one_classy_hobo
Member
Well, it's raining and work is slow so I'm finally getting around to posting my cost breakdown and honest review of the new interior on my 1965 Dodge, Coronet. I am writing an up to date of my current rebuild here soon on another post so if you are interested in knowing what I've done add me as a friend or keep your eyes out for the post. I'm super interested in your feedback and questions so if you have any, please comment.
Due to an unexpected engine rebuild, I was saddled with the responsibility of having to decide whether or not to spend more money on my car since the engine was out of the car. I started getting several quotes from interior shops around Los Angeles. They all had informed me that it would be around $1000 per seat and $2000 per bench. That's NOT including door cards OR carpet. In all it would end up around 6-7k for a just seats and door skins. I thought that just sounded insane to spend on a non numbers matching, "less desired" model. While trying to decide, my buddy Dave tells me he has a tech who has been taking his interior to Tijuana for decades. In fact, my Dave told me that he had just got HIS interior back the week before for his '67 Dart. So he drove his car to the shop to show me and it didn't look half bad at all. So I figured, I'd look into taking it to Mexico.
Logistics
Location: I live in Los Angeles which puts me north of Tijuana by about 3 hours and give or take 150 miles which can be driven in half a day. If you're on the east coast it might not make as sense for you since your trip will take longer and will bring the total cost way up. You can also look at other shops right over the boarder near closer entrance points to you. Maybe book a fun Mexico trip 'for the ol' lady' and tell her you're just gunna drop these seats off while you're down there to "save money". Get creative.
Driving: Give yourself at least half a day. Due to the length of the line getting back in, leave as early as possible. We got a late start and hit the boarder line to re-enter around 2pm and waited for 3 hours in that miserable car line.
Ancillary Costs: That's about $100 in gas round trip and adding in whatever expenses for food during the trip.
Documentation: I had just renewed my passport (which you will need) a couple years earlier so I was good to go.
Interior Cost: They typically need to see the interior before they quote you. This was the part I wasn't too happy about but my buddy reaffirmed me that I "had to trust the process". Since the seats were out, I decided to replaced the carpet with OC Auto Carpet's "Dark Brown" because mine was shot and figured their brown would match the colors I ordered.
We threw my interior in the back of my friend's truck and drove down. If you're from the states and have never traveled out of them, Tijuana will feel like you're on another planet completely. Tijuana is a sensory overload and immediately had adrenaline dumps which I did not anticipate as I've traveled quite a bit outside of the States. Once we arrived at the shop, we get out and they greet us. Friendly enough and if you know Spanish, this will REALLY help you when explaining to them exactly what you want. They have about 100 fabric/ pleather squares on a key ring measuring about 2.5x 2.5 inches each square. This is kinda like going to Home Depot to choose which color to paint your wall from those color cards. It might look good on the card but also it's a bit difficult to envision what your interior might look like based on that small sample. My recommendation would be to head down already knowing exactly what you want in terms of both color & stitch pattern. Like, do you want something super basic or toned down? Do you just want stock shape and design? Do you want two tone and if so, which colors? I should have done a little bit more research and formed a stronger opinion of exactly what I wanted. In fact the only thing I knew was that I wanted it to feel like a cigar lounge met my favorite cafe in Denver named "Nancy's Diner". Shout out to Nancy's. Still there killing it. I decided to keep the same two tone stitching on the seats but changed the colors to a two tone brown of "Denali E. Saddle" (lighter) and I "Wallaby Saddle" which was the darker. For the door cards, I wanted the same basic framing of the original panel but thought removing the decals would make it look a little more sleek.
Now for the quote. Now that I've exercised "trusting the process" and we've discussed the colors and stitching, I asked in my best broken Spanish ... "cuanto por todo" - "How much for everything". He sternly looks at all my and crusty seats and door cards top to bottom with his hand over his mouth at one point lazily walking up to the bench seat and with his finger swiping the cracked and frail existing leather. He says '$1000 US for everything but you pay half today'. That was literally INSANE to me that he would be able to do this job for $1000 dollars. This includes new foam as well. Dave asks, "how long?" and the guy says tilting his hand side to side" one month. I agreed, gave him the interior pieces and $500 bucks and he gave me a handshake and a scribbled receipt. "Trust the process" I reminded myself. We left and as you can see in the above "Driving" under "Logistics" tip, leave early. As early as possible. We hit the 2 mile stand still line to get back into California. It felt a lot like leaving a really big concert parking lot. No-one wants to let you in, everyone is out for themselves, and people will literally merge into your car sacrificing side view mirrors (which we saw) to get one car ahead. Meanwhile, people are trying to sell you **** nonstop. I hear the pre noon line is a less than half the time.
