upholstery options

zero.one.victor · Post by **zero.one.victor** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 6:01 am

The seat upholsstery in my 170 is getting pretty raggedy. But I don't want to pony up $750 (plus 25% for premium grade material) for new Airtex stuff. Does anyone know of any other sources,other than custom shops,for seat upholstery for our 170's? I'm kinda looking for something along the lines of slip-covers.

Eric

Harold Holiman · Post by **Harold Holiman** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 9:16 am

Eric,

You can get sheep skin or immitation sheep skin slip covers fairly resonably at auto supply houses that will work if you like that look. I was once in a flying club that had them on the club plane and they were very comfortable although I personally prefer the look of the regular uphlostery. If anybody in the southeast does need real uphlostery work done, we have an uphlostery shop here on 9A5 that does excellent work for resonable prices.

Harold
Mbr# 893

BloomerJohn · Post by **BloomerJohn** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 2:24 am

Check with area high end automotive restoration shops. Got a world famous one in this area. They were able to match fabric content, finish and color exactly using small samples of the original material found in the airplane. They got the matl and recovered all the seats and panels for me. Cost was very reasonable.

zero.one.victor · Post by **zero.one.victor** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:07 pm

How much is "reasonable"?

BloomerJohn · Post by **BloomerJohn** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 5:12 pm

English broadcloth wool imported for headliner -$75 / yd - need 6
Wool carpet imported from England $70 / yd - need 6
Upholstery matl for seats $15/yd - need 10
Foam padding mtl - $10/ yd - need 10

Labor to cut new panels and sew on mtl to seats and panels - $40/hr x 10 hrs

If you want to see some VERY rare (expensive) cars you should visit this place. Most jobs start at $250,000 and many go over $1Million! People from all over the world ship these one of a kind autos to them in containers. They will take as long as 5 yrs to complete a big project. They have in-house specialty areas for Upholstery, sheet metal, frame, trim, electrical, paint, engine and driveline/suspension.
Name and contact of Shop:
L'Cars Corporation
Gene Standard - Master Upholsterer
110 Poplar
Cameron WI
715-458-2277

Post by **GAHorn** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:49 pm

Eric, go down to the local mall to the fabric shops and look at their upholstery materials. Avoid synthetics for failure to pass burn tests and stay with 100% wools and natural fibers/leather. (Vinyl and Naugehyde leak cyanide and will craze plexiglas.) You can buy materials for as little as 10/yd. Carpet should also be wool, not synthetic. The local carpet place probably has left over scraps that should be inexpensive.