$17,100 upholstery job

You guys have got to see this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvrL1sj0OWc&feature=relmfu

 

$800 to cover a seat must be some seat 17,100 aha

 

This guy is a LEGEND!!!! Goon on him for sticking it to these rip off merchants

 

thanks pete for making this video! hey i wonder if the dude he was screaming at moonlights as a BANKER!

 

to much drama. why are they dropping off cars with this guy, getting them started, and then finding out about the price?

 

Drama,,

 

Well, I didn't hear any details. What mat'l? Leather starts at $5.00/sqft. Avg hyde size, 45-50sqft. A big classic might take 6 hydes. Then you make bindings and wireon. Good stuff can be over $10sqft. Don't forget foam, horsehair, seat springs, panel mat'ls, burlap. All I saw as a grumpy old bastard talkin on the phone who resents someone else's price. Don't like it? Want cheap? Go elsewhere. Who thinks a full custom 60s sedan would be a cheapo job? I saw an Impala with an $18,000 upholstery job. Guess what, it fuckin looked like it too. Now if it looked like J.C. Whitney seat covers over potato sacks I might have done a youtube myself, but quality costs money, talent isn't cheap. Avg custom and restoration rate nationwide is $75/hr. There's higher, there's lower. I think this bone head needs to get over it and build junk, then keep it to himself. Same argument as a $15,000 "paint job"...

 

Eek

 

Good onya Pete, loved the vids.....that shit's ridiculous.....I wish you many years of guarantee'd work ahead. If I wanted shit done I would track you down, good attitude and ethics are rare in this game.....do you travel?

 

What's different about 17k whether it's on an engine, an interior or a paint job. There are cheap and pricey ways to go about anything.

That aside, for all I know about it, the guy built the damn bucket seats by hand and coiled every spring.

 

We both watched the same vid ..right? How did we see such different things in it?.......I saw a small biz operator looking after his clients best interests by questioning the huge cost of an interior......okay.. we don't know if it was leather, but the point is, he, who did know the circumstances, obviously thought it was highway robbery...and he's been in the game a good while by the looks......and he was interactive enough to make a vid of himself expressing his disbelief.....

It's either that or it's some set up, reality vid where everything is pre ordained........personally I don't think so.....just my take.

 

I want the last 9 minutes of my life back.

 

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Small coupe, 5 hides @ 200 each = $1000

Misc Shop Material ~ $200

Ok, so $1200 was for material leaving just $15,900 as shop labor?

$15,900 divided by ~$75 dam good dollars per hour shop rate = 210 Fucking Hours????

If anybody out there thinks that it REALLY takes 210 hours to do a 34 coupe interior then they must
be just as much as an over the hood - up the ass scam artist as pete's 'good buddy'.




-I can buy a brand new mid sized car with all the option including heated leather seats for $17,100.





..

 

It would have been nice to know the other side of the equation. Like some details about the scope of each of the projects that he's bitching about. Without that info, how can anyone agree that the prices are too high?

 

Well for instance ...I know it's a different country and all but....the interior job on my darling wifes 60 Plymouth....not a small car.....cost $7000.

This was roof lining, both seats refoamed to non stock spec, carpet, complete boot carpet , side panels and boot lid detail.. I made all the cards....if it had been leather I guess you could add $3000 or so

 

Ok, I'll play along. $200 in misc? If you mean left over shit from other jobs, maybe. Let's assume something more realistic like $400. Ever buy good seat foam? I'm talkin new, not some salvaged bullshit, not some 2nd quality overstock (that shit can be had). How much time would it take you to wrap all the garnish moldings in leather? Now I would expect, more like demand, that you would want to stand back and be touching yourself over how well they came out. Assume you have 6 windows. Consider screw holes, fitting them to the car, everything, not just "here ya go, they're covered...". How quickly could someone install fresh woodgrained parts...WITHOUT FUCKIN SCRATCHIN EM OR DIGGING THE SCREWS IN. Do you line the screws up or just blast em in? We haven't even discussed sound deadener, carpets and bidings, trunk panels and flooring, perhaps installing gauges and instrument boards, maybe those being leathered or vinyl as well, windlace, door handles and latches...

