Projects Custom Interior Questions

might be too far for you to travel, great shop

 

5X unless you find leather at an estate sale. Doing the upholstery yourself isnt difficult.

 

Hello,

Having a custom vinyl interior for 7 years the light tan surface was pristine the whole time. We kept it clean and scratch free. We always remembered to not wear stuff that would scratch the surface of the vinyl. It does scratch easily. The bucket seats were positioned for me and getting in and out was always an easy proposition.

When my wife drove it by herself, the seat was moved forward to be in a good position. The key was if the seats were in a good position, there is no squeezing in and sliding across the seat. You just sit down and put on the seat belts. No sliding or scooting forward, like one does in a GM bench seat that is a one position back rest angle.

But, over the years our friends did get the old tuck and roll pleats and with the taller pleats, some scraping will take place. So, be aware of that fact. Comfortable, yes, but one has to scootch over to get comfortable in those old seats.

Jnaki

In today’s seat surface world, my wife’s car has always had leather seating surfaces. They never get scratched as most women don’t have chains, metal tabs or buckles that do most of the damages. I wore old Levis for many years in my leather bucket seats. They did scratch, but the local shoe repair place had this wonderful liquid that sealed up the scratch and color was a perfect match. It was not 100% perfect as no scratch will fill up to look like the old leather. But, at least the underneath was leather and absorbed the color as well as possible. If one looked inside of the interior, it looked scratch free.

Vinyl scratches show the white underneath material that does not look like the surface material, no matter what is done to fix the scratch. So, we all know that for a fact.

Note:

Also, the fact that leather has the aroma that is wonderful and it just kicks off the senses towards the good surrounding on short drives or long distance road trips.

I know a lot of folks dislike Armor-All, but it does a good job of cleaning normal marks and gives the leather AND vinyl surfaces a good feel. It just has to wear off the shine to look like new. We used it for many years until we found this product for our own household leather products.

Arizona Leather is a sofa/chair manufacturer. They have some great varieties of leather and they sell a liquid product that is by far, the best leather cleaner and conditioner. No shine and no odd aromas. It does a great job and it is a staple in our car/home product cabinet.

Here are two of the best we have used over the last 20 years. Car leather seats looked worn due to daily in and out motion with jeans and other colorful clothing. They have gone through plenty of in/out uses of preteen school pickups and family gatherings/soccer games. So, they are not garage queens. But, each time something was used, the marks easily came off. First it was Armor-All. That was a good cleaner. It just happens to leave an aroma that took weeks to leave. The Arizona products leave no marks or do they have an aroma that lingers…

Note 2:

White leather or white vinyl in pleats looks very 50s-60s as that was the primary version we, as teenagers got installed in the Chevy/Ford Sedans. The USA prices were horrendous for teenagers, so, yes, we took several trips to Baja Mexico for a great looking, comfortable all-white tuck and roll upholstery. The one thing is the white made the car(s) look like show cars and were comfortable.

But, the Levi Jeans took its toll on the seating surfaces. We used water, soap, leather cleaners and what ever was in our mom’s household cleaner drawer. The Levis made the white color pick up any marks, sliding across the seating surfaces. The blue dye comes off easily with more usage. So, there was a lot of scrubbing. Daily driving? White is not your friend in any car seating surfaces. The old adage of white is cooler than black in the summer is a minimal argument. Lightweight clothing and A/C does a better job than all white upholstery. YRMV

 

Talk to Loyd’s Paint and Glass about doing an interior for you this fall or winter. I hear he’s reasonably priced.

 

The choice between all leather, partial leather, vinyl, or cloth boils down to choice. The replies give pros and cons of each.
As far as choosing someone to do the interior, dedicated shops will be pricey. Contact car clubs in your area. A lot of times there is someone who does upholstery on the side and business is by word of mouth. These folks usually have dedicated suppliers and get discounts on materials. It pays to shop around.

