1965 Seat Upholstery{purple}

[Bill McPheeters <bilorjan@xxxxxxxx>]

The Upholstery labor is outrageously high.

A man I hired to repair an electrical problem under the dash of my 1965 LeBaron finished the electrical work, took a lunch break, forgot to wake his brain up & slid back behind the steering wheel to put the dash face on & ripped a section of the pearlessent white leather edge of my back rest with the key ring he had clipped on his belt after getting out for lunch. He was still in place working unaware of the damage he had just caused when I walked up & saw it.........use your imagination for my remarks to which he said, "well I sure had a lot of trouble sliding back in here".

We removed the seat & back rest as a unit & headed for Visalia's best upholstery shop.

$125.00 to remove both the seat leather & backrest leather, remove the center section of the front skirt (skirt is entirely leather) & replace it with a piece of white pearlessent vinyl & use that leather to replace the torn section of back rest leather. 

The above price included new high density foam in the seat & back, replacing/repairing  seat springs & additional spring coverage to support the new foam.............final price $125.00. Also, we found no vinyl anywhere on the seat or back rest.

I priced 2 hides before starting just incase, white pearlessent = $210.00/hide.

Bill McPheeters, Visalia, Ca

 

From: Anthony Foster

To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 10:57 PM

Subject: IML: 1965 Seat Upholstery{purple}

Thad;

  If I were you I would check around a number of different upholstery shops in your area and see about an estimate. If your original seats are intact enough for an upholsterer to make a pattern it will cost you a lot less in labour. In my opinion $900 a seat is too much money from a mail order outfit considering that all he is doing is sewing the covers together. Since he is not supplying the materials, padding, or installing the covers on the seat frames you are only getting half the job done for that amount of money.

  One thing to remember is that your seats are not totally covered with leather, only the faces. The outside back, and possibly the front skirt, are covered in vinyl. Leather is normally sold by the hide and the average hide makes up over twenty square yards in area. It is likely that one hide will be more then enough for both seats, the armrests, and even to replace the vinyl. In case you are wondering the average hide retails for around $4-$500 depending on how many square feet it encompasses.

  I figure that for both seats you would also need about $150 or more of padding material as well.

When you go for estimates ask them how much the job would cost if they supply the leather or if you supply the leather, get them to include the padding in both. The labour should not be any more then $600 a seat, and you already know what a hide should cost. One way to shorten your search is to get in touch with your local old car guys and find out whom they would recommend. More often then not they will recommend the best upholterer with the most reasonable price.

Best Regards

Arran Foster

1954 Imperial Newport

Needing A Left Side Taillight Bezel and other trim parts. 

----- Original Message -----

From: Gentry's Garage

To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 9:59 PM

Subject: IML: 1965 Purple Leather Interior Kits./heater core

Thanks for the replies, wow, ouch,ugh! Not necessary in that order! If it is 900.00 a seat I guess it is time to break out my Grandfather's ol' upholstry Singer and teach myself how to use it! I hope that the leads for the heater core (1965 with air) are a little less expensive. PS If I do learn how to use my Grandfather's machine I will let you guys know! Thanks Thad