History Tijuana Upholstery History

I see posts here and there about Tijuana upholstery,,and see it from time to time in old car movies, but when did it really begin ? and what was it that made it so popular?

 

My dad Was getting his cars done in T.J in the 70's part of it was the quality and the price. Not to mention the excuse to go down there and party.

 

Not sure when it began. I would think after WWII when the rod and custom thing took off. The price is why I went to T.J. In '65, $100 for a complete 58 Ford. In 2005 $800 for my 48 Plymouth. Both were jobs I am proud of but not show quality that they tell you.

 

In 61, I went there with my friend and we had his new Pontiac
Headliner and door panels done. you had to watch them, but the work was good, and cheap.
Steel Rebel, I lived in Lakeport 72-86.

 

Ive had many cars done in TJ when i waas much younger{late 50's early 60's} in those days you would roll in the shop and by the time ya turned around they had everything stripped out of the car. we would go party and come back in the afternoon and ...wala....tuck"n"roll!! prices were dirt cheap,course at the time i didnt realize how cheap it really was cuase the dollar was hard to come by for a young guy. today i wouldnt step one toe across the border,especially TJ,its a war zone. i know some will say its ok , but read any paper on any given day and you will find another killing down there.

 

Except ya need ta bring your own tread.. and batting could be a bit suspect too....

 

One of my fondest car memories is my friend Jerry's '46 Ford 4-door sedan with complete tuck and roll done in TJ. This was something to see back in 1959, especially in Rochester, NY where I live. Jerry had purchased the car while in the Navy in San Diego and when he got out he drove it back east. The upholstery was a black and gold tuck and roll from stem to stern. The stand out thing to me was the gold flames that were sewn into the seat bottoms and backs! Wow, they were outstanding and not something we saw in Rochester. We put many miles on that car and those were some of the best times of my life.

Sometie in the very early seventies, I was pawing through a local junkyard and came across a '47 Ford 4-door so I stuck my nose in the broken window and Shazam! there was the interior from Jerry's car. My biggest regret is not buying that just to save it for the time in the future when I could build a clone. I didn't and I regret it every time I think of it.

Life, I guess...

 

In the 60's we had to stand and watch or the tuck and roll would get stuffed with hay and cigarette ****s. Most of the cars done by my buddies etc. would be candy striped tuck and roll, with tuck and roll visors, rear parcel shelf, and tuck and roll fender well liners.

After the job was done, THEN we went and loaded up on cherry bombs and switchblades.

 

Pretty cheap trim work...

 

I have had my shoebox done there and my friends 65 ss impala convertable and a 54 coupe deville,ALL are show quality work.I had mine done a couple of months ago it cost me $650.Listen i spent hours and freaking hours in TJ its not a war zone,why would you believe the ****ing papers! i live 20 mins from there,i have never not once had any trouble,i have more people rip me off here then down in TJ, i have had more trouble in our neighborhoods than TJ,so much hype and ******** seriously! i dont belong to or know a drug cartel ,iam not rich so no one touches me.All the **** i got is from people telling me i should have got my interior in the states and keep it american blah blah blah!

 

I'm with Hombres Ruin 100%. I go to TJ twice a month for... errr... recreational activities, and I'm safer there than in some parts of LA. As to the interior, it depends where you go. I got a boy who runs a shop in Beverly Hills.. he does crazy high dollar stuff. All his guys are from MX. I've got a list of good shops if anybodies interested

 

My '37 pickup was taken down there by my dad in the 70's, as well as a few other builds he did. I think he said it was less than $100 for the trucks seat, doorpanels, headliner, visors and a matching bed cover. Only thing that isn't still in the truck is the bed cover..though the seat has finally gotten torn up and covered w/ a blanket.

 

Right on Lefty,i have the number of a guy who i go to who has been doing it in the same place since 1965,no **** just honest awesome work.

 

this is kinda OT but has anyone ever seen the movie "Loosing It" half the movie is about getting a 57 chevy convert done in tuck and roll... LOL. now im going to have to hunt that movie down..