 

I've used two upholsterers in the last five years. The first a vary well known name who charges what you would expect someont with a good reputation to charge. I drop off three bench seats, he tells me how long it will take. That day comes, he hasn't even started on them yet. Eventually I get the seats and by now I'm out of time and one of he seats is all wrong. Waiting on him to fix it is just not an option so I tear it apart and fix it myself. Next time I find a lesser known guy, pretty much the same story though. His original time estimate is pure fantasy and when I finally get the seats they dont fit. I have to remove the upholstery, reshape the foam and restaple the leather. He wasn't much cheaper that the first guy. In both cases I was able to do the rework without having to do any stitching, otherwise I'd have been screwed. Unless you can find an upholsterer that you know personally, all I can tell you is, GOOD LUCK!!! I would agree for the most part with theHIGHLANDER, The more work you can get done, the less work they can charge you to screw up

 

I took a class locally, but that's it. I did learn that automotive grade materials (thread, backing, foam and the surface) are all special, designed to handle not only the wider temps cars are subjected to but UV and wear.
EDIT: https://www.albrightssupply.com/blog/automotive-fabric-specs
You can research this and educate yourself on what your choices are, but I'd expect that any pro is going to have strong preferences if not outright requirements for the materials used, just like a painter.
I understand the preference for leather, but until you get into the top shelf stuff, I think that vinyl is a better choice especially for cost and durability. Leather is always going to require more care.
I get the sentiment here on the board of the control and pride along with savings that comes with diving in and DIY. If this sounds like something you are willing to try, check into local college or tech school courses.
As always, I recommend collecting pictures of similar cars with the final results that please you. Develop an understanding of what you want so either you can create it or communicate it fully to the people doing the work so there is no missing the mark.

 

The pearls were the first to go, I hear.

 

Where I live, there are severe temp. ranges. Vinyl doesn't work well in extreme cold or heat. I have done 3 of my projects with Ultra Leather. I'm a real fan. You can buy vinyl for less money but if you had your mind set on leather, I urge you to investigate. I'm no help on a shop or pricing. I'm in a rural area so I purchased a portable walking foot machine and struggle through my own stuff. There is a good thread on the forum about upholstery. if you read through it, you will gain some knowledge to ask the right questions while shopping.

 

https://www.instagram.com/recoveryroom/?hl=en

 

When I had the bucket seats done for my '63 Falcon the upholstery shop owner told me he had some vinyl that looked more like real leather than anything he'd ever used before. He did them in black and I thought he was right. They did look like real leather, and the cost was cheap.


As for finding someone to do the stitching reasonably, I can't tell you for sure. I'd simply ask around at car shows, or hotrod friends to see if anyone recommends any place. That's how I found the guy who did my buckets, but I was warned that he did both OK work, and sometimes great work. Just depended on how he felt that day. Everyone who saw mine said it was the best work they'd ever seen him do, so guess I got lucky.
When I wanted my '39 Chev coupe done I couldn't find the same guy, he'd simply disappeared. I went to 5 different shops, and quotes were $5000 to $20,000. I bought a used commercial machine and material, and told myself I could screw it up numerous times and still save money. And once done I'd have the machine and experience. So I did my own, and spent under $1000 including buying the material, used machine, and a pair of junkyard bucket seats.

 

honestly. as an shop owner...

you sound like the worst type of client. With the words you are saying often times budget and expectations don't align.

industrial walking foots can be had for 400-500 bucks,
The luck needle courses are a few hundred.
and then you have the skill and budget to do it in leather.

Remember.
CHEAP, FAST, GOOD.....

Pick two.

 

I guess if you just suck you'd be right. Nearly every restoration, hot rod, my current hot rod, I did EVERYTHING 1st. If you know what seat you want then what's so hard about replacing springs or correcting a bent wire? How would I know to leave an ⅛ for thin foam and material at the edge of the panels? Or where to punch holes for window cranks and door handles? It isn't rocket science, it's time consuming basics. The trim guy will pad and sew as needed. Of course you can't take a car primed with Rustoleum primer to a top flight finisher and say shoot it. Much like you wouldn't set 2 5gal buckets in your car and say make me some bucket seats. Is it for everyone? Maybe not. I give the o/p props for knowing his limits, but more so for having the skill to get this far, and therefore likely has the skill to do what was said.

