Hot Rods Current TJ Upholstery Information

I am in southern California for a week or two and would like to take my roadster down to TJ for upholstery but cant find any current information on quality shops. I would like to hear from someone with recent experience.

 

TJ is the murder Capitol of the world. Buy American

 

These days, I'm not so sure I would head to TJ for anything!

 

They stuff your seats with horse shit

 

Don't you have to get special car insurance when you go over the border?

 

It's not mandatory, but it would be smart. You need a passport though.

 

Not without a gun.....

 

Before I retired I was on the board of 2 regional narcotic task forces. That said I wouldn't go anywhere in Mexico. Period.

 

X100

 

When I was having it done in the old days, a little beer and a little extra over the bill got a first class tuck and roll job for a third of the price anywhere in southern Cal. You got horse shit if you treated them like horse shit. Nowadays, I wouldn't be within a hundred miles of the border.

 

I know a shop in Garden Grove Ca. Juan's Auto Upholstry that's good with great prices. That's as close as I'll get and I did go there for a headliner in 1964.

 

Border crossing issues........it might take most of that week you have to get back in the country. You may be in line behind 1000 from south America.

 

Magoozi on here has a shop down there he would probably be able to steer you in right direction for upholstery work I been across the border a handful of times for Baja races and dental work , it ain’t Disneyland but I’ve felt less safe in some areas of the states than down there just be alert and aware of your surroundings

 

If you don't want to fear for your life, stay in the US.

 

I still can't believe ANYONE would go there on purpose. I have a cousin that owns a busines in TJ and the stories I've heard will scare the horseshit out of your upholstery. Stay north of the border....

 

Define "recent", I was there in '64!

 

You never know. You might find a Roth car used as a dumpster in front of a porn shop.

 

Now they stuff them with dope, easier to come by.

 

Sounds like a fun and exciting trip. Be sure to keep us updated with lots of photo's.

 

If anyone has a phone number for Magoozi or Hombres Ruin please PM me. Thanks

 

Hello,

Back in the teenage days, there were three cars in successive weeks/months, that went down to TJ for upholstery. Each one had white tuck and roll pleats completely on the whole interior. It was a 53 Chevy Bel Air, a 56 Chevy two door and a 46 Ford Coupe that made the trek from Long Beach down the coast. We crossed the border easily, but on the way back, we had to have parent permission slips to get back into the USA. The lines back then were still long and awful.

Out of the three tuck and roll jobs, there was no horse$#!&. That is a scare tactic and unaccounted fake stories told by people without knowing the real facts. As we know, those stories get passed on as “real” over times…I heard from a friend of a friend, etc… But true in the fact that we did find straw in a side panel of the 46 Ford was disheartening. It was only on the right, rear passenger side. It did take a week to find the culprit as we were taking out the rear seat back and saw some remnants on the floor.

The seat back was being taken out so we could get some adjustments and cleaning done. As we were checking things out, the whole inside tuck and roll was normal stuffing and this area was the only one that had straw. They must have run out of the stuffing material. It was not right, but the long trip back down there was not worth it. We had given that shop three cars to finish and the 46 Ford Coupe was the last one.

A local, Long Beach upholstery shop replaced the straw with real USA stuff and all was fine. Of course, as teenagers and at parties, the topic came up many times as a huge laughable incident. After that incident, no one else went down to TJ for upholstery or anything else. No horse$#!&. but, it did come up in many drive in restaurant parking lot story lines…Ha!

The only time we went to Baja during this time was for our numerous surf trips. It was a fast drive through town late at night to get past the crappy town and on the main road down south to the real surf spots at different miles south. (K-38, K-50, San Miguel and 3 miles farther south to 3Ms.) The entrance and drive through TJ was fast and insignificant. But, on the way back, it was clogged and twice, out of many times, we were stopped and searched for stuff.

It was so bad that once we went to Tecate, miles inland to cross there. (and stop at the factory for supplies) The drive was slower, new sites to see, and relatively free of crazy truck drivers, back then. ( and no one stopped the shaggy hair surfers from So Cal.)

Jnaki
We used to go to Baja (Cabo)and mainland Mexico once or twice a year for a weeks vacation. My wife and I thought nothing of it at the time. The beaches were pristine, the water was great and the people were very nice. The restaurants were excellent and beers were inexpensive. We saw a lot of things in the two mainland cities Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. We loved going there numerous times. But, at the word of our son and his wife, we no longer go there as often. It is not worth it.

The last Baja trip was a fast drive through TJ to get to another coastal city, Rosarito Beach. But that too, is no longer a good place to be anytime. The wait at the border crossing was horrendous. Not worth it anytime other than flying into the airports. From there to the resorts is also a little shaky , these days.

I would take up @jimmy six and call around the So Cal shops. It may be a little more, but it is not worth the time/effort/little savings for a good upholstery job. Quality and keeping the upholstery shops alive in So Cal is a good thing.

 

Back in the 60's, you didn't have the drug cartels running everything like they do now. I wouldn't cross the border for any reason now, just not safe. That's one reason so many have moved up north, to get away from the drugs and violence.

 

I would love to keep the upholstery shops alive in Socal and don't mind spending a little more, nor taking two or three days instead of one. So lets have some recommendations on a shop north of the border that can get the car in and out quickly for a reasonable price. My last Socal job took over a year, cost several thousand dollars and the quality sucks. In the past five years there have been some really positive reviews of places like Champions and I would be willing to try them if I could get some recent, as in 2019 or 2020 information.

 

Don't let these guys on here scare you, most of 'em are afraid of their own shadows ...
It's not 1950 anymore, and things have changed a little bit since this ad, but you'll be just fine. I promise. As mentioned, ask Magoozi ... or someone else who lives there.

 

Lots of "quality shops" in the US... or are you just looking for cheap work sent "overseas"? Support a local artisan/crafts person.

 

Oh I'm not afraid of anyone or anything and neither should you be! I was pulling from the cool ass movie "losin' it", watch it before you go

 

I was in TJ in '87 and it was a s#!thole then (but i was a drunkin' sailor then, looking for a legendary show that had something to do with a donkey)
More recently I have been to other border towns for work (Nogales and Reynosa) and they were just as bad or worse.
Personally, I wouldn't go there willingly.
If you use the search function here using the term Tijuana upholstery there are something like 3 pages of results.
Chappy

 

@magoozi @axle

 

We've been snow birding to the Phoenix area for the last 12 years. There is a constant warning about going to any of the Mexican border cities/towns. You don't know what your going to run into. I suggest you do not go.

 

Over a year... cost several thousand dollars.... the quality sucks. Now that's the definition of a horseshit upholstery job. Just more expensive north of the border.