962 Impala 2drht by Aronja upholstery in Pasadena TX, in 07' for under 2k. They made everything from scratch and saved me the $1,500 for the kit. They've been in business like 40 years. they do tons of antique furniture , cars, and you name it. They did a great job and had it back to me in a week. I'll be taking my 40 Ford to them.
chopped51, Your interior is so nice, if someone p***ed gas while sitting in your car you would be justified in kicking their ***!
Wow, the paint was cheap. My last full paint job was on a fenderless '32 3 window, that was $10K back in 2000. The interior was $3500 complete for the same car at the same time.
And.......how much construction/re-construction of the seat springs, padding and so forth is involved. A lot of these old cars I see that have just been found in the woods basically have no interior left....all stuff has to be made new. The original style cloth material I was wanting for my old cheap Plymouth is now selling for something like $85 per yard. There are still some upholstry "kits" out there these days I think.....to do it yourself. From places like J C Whitney. Just have to look around. When I had the car re-painted about 15 years ago, I made my own door panels from masonite and covered them with $6.95 per yard grain vinyl from the fabric store. Bought cardboard at Hobby Lobby for kick panels and trunk liner....etc. Don't own a sewing machine so I attached material with duct tape on the back. Nowhere near right, but only the good side showed. N O S box seat covers that cost me $20 at the time. Has my interior won any awards???? -- no. It gets counted off when a show is judged by car club ***ociation "professional" judges. But the average spectator says "it looks good" cause he doesn't get technical. I bought a roll of loop pile carpet at an upholstry supply wholesaler and the local upholstry fellow charged me $250 to cut, bind and install it over the padding I also took him. That included the trunk. Then another $250 to make a new convertible top boot from canvas when he installed the top I took him. Didn't look near as nifty as the Merc, but the average person who just glances at the car would say it looked nice. To get a first cl*** job these days......the prices mentioned above are probably fairly typical. My son in law is working in an upholstry shop in Grandview, MO and does some car interiors. Don't know what their prices are however. Here's a shot of the seats......nuttin like the Merc and others with a quality job........but have gotten by for the past several years and the car has won trophies at various shows cause people liked it.... not because the quality was there. To each his own.
Yes, they're stainless. Can also get them from boat supply shops. I thank you guys for your compliments. I agree 100% its an outrages amount of loot. But like 47 ply mentioned...but nobody else takes in to account, on a custom job like this is actually building the seats to put the upholstery on in the first place. Normaly you can use your stocker front seat. If your lucky, the back one. I started with the traditional T-Bird rear but decided to go this route....completely custom built. A one of. Unfortunately that cost money. I don't regret it for a moment, but I likely won't do it again.
I don't even bother getting qoutes... I know it's going to be more that I want to spend so I do mine myself! Pebble beach quality?... No. Affordable?... yes! My latest '36 chevy ran $800 for material + all the free labor I can stand. If you want to get into doing your own stuff be sure to get a walking foot sewing machine.
Just cane across this topic as I'm in the same boat. My 30 C/C Pick Up is almost finished. By recomendation I stopped at a local "Top Notch" upholstery shop. Talked to the fella that owns it and he quoted $4500.00 for everything. Nothing fancy just good looking with some minor pleats. I was talking with my fab shop guys and mentioned who and what was quoted, they said to check out their upholster which was just down the street from their shop. I did and was quoted $2400.00 with the exact material and style. Can't thank the fab shop for recomending this upholstery shop, paid to check them out.
I've never owned a car that could justify high end custom interior. I've done most the interior work myself, and occasionally use a local upholstery guy to make the covers for seats once I remove the old covering to give him for patterns. Much of the cost in upholstery work is labor, so if you can find a guy who's willing to sew things up, and let you do the installation, you can save a fair amount of money. Building your own door panels, and then having someone make the covers so you can install them will keep more money in your pocket. R&R the old seat covers so they can be s***ched up, but you do the labor saved me a lot. I had mine sewn up for $70 ea. for two bucket seats, and he gave me tips on fitting them to avoid ripples and such. I did all the interior work on my last build, and was under $500 total. My wife and I sewed the headliner on a friend's commercial machine. I built and covered all the door panels, and bought a pair of buckets that were new, so no upholstery work needed on them. I also made butcher paper patterns for the carpetting, and hand sewed it together from the back side. It's basic interior, so nothing exotic or high end custom, but it fits the style car.
Mexican blankets and primer finishes.....I see a good financial incentive for embracing that look Body/paint and upholstery are probably the most expensive items when building a car if you have to pay full tilt for 'em. Those two items can easily account for 50% of the cost...or more. The only way to combat the great money beast is either with blankets and primer (or rattle cans, etc...) or learn enough about those trades to do the work yourself...which can also provide immense satisfaction when the work is done. I struggle with s****ing enough money together for quality engine work...If I couldn't do my own fabrication, bodywork, paint, and now upholstery work I couldn't build cars...
Uh, it's a hot rod, not a show rod... GM did mine...... no charge over the cost of the junkyard seats...
Hey chopped51, not trying to hijack this thread but you know I gotta ask! you got any pics of what you did to the frame on that beast? Just curious I ***ume the doors stay shut when you take a corner very impressive! Thanks Andy
I was just quoted 1100$ labor for a tuck and roll for a model a coupe. Includes carpet. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
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