I spent 4hrs laying out, patterns in heavy paper, correcting the mounting channels, and finally cutting 2 kick panels to fit in the front of my 39. They're perfect. I'll glue some vinyl on em and be happy. That's probably 2 more hrs. So imagine if a trimmer told me he had to remake em because it isn't his work. What would you say? Cuz I'd tell him to go fuck himself and find someone else. I had these covers sewn to fit my panels, I fabricated the stainless trim and cleared the padding below the vinyl so they sit flat to the panel when i installed em. Pure fuckin rocket science...


If my reply seems harsh, oh well. Unless some sculpted hard foam digital gauge modern tech shit is involved there's not much any talented builder CAN'T do to be ready for an upholsterer. I better learn to do stuff right-handed in case a vendor refuses my work cuz I'm left-handed. Rant over...

 

Is Ultra Leather a synthetic leather?

 

.... learn about the types of leather.
https://www.billytannery.co.uk/blog...t's known as,grain leather and bonded leather.

 

but more importantly...

All leather isnt AUTOMOTIVE grade...

Buy from Hydes, Relicate, Apex, Coast to Coast etc...

the 150 dollar Mercedes hides on Ebay are not automotive grade... and will fail in 24 months.

 

Ed, yes. I have been using the Brisa from ultra leather because it's breathable. May not be the best choice.????? Last summer I was at a show and was talking to a vendor about their stuff. When the conversation got around to my unit and I told them that I did the upholstery, they wanted my name and number to give it out. There is a real shortage of capable people. In the meantime, the people that can have heard about the prices that the high end builds are charging and the prices I have heard are around 10 times what they were 10 years ago. Supply and demand is the American way. I told my son when he was in high school that the world was changing and that people that could use their hands would come back in demand and could charge prices in line with doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs. In some cases, that is correct. I am surrounded by people that will pay rather than do their selves. That's fine. It's just a choice we all make. I'm afraid that I will live long enough to be on the other side. In my case it takes longer to make money than spend it so take your time and be very careful. maybe you won't become one of the horror stories. Good luck.

 

It is definitely true that people with the skills to do custom upholstery work are in short supply. I pulled the entire interior out of one of my boats to have it recovered. The guy was going to let me pick the parts back up to re-varnish the undersides and backs. 1.5 years later he hadn’t even started working on them. Not that he didn’t take other jobs and do them in the meantime. No being capable of doing the work myself isn’t an issue. I wanted to focus on other things that I thought were harder to find someone to do right. I guess this is something else I’ll have to refresh myself on and start doing.

 

Wichita Ks Facebook Market place, 60 sq ft hides for 100 each. I've used these hides in the last 4 cars I done.


3) Marketplace - leather cowhides for upolstery and crafts | Facebook

Another $50 a hide

(3) Marketplace - Full Leather hides and remnants. 725 E Central The Yard | Facebook

 

So as a self taught driveway hero, upholstery was how I planned to have the car hobby sting a bit less. Toss a wrench into a crowded garage and you will hit 3 welders, an electrical stud and his lackey, five body dudes of which three you can trust - 2 painters, 6 engine builders, and guy who knows it all but has been between cars for a decade.

I bought an industrial machine and found my niche. So Mr. bangin is spot on about finding that guy everyone knows and trusts over the shops. Since i dont do it to keep the lights on my overhead is very low and my pricing is hard to beat if you are a local shop owner. I dont start a new project till the last one is finished, hence no cars get held hostage. I broke into the scene by offering free labor as long as the car owner covered materials. Then i traded work to get my cars worked on. Now i make a few bucks and I think the combination of competitive pricing, quick turn around, and honest work both the owner and I are proud of has built my reputation locally. Shops are great but they have to run a business and craftsmanship comes at a premium. Im not better than any shop worth its salt so yes you do get what you pay for and any of the photos I attached coukd be scrutinized by a pro with both good and bad reviews. Ill never be on TV but I have had a few cars that did get noticed and some owners have trophys tp prove it.