A month goes by and we reach out. Next week it will be ready. So we reach out next week with the "just want to make sure the interior is finished before we come down" check in. We get the "one more week" response again and then silence. My buddy and his tech are trying to get ahold for about a month or two and the guy finally answers and tells them 'he had a medical emergency'. I found myself having to really focus on exercising "trusting the process". For all we knew the seats and money are gone which was not the best feeling. Once the communication came back, he told us that he was better and would get started on it again. The 'one more week' happened a few more times over the stretch of a couple more months until the tech reached out and they said the interior was completed. Thankfully Dave was heading down to pick up some other parts and was able to swing gathering the seats for me.
The review is mostly positive. There are some communication barriers and the length of time they took was kind of a bummer however, thankfully, my car had been down from an engine rebuild anyways. Im my car had been running and I wasn't able to drive because of that, I probably would have been more upset. So that worked out as best case scenario for a 'not ideal' situation favoring me. See below for pictures.
The Cost:
You cannot beat it if you live close to the boarder. I've heard from reputable shop owners telling me that the drivers seat alone would be $1000 dollars after showing them pictures of the finished product.
The Quality:
I'm not out here putting this thing in car shows. I just wanted something that I can get the lady and kids in and be presentable. The material isn't real leather but it's totally doable and but I'm unsure of how they will wear over time though I assume it will be fine. If you want them to stitch a higher quality OEM seat kit, bring that down to them and they can just throw it on for you. It's soft and new foam in the seats are extremely comfortable. There is a richness to the colors that don't come through on the pictures due to the no natural lighting in the shop. Just florescent lights. I will try and get some updated pics. You can tell that someone had their head tilted a little too much to one side one one or two stitches but you wouldn't notice any of the imperfections on a first or second glance nor are they that bad. Two of the door cards that were were supposed to be cut from the template but came back a little bigger so I had to send them back down there with the marked corrections on them for a refit and I will provide an update for that when they return. it's currently been about a month and a half. "trust the process"
Overall, I would absolutely do this again and will do so as my preferences change. It's just so inexpensive. I can afford to have 7 different interiors for the amount it would cost to do only one (here in the states). I will make a few changes to the process but all have been listed above. I am very happy with the work, quality and excited to get some miles on these seats.
So, how does it look? Below are the before and after pics and let me know what you think!
AFTER
Due to an unexpected engine rebuild, I was saddled with the responsibility of having to decide whether or not to spend more money on my car since the engine was out of the car. I started getting several quotes from interior shops around Los Angeles. They all had informed me that it would be around $1000 per seat and $2000 per bench. That's NOT including door cards OR carpet. In all it would end up around 6-7k for a just seats and door skins. I thought that just sounded insane to spend on a non numbers matching, "less desired" model. While trying to decide, my buddy Dave tells me he has a tech who has been taking his interior to Tijuana for decades. In fact, my Dave told me that he had just got HIS interior back the week before for his '67 Dart. So he drove his car to the shop to show me and it didn't look half bad at all. So I figured, I'd look into taking it to Mexico.
Logistics
Location: I live in Los Angeles which puts me north of Tijuana by about 3 hours and give or take 150 miles which can be driven in half a day. If you're on the east coast it might not make as sense for you since your trip will take longer and will bring the total cost way up. You can also look at other shops right over the boarder near closer entrance points to you. Maybe book a fun Mexico trip 'for the ol' lady' and tell her you're just gunna drop these seats off while you're down there to "save money". Get creative.
Driving: Give yourself at least half a day. Due to the length of the line getting back in, leave as early as possible. We got a late start and hit the boarder line to re-enter around 2pm and waited for 3 hours in that miserable car line.
Ancillary Costs: That's about $100 in gas round trip and adding in whatever expenses for food during the trip.
Documentation: I had just renewed my passport (which you will need) a couple years earlier so I was good to go.
Interior Cost: They typically need to see the interior before they quote you. This was the part I wasn't too happy about but my buddy reaffirmed me that I "had to trust the process". Since the seats were out, I decided to replaced the carpet with OC Auto Carpet's "Dark Brown" because mine was shot and figured their brown would match the colors I ordered.
