Has anyone used a local automotive upholster

[avee8tor13]

Just curious if anyone used a regular automotive upholstery business for their seat upholstery.

Thanks all

[Kahuna]

Originally Posted by avee8tor13

Just curious if anyone used a regular automotive upholstery business for their seat upholstery.

Thanks all

I did on my RV-6A years ago. ~2001

It was very expensive. It took em quite a while. They did a pretty good job, but to be honest, I was pretty young and dumb back then. There were no RV interiors so be had via the web, nothing to really go by, not the mad rush of web pages.

I had to give them my fuse. Not that big a deal, but transportation was an additional hassle. Come to think of it I also transported my 8 to the aircraft interior guy too. Im more of a custom guy than a same same slap in panels from another RV interior company. I dont mind paying more for that.

Material quality was fair. I did not know what to look for back then.

Upside was they were VERY excited to have me. Not the usual hum drum car interior they are used to . Everyone in the shop clammered to work on her.

I think you will find today the cost for something like this today would be cost prohibative unless money is just burning a hole in your pocket. But there is certainly nothing wrong with selecting an automotive shop for your needs.

Rest in peace old 6A girl.

Best,

[Mike S]

I took my 10 to an auto guy who has a few other aircraft jobs under his belt.

I was having a headliner put in, the first for him---all of his prior jobs were seats or carpet etc.

Having never done a plane headliner, he suggested that the job be charged by time and materials.

Short story, nice job------not nice cost.

I would recommend you get bids from any auto upholstery shops, do not let them get into the old, "well, I am not too sure what to expect here, so I will just charge you for time and materials"

[alpinelakespilot2000]

Originally Posted by avee8tor13

Just curious if anyone used a regular automotive upholstery business for their seat upholstery.

Thanks all

I looked into this a couple years ago when I first discovered that I could buy a pretty nice living room set for less than what it cost just to cover a set of RV seat cushions from the usual sources. It didn't seem quite right to me!

I ended up getting a quote from Darby at Jacob's Upholstery in Spokane, WA for ~$250 + materials to cover both Van's seat bottom and seat back cushions a year or two ago. (I planned to do the booster cushions myself so I didn't ask for a quote on that.) I think this is more than reasonable. Although primarily an auto and furniture upholster, he does many of the interiors for the Piper Malibu jetprop conversions and aviation refurbs at KSFF, if I remember correctly, so he is very familiar with aviation flame proof standards for interior materials. This is one thing you would want to make sure of if you use an auto upholsterer--most of them probably won't have a clue.

In the end, I doubt you would save any money if you are going for a full interior, because they likely would need to see your interior and do it custom, but if it's just seat coverings then they should be competitive or better. They should also be able to do it without the months-long lead times many of the RV seat upholsters seem to have. The nice thing about Darby is he showed me how to make side panels and convinced me to try it myself, so regardless of who ends up doing my seats, I'll do whatever other interior stuff I want myself.

Just another reference point. I hope it helps.

[noelf]

I had purchased Van's foam kit and carved it out to fit what I needed. I must admit that my buba factor (and height) necessitated only a 2 inch thick pilot seat cushion. I purchased some additional temper foam from ACS and glued it to the 1 inch thick material that Van provided. The passenger seat foam was usable as it came from Van's. The seat back foam was usable as it came from Van's.

So, I ended up with 2 seat backs
1 pilot seat cushion
1 passenger seat cushion
2 styles of passenger booster seat cushions to go under the standard seat
2 stick boots

The upholster shop used FAA approved Naugahyde product, I picked out the color, gave them the foam that I had carved and glued to fit the a/c, and they covered everything. Cost was $1400 and took two weeks.

[N941WR]

Sure did. Bought the hides from a local supplier for $45 each and had a guy who does custom hotrod interiors stitch it all up. That was using Van?s cushions and I?m very happy with the results.

Came out great.

BTW, I spent some time working for a furniture company and the guy in charge of the prototype shop retired and is looking to do some work on the side.

If you want, I can put you in touch with him, just send me a note off list.

[gvgoff99]

That everyone did at one time or another. Either for the whole thing or for part of the upholstery project. If you do use one then make sure the upholstery meets the fire standards for aircraft.

Originally Posted by avee8tor13

Just curious if anyone used a regular automotive upholstery business for their seat upholstery.

Thanks all

[yakdriver]

I have a very good auto upholstery shop here that does beautifull custom work. I had my Classic Aero interior kit in my truck and took a piece in to have him match and order some materiel for my dash. He looked at the whole kit and said there was no way he could do that kind of quality for the price I paid for the CA kit. One other advantage to the CA kit is it only takes about 10 min to remove it for inspection and maybe 20 min to re install. Fits perfect. Don

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by yakdriver

I have a very good auto upholstery shop here that does beautifull custom work. I had my Classic Aero interior kit in my truck and took a piece in to have him match and order some materiel for my dash. He looked at the whole kit and said there was no way he could do that kind of quality for the price I paid for the CA kit. One other advantage to the CA kit is it only takes about 10 min to remove it for inspection and maybe 20 min to re install. Fits perfect. Don

And, the Classic Aero seats are comfortable! I've been in others, that nearly destroyed me after about 1/2 hr.

L.Adamson --- RV6A/ Classic Aero leather