Regardless who you choose take this for what its worth. Let the guy you eventually pay source the materials and do the work. When a car comes in that already has parts made like door panels I rarely like them and often have to redo too much not to just start over with my own, the devil is in the details and for me that comes down to little stuff like attachment point placement and material interactions. Some cars i use certain materials, other might change that. It just deoends on what gets me the best resukts, with the right durabikity, while meeting the budget. Ive used luan, ABS, aluminum, or a combo if a few different materials. I dont reduce my price if you bring pre made panels or much else cause ill likely rebuild the stuff or spend time tweaking it so i dont get blamed for an inferior result. Dont bring your own materials, in my experience its rarely a quality id put my name on. Not enough material to cover the job. Not new material that was stored properly or from a matching dye lot. Sometimes its all three. I have my places i use for leather, for vynil, and foam. Google auto leather vynil match program. You can have both and not have to worry. I get better pricing than retail. I know what brand names to avoid. Lots of companies can sell both leather and vynil with the same dye color and pebbling. I have a panel board with black material in three finishes on it for an exampme of materials. I use it when some person opens a job quote with "im going full leather stem to stern" I ask the person to pick the lone leather among the two vinyls on that board. Trick is all three are vynil. Point is both have their merits, it comes down to wants vs. needs. Leather will last a lifetime, well beyond vinyl. The opinions that leather doesnt age well are the result of neglect that would surely destroy vynil just as quick. If you take good mainenance of anything it will last. That said leather is about 6 bux a square foot where vynil is about 12 bux a square yard. Vynil dye lots are easily repeated. Leather runs arent always perfect and few will gaurantee it so that means no piece work purchasing, you must buy all you need plus waste in one shot-ouch!

So just my humble opinion among many. Take it like any other. Im not a pro and I dont run a business. I just love doung upholstery on cool shit!

 

Thanks, OLS, for taking the time to reply. I appreciate all the people that have taken the time to respond to this thread. The different opinions, points of view, and experiences definitely give me something to think about. This forum is a great resource...and can be quite entertaining at times. What a great group!
Thanks, all,
Ed

 

You are welcome and best of luck!

 

@One Last Stop pretty much summed it up in looking for someone to do the work. When I had my 53 done, I found someone by word of mouth that did upholstery for a living with a Navy contractor, and also on the side. Although his shop was small and the work a piece @ a time, the turnaround was quick, very well priced, and good looking.
Lastly- don't overlook cloth. Mohair and cloth were used by most manufacturers for a long time.

 

Thanks Banging!

As i said im not a pro and never learned the trade but im honest about what im capable of doing and what im not.

So long as everyone is happy at the end od the job.

Cloth type inserts are a happy medium as well. Ive done a few cars with pendleton wool inserts that were nice.

Again vynil is nothig to shake a stick at and many leather vwndors have a vynil match program which is great!

 

Yup, making interior panels is verboten. Don't ever let me see you with hog ring pliers in your hand either. Stay in your lane.

Or, I did a majority of this work below. Panel build, design, assembly, anything that DID NOT require sewing because I can't sew.

The excess analytics that occur here makes the juice worth the squeeze. All of a sudden auto upholstery is akin to Space X, and don't you dare try to prep for the JOB YOU WANT DONE. Related story, I'd just painted a part for a pricey car and sent it along to the next shop. They wanted to charge the guy to strip and refinish it. Why? Because THEY didn't do it. "What would you do different?" he asked. "We use PPG single stage urethane." which is exactly what I used. Nothing wrong, it was a gas tank. In black. It was fine, really nice actually on the 3 sides that mattered (the top had shit I didn't waste time fixing as will never be seen, ever, period. "They" wanted to fix it. He said no and its under the car today. (knocking at the door) "Hey, anyone home?"

So in conclusion, if when you hang pics in your house they look like a Bugs Bunny cartoon maybe leave some stuff to the pros. It's a 30s sedan, not a prototype icon from 1965 with all 1 off parts and products. Have a beer ffs...

 

Good poynt about the spellyn!

 

Vinyl...got it...I have dyslexia and it shows here and there. You see b i see d...but i do my best.

 

That's a dummer! Just teasin' !