We threw my interior in the back of my friend's truck and drove down. If you're from the states and have never traveled out of them, Tijuana will feel like you're on another planet completely. Tijuana is a sensory overload and immediately had adrenaline dumps which I did not anticipate as I've traveled quite a bit outside of the States. Once we arrived at the shop, we get out and they greet us. Friendly enough and if you know Spanish, this will REALLY help you when explaining to them exactly what you want. They have about 100 fabric/ pleather squares on a key ring measuring about 2.5x 2.5 inches each square. This is kinda like going to Home Depot to choose which color to paint your wall from those color cards. It might look good on the card but also it's a bit difficult to envision what your interior might look like based on that small sample. My recommendation would be to head down already knowing exactly what you want in terms of both color & stitch pattern. Like, do you want something super basic or toned down? Do you just want stock shape and design? Do you want two tone and if so, which colors? I should have done a little bit more research and formed a stronger opinion of exactly what I wanted. In fact the only thing I knew was that I wanted it to feel like a cigar lounge met my favorite cafe in Denver named "Nancy's Diner". Shout out to Nancy's. Still there killing it. I decided to keep the same two tone stitching on the seats but changed the colors to a two tone brown of "Denali E. Saddle" (lighter) and I "Wallaby Saddle" which was the darker. For the door cards, I wanted the same basic framing of the original panel but thought removing the decals would make it look a little more sleek.
Now for the quote. Now that I've exercised "trusting the process" and we've discussed the colors and stitching, I asked in my best broken Spanish ... "cuanto por todo" - "How much for everything". He sternly looks at all my and crusty seats and door cards top to bottom with his hand over his mouth at one point lazily walking up to the bench seat and with his finger swiping the cracked and frail existing leather. He says '$1000 US for everything but you pay half today'. That was literally INSANE to me that he would be able to do this job for $1000 dollars. This includes new foam as well. Dave asks, "how long?" and the guy says tilting his hand side to side" one month. I agreed, gave him the interior pieces and $500 bucks and he gave me a handshake and a scribbled receipt. "Trust the process" I reminded myself. We left and as you can see in the above "Driving" under "Logistics" tip, leave early. As early as possible. We hit the 2 mile stand still line to get back into California. It felt a lot like leaving a really big concert parking lot. No-one wants to let you in, everyone is out for themselves, and people will literally merge into your car sacrificing side view mirrors (which we saw) to get one car ahead. Meanwhile, people are trying to sell you **** nonstop. I hear the pre noon line is a less than half the time.
A month goes by and we reach out. Next week it will be ready. So we reach out next week with the "just want to make sure the interior is finished before we come down" check in. We get the "one more week" response again and then silence. My buddy and his tech are trying to get ahold for about a month or two and the guy finally answers and tells them 'he had a medical emergency'. I found myself having to really focus on exercising "trusting the process". For all we knew the seats and money are gone which was not the best feeling. Once the communication came back, he told us that he was better and would get started on it again. The 'one more week' happened a few more times over the stretch of a couple more months until the tech reached out and they said the interior was completed. Thankfully Dave was heading down to pick up some other parts and was able to swing gathering the seats for me.
The review is mostly positive. There are some communication barriers and the length of time they took was kind of a bummer however, thankfully, my car had been down from an engine rebuild anyways. Im my car had been running and I wasn't able to drive because of that, I probably would have been more upset. So that worked out as best case scenario for a 'not ideal' situation favoring me. See below for pictures.
The Cost:
You cannot beat it if you live close to the boarder. I've heard from reputable shop owners telling me that the drivers seat alone would be $1000 dollars after showing them pictures of the finished product.
The Quality:
I'm not out here putting this thing in car shows. I just wanted something that I can get the lady and kids in and be presentable. The material isn't real leather but it's totally doable and but I'm unsure of how they will wear over time though I assume it will be fine. If you want them to stitch a higher quality OEM seat kit, bring that down to them and they can just throw it on for you. It's soft and new foam in the seats are extremely comfortable. There is a richness to the colors that don't come through on the pictures due to the no natural lighting in the shop. Just florescent lights. I will try and get some updated pics. You can tell that someone had their head tilted a little too much to one side one one or two stitches but you wouldn't notice any of the imperfections on a first or second glance nor are they that bad. Two of the door cards that were were supposed to be cut from the template but came back a little bigger so I had to send them back down there with the marked corrections on them for a refit and I will provide an update for that when they return. it's currently been about a month and a half. "trust the process"
Overall, I would absolutely do this again and will do so as my preferences change. It's just so inexpensive. I can afford to have 7 different interiors for the amount it would cost to do only one (here in the states). I will make a few changes to the process but all have been listed above. I am very happy with the work, quality and excited to get some miles on these seats.
So, how does it look? Below are the before and after pics and let me know what you think!
AFTER
