Projects Who else just decided to try their best and do the interior themselves?

I did the upholstery in my 52. The seat covers are "temporary", as I will re-redo then to match the door panels. Material is cheap, so buy extra. I had to get creative to get the door panels to work. Its not a professional job, but I have less that $600, including buying the Singer, instead of $5k to have it done.

 

My partner and I will be doing our current project. But using a kit for the headliner along with seats maybe carpet as well if I dont modify the floor pan. Waiting on fabric samples from Kanter and LeBaron Bonney at the moment to arrive. They also sell extra fabric along with windlace etc that will be needed for the doors, parcel tray and all those other places.

Hardest part I find when it comes to interiors is picking the colors. More so when you are not 100% certain of final out side paint colour.
https://www.kanter.com/index.aspx
https://www.lebaronbonney.com

 

Here is the Web address for where we used to buy. They have been in business since Christ was a Kid.
www.perfectfit.com You might need to cut and paste the address on your browser, it don't seem to want to just go when I clicked on it.
The Wizzard

 

K13 I'm not trying to pick apart your interior, but I was just wondering why the two different patterns . Is the diamond pattern the old pattern and the green & white rolled and pleated the new pattern? I've just never seen the mixing of the two, or maybe I'm just stuck in the 60's. lol No disrespect on your work, I love the seat and door panels.

 

Thanks, no worries questions are always good. I am building my truck as a late 40's early '50's custom and when I was doing my research on interiors of that time period it seemed to be a at least somewhat common practice for the firewall, kick panels and or heal pads to be done in diamonds while the rest of the interior was done in tuck and roll pleats, I liked the look so decided to give it a whirl.

 

Makes sense now.

 

Couple of questions, before my laptop went crazy and died I had a place that handled all types of head liners for old cars saved. They were really reasonable and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of their name, also someone on here gave me a link to some interior glue by the gallon, around $30, and I lost it with all my other crap.

 

Here's my headliner source. www.acmeautoheadlining.com

 

It's a cream puff.

 

I made a seat for my Goulding Rocket Sidecar. This is the seat back. The seat cushion is red/white only. The star is fabric and has gotten stained

 

Bump this thread again. Who else gave it a whirl on their own? Post a photo or 2

 

My T Bucket project a couple months ago.

 

One last bump. Lets see other do it your selfers

 

I'm going to do my '51 Shoebox when I get it painted later this year. It will be the entire thing; seats, headliner, carpet, and side panels.

 

As Clint Eastwood said " a man has to know his limitations ".

 

I modified the original frame, narrowed the rear, did the body work, did the paint, polishing the glass edges, installing the glass, built headers, building the transmission & engine now. Ain't no way I'm sending it to someone to do the interior. I have done some before, but this will be my first time on the sewing machine. If i get over my head, I'll be calling my daughter, it's her walking foot sewing machine.
I did outsource the engine bore and balance, head work and some of the sandblasting, the rest is on me. Nice or not, it's mine and I did it.
Yes, "a man should know his limitations", but how do I know till I try?

 

Having little money is a great motivator to do it myself. Only way I'm gonna get my Chrysler upholstered. Besides...it'll be fun and I can be proud...I hope...lol.

 

I haven't found mine yet. Maybe when I attempt the interior.

The best motivator for us retired folk.

 

I farmed out the seat but did the rest myself, including the carpeting...

 

Glad to see this thread up and running again. Why not tackