I am having some play/wobble on my column shifter and the lever will not go all the way down to 1.

[Barrera92]

Sweet the next thing I want to do are new coil springs and reupholstering or new seats. I got a quote from a guy but it seemed way too high for a simple cloth job on the three seats and the roof.

 

[sewlow]

Didn't mean to jack your thread. Lol!
But you asked, so...
Is this in your 400?
Did he give you an idea of the time he figured to do the job?
How many yards of materials, & of what type?
Or was it just a kinda sorta edjumacated off-the-top-of-his-head approximate geusstimation?
I know that when I do those, the price is on high side. I've learned that lesson! I've given guestimates where I've been lucky to break-even when all is said & done. There's been a few where I was on the losing end.
Just becuse I didn't sit down with the customer & pick the exact materials, choose a style & design, & then crunch the numbers for an exact final cost.
The labor rate is always the same.
That's the expensive part.
The amount of materials, in cost, is minimal.
For the amount needed for a job like that, the price differences between using average materials & really good materials would hardly change the bottom line.
$200.00?
But for that you'll get materials that'll last 2 or 3x longer.
Why put out for those expensive labor costs again sooner than you have to?
I just don't 're-upholster'.
When I pull a seat apart, I go through the whole seat.
The frame, the hinge mechanisms, the tracks, the foam. Everything that needs repairs, gets 'em.
Nothing worse than having new seats, & a month down the road that missed cracked frame becomes a broken one.
Or a track jams up.
Customers have to know about this too. Sometimes there are probs that are hidden until eveything's apart.
And I gotta cover my own ass, too.
'There's never time to do it once, but there's always time to do it over.'
Problem is, I don't get paid to do it over.
And the paying ones are on hold till it's fixed.
When a project leaves the shop, I never want to see it again.
Unless it's at a show or a cruise.

 

[Barrera92]

Didn't mean to jack your thread. Lol!
But you asked, so...
Is this in your 400?
Did he give you an idea of the time he figured to do the job?
How many yards of materials, & of what type?
Or was it just a kinda sorta edjumacated off-the-top-of-his-head approximate geusstimation?
I know that when I do those, the price is on high side. I've learned that lesson! I've given guestimates where I've been lucky to break-even when all is said & done. There's been a few where I was on the losing end.
Just becuse I didn't sit down with the customer & pick the exact materials, choose a style & design, & then crunch the numbers for an exact final cost.
The labor rate is always the same.
That's the expensive part.
The amount of materials, in cost, is minimal.
For the amount needed for a job like that, the price differences between using average materials & really good materials would hardly change the bottom line.
$200.00?
But for that you'll get materials that'll last 2 or 3x longer.
Why put out for those expensive labor costs again sooner than you have to?
I just don't 're-upholster'.
When I pull a seat apart, I go through the whole seat.
The frame, the hinge mechanisms, the tracks, the foam. Everything that needs repairs, gets 'em.
Nothing worse than having new seats, & a month down the road that missed cracked frame becomes a broken one.
Or a track jams up.
Customers have to know about this too. Sometimes there are probs that are hidden until eveything's apart.
And I gotta cover my own ass, too.
'There's never time to do it once, but there's always time to do it over.'
Problem is, I don't get paid to do it over.
And the paying ones are on hold till it's fixed.
When a project leaves the shop, I never want to see it again.
Unless it's at a show or a cruise.

As far as I know he's the only guy in town that does these things. I've lived 15 years here and haven't seen an ad, business sign or commercial that doesn't belong to the man I talked to. I've seen his work and I've seen the kind of cars he has on his lot waiting for jobs( I even recognize some like a lawyer that uses his H1 as a marketing vehicle) so I assumed it wasn't cheap. Now my truck isn't the nicest, I know that. I get looks from snobby people at traffic lights but I don't care. I love my truck. So I pulled up and got out. There was no parking available so I just parked outside the shop doors and got out. The man approached me and asked how he could help me. I explained I wanted to redo the seats and roof in the same color cloth. I also explained that both seats lean a little towards the center. The part where your buttocks are is fine. Still very comfy with the thick foam. I don't have any tears but the edges are a bit worn but not torn. The back rests are the issue with them leaning slightly towards the center. The headliner is fine everywhere except over the passenger seat where my dad tried to shove a garden chair inside he cabin and he made a few scraps and tears at the headliner but it doesn't sag or anything. Just looks like scratches. The bench seat in the rear feels fine on the passenger and middle side but feels like the foam gave out on the driver side. And if you fold it up you can see some of the springs have given out but you can't really tell yet by sitting on it. The man took a look at the inside and gave me the same snobby look I get at traffic stops and said $400 for each individual seat and another $400 for the roof. Same materials and same finish. I wasn't surprised when he said that so I just said thanks and that I'll think about it. But on the drive back I couldn't stop thinking about the way he spoke to me and looked at me. I don't like to think the worst of people but it seemed like he just said that to get me the hell out of his shop. I understand it's labor intensive and it's a craft you can take pride in when the product is finished. But $1600 plus tax seemed too high for me. After that I started looking at junkyards where I have found some pretty nice seats even leather ones that look brand new for a good price (although I'd have to save up because most of my money goes towards school at the moment). One day I'll have enough for some new seats.