 

I say keep reading them papers! Less traffic when I go!

Hombres and Westside, do you guys mind posting the shops that you use?

 

We use to go down to TJ once a year from the early seventies to the late seventies. Went to the same guy every year to have our seats and door panels done. The first year we stood around and watched him. He finally laughed and said dont' worry about him stuffing the seats with ****. He through us his car keys and told us to go have a good time in the city. He used all Keystone products just like stateside. We never had a problem. The city was tore up pretty good because they were re-doing Revolution Blvd.

 

I wouldn't mind having my Caddy done over there just for the adventure.

 

You got it It's the adventure. And instant gratification.

 

TJ tuck & roll is traditional, that's for sure.

 

My wifes uncle used to take his cars and friends cars down to TJ for interior. A couple guys at work say they used to take cars down there for interior.

We are considering taking the wifes car down there. Headliner is fine but she wants the seats/panels done. Thing is she wants white or silver outers with mexican blanket inserts all in a tuck n roll or diamond tuck and she does not know if they can do the mexican blanket inserts. I said hell if you take the insert material down there they can probably do it.

Anybody still go down there for interior work and if so can you PM me where and what the going price is?

We are probably going to take my wifes uncle to. His health is not the greatest and it would be fun for him to get out and do something.

 

It started in the 40s in 3erd ave, a few blocks before you got to Revolution Ave. that's where the "Curio" Shops are. By the guys that use to make leather purses, the original tuck n´ roll where sewn individual pockets, the reason for this was so they could use the remnants of material from the purses. Axel uses Cadillac ulphostery and I use Champion's. I live in Tijuana, if you are coming down here call me ahead of time at (619)573-3237.

 

1957 when I was a kid my friend took his to NOGALES, sout of Tucson AZ for leather bench seat and two door panel covers, $40. (That was a week's wages then)

 

This is basically what my wife wants...except where it is green on the seats she wants white and where it is white she wants material that she has put in.

I will have to check out Cadillac or Champions for sure. What is the ballpark price these days?

Last time I was in TJ I was so drunk I got turned around and lost and ended up jumping a fence and running across the freeway to get back into the US...I am not kidding. It was funny at the time but now...sheesh.

 

It seems this topic has been brought up a few times and Axels quote has been copy and pasted a couple times...here is what he said.

 

Wonder if there any such shops in the Texas border towns as well?
Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Acuna, Ciudad Juarez?

 

Yep I seen it Tom Cruise was in it..And all the Tj urban legends spanish fly ,fireworks, stuffing the seats with horse**** ,and cops stealing your car ...good "B"movie

 

Losin' It is a great movie. I was going to post the scene where they pull into the shop to get the work done. That scene is funny and then the scene right after that there are some great old cars. But it has some ****ies in the scene and that is a no no on this site I believe so I will not post it.

It is one of the better movies from the 80's

 

I've had two cars done in T.J.---both in the 70's. One was a typical T.J. tuck--and yes,you'd better watch em!The next was an old 48 Chevy a couple friends and I was restoring to sell--we bought material and thread here--and took it down and had em sew it up.If I remember right,the tuck job was like $400.00 complete,and the 48 was a labor-only thing for something like $200.00.
A couple friends and I was in T.J. in the 80'S--and had one of those "traveling body men" do a fender repair--right on a side-street--while we sat in the car!The guy knocked out the dent,bondoed it--and primed it in about an hour.The damn thing looked good,too.

 

some day when i can I'd like to go there(tj) and check out one these upholstery shops, and perhaps the donkey show...........

 

My friend's dad drives his projects down from Wisconsin and leaves them with his family in north Mexico to get work done. He gets upholstery and window tint mostly, both for dirt cheap. I haven't asked him to take one of my cars down there yet, but with how bad the interior is on my '61 Olds it might be worth a shot. I think he's got an "in" though considering he's still got family down there and they don't treat him like a gringo.