Ya see, any j'moke can slap an interior in their car that they "bought on ebay" and go brag about it. But usually that guy is at the weeknight parking lot playing big fish in a little pond. I've seen fuckin Camaro seats that sell for 1/3 of this particular "crime against us rodders". Not everyone understands, wants, nor respects genuine quality. If your goal is to go for a ride, ask your doctor if 1st rate work is right for you. Some of you would need CPR if you priced wool broadcloth. The leather we used in the last one I did was $11.50sqft. It's all perspective. Then again, I could be full of shit. I guess Foose or Trepanier do interiors for $5K. You don't know what was being used, didn't see the work, and most likely got sucked into the worst argument to ever hit hot rods or restoration. That's my point. If you're happy with "general repair", kool. Good for you. You're having fun and that's all that counts. It chaps my ass when a crowd gets their panties in a twist over this shit. Anyone car to post what an "ezboy" interior costs? What's the price on a LeBaron Bonney Tudor sedan interior? Is it a 1 dy job to install it? If it is, get your asses up to MI, I'll open a 20,000sqft shop, and we'll all get rich in 2yrs...or not.

 

This kind of contrived drama has no business being on the HAMB and the thread closed.
This is an advertisement.

 

Highlander, this is obviously an issue close to your heart, and a trade that you know about. A person could quite possibly spend even more than $17000 on an interior ... i just think that the guy in the vid felt that for what was ordered for that build, the price was crazy...otherwise he would have just passed the bill on and the client would have sucked it up......and there would be no vid.

So glad I found my guy.....small town operator......great hands and able to see past the ordinary. $7000 is still a whack, but for what we got, I'm more than happy. It ain't easy makin a buck....and keeping clients happy.
Cheers, Jerry.

 

I think it was a good deal ......but for who ?
Just got my interior in my Galaxie & got bout $2,500.00 in it.
peace out

 

Me too, jeez, that guy has a load af you tube rants!

From his web site;

Street Beasts:
For the past 5 years, Pete has been the #1 builder of StreetBeast Cars. Also supplying StreetBeast owners with many optional accessories to add to their DREAM CAR.

 

If you don't get an estimate before the work starts, you can hardly complain. Unless the price is 'way over the estimate, you just smile and write the check!

 

yes, agreed.

 

It doesn't matter whether or not he's building a daily driver or a Riddler contender, the upholstery shop owes the customer an estimate up front and, if he knows what he's doing, the final bill should be close to the esimate, unless the customer asks for other changes. If the business owner sees that there are unknowns involved that could vary the price, then the customer should be given a price range, including a "worst case" ceiling. The fact that there is this much surprise involved means someone doesn't know how to run a business.

 

Well that's 9 minutes I will never get back. I was expecting to at least see a 17000 upholstery job.

But grat rant, I have got to take my meds and do a You-tube, if I double up I could really put on a rant. Who was he talking to anyway?

 

I guess if you like the fake reality shows you would like this lame video. Bored me.

 

I think we need some pictures of the interior in question.

Why did Pete have three of his cars at this guys shop?

Pure drama without details on work performed.

 

I wouldnt pay that much because I cant. If I had money falling outta my ass I might. Just another reason to learn how to do it myself

 

well i dont know anything about that knida work. but i do know i could never afford it.i do know that we have a shop here that is very, very fair about pricing.and he is GOOD. he has been at it for almost 50 yrs.example, i priced getting our interior done in a glass 41 willys a couple yrs ago. there is nothing there. nothing! he was going to have to fab everything, including doing the trunk.with a good grade of vinyl. i dont like leather.dont know why just dont.lol anyway for labor he asked me, he ASKED me, if 1800.00 was too much hell no it aint!! anyway throwing in material, vinyl and boards it would have been around 2300.00.he just put a vinyl top on our ot 67 impala. i top that looks like something you would see on a caddy. you know, a thick lookin type.he ordered the top and put it on for 350.00 about half of what a other guy wanted and it looks great.17,000. for a inside. man thats more than i gave for all my cars.not more than i got into them but more than im gave for them lol. hell thats more than my parents gave for their first house in the burbs of chicago!!!and it was brand new.

 

So does "Pete" have a show or is he making his own videos and posting them on Youtube?
Getting lots of free advertisement with his rant.

 

I watched the vidio offered in the first post for about 20 seconds. If that is the way he starts, I don't even want to hear the end!

In retrospect, it may have had many interesting facts, but even though I have been known to utter a few phrazes myself, it was way overboard for me. I think that he has been watching too many "reality" shows lately.