 

[sewlow]

For some guys on a budget, (Not all, just the occasional.) I'll give 'em a few pointers.
"Here's how to take a seat apart. Do that at home. Bring me the covers."
Same with the headliner.
"Pull it apart & I'll show you how to recover it yourself."
I think I've posted a few times here over the years how to do that. Dead simple.
So, when I've got the new covers sewn, bring in the foam & frames & we'll go over those before you learn how to install seat skins. Hehe!
The more time you spend, the less I have to. Less labor $$$ for you!
Only thing is, you buy the materials from me.
At 'The Good Guy' price, of course.
A friend wanted his HotRod '48 Chevy Sedan Delivery done.
Fitter, fabricator, millwright, machinist. (We've been known to sink more'n a few over the years!) He paid for his own materials.
"O.K. Billy. While I work on your's, there's a '62 T-Bird coupe.
Pull the seats, carpets, trim & headliner. Tear 'em down, label & mark all the parts before cutting them all apart.
Then lay 'em out on the new materials, trace 'em out & then cut it all.
Here's how.
Get it to the point where all I have to do is sew everything up. Then both of us will do the install." Which is a smaller part of the job anyhow.
Normally, I don't let anyone do my lay-outs, let alone the cutting out of all the pieces.
No matter how perfect my stitches are, if the lay-out & the cutting is poop, the whole job's poop. Great stitching will not fix a cruddy patterning job.
But with his fab skills, he can work for me anytime. Perfection!
Anyways, this way, the shop's still showing a return on the time, (The T-Bird) & buddy's getting the interior in his HotRod done in exchange for 5 or 6 days of his time & the cost of the materials.
His ALL leather, including the dash, in that "Holy Crap! That's a big F'n interior!", $10,000.00 job, only lightened his pocket by $3500.00.
Sure, that's still a fair chunk of coin. But a heck of a lot less than 10k!

 

[Barrera92]

For some guys on a budget, (Not all, just the occasional.) I'll give 'em a few pointers.
"Here's how to take a seat apart. Do that at home. Bring me the covers."
Same with the headliner.
"Pull it apart & I'll show you how to recover it yourself."
I think I've posted a few times here over the years how to do that. Dead simple.
So, when I've got the new covers sewn, bring in the foam & frames & we'll go over those before you learn how to install seat skins. Hehe!
The more time you spend, the less I have to. Less labor $$$ for you!
Only thing is, you buy the materials from me.
At 'The Good Guy' price, of course.
A friend wanted his HotRod '48 Chevy Sedan Delivery done.
Fitter, fabricator, millwright, machinist. (We've been known to sink more'n a few over the years!) He paid for his own materials.
"O.K. Billy. While I work on your's, there's a '62 T-Bird coupe.
Pull the seats, carpets, trim & headliner. Tear 'em down, label & mark all the parts before cutting them all apart.
Then lay 'em out on the new materials, trace 'em out & then cut it all.
Here's how.
Get it to the point where all I have to do is sew everything up. Then both of us will do the install." Which is a smaller part of the job anyhow.
Normally, I don't let anyone do my lay-outs, let alone the cutting out of all the pieces.
No matter how perfect my stitches are, if the lay-out & the cutting is poop, the whole job's poop. Great stitching will not fix a cruddy patterning job.
But with his fab skills, he can work for me anytime. Perfection!
Anyways, this way, the shop's still showing a return on the time, (The T-Bird) & buddy's getting the interior in his HotRod done in exchange for 5 or 6 days of his time & the cost of the materials.
His ALL leather, including the dash, in that "Holy Crap! That's a big F'n interior!", $10,000.00 job, only lightened his pocket by $3500.00.
Sure, that's still a fair chunk of coin. But a heck of a lot less than 10k!

The headliner I think I can do. I've seen the rolls of the material at textile shops and online but haven't gone in to match the color or measure out what's needed. The seats are what have my wallet hurting. I've seen posts where the seat frame is broken or bent and I really don't want to deal with that. And the thing is that it's my only vehicle and I drive around my siblings to and from school everyday so I can't take apart the seats to work on them for a couple days because I need them. I'm going to keep looking around for tips/instructions while keeping an eye out for a good deal on some seats. I've seen some good ones like I've said before but they're either already sold/wrong color or I need to money for utilities and **** so some weeks I don't even waste time by going out to the sticks to browse the junkyards. I really appreciate the help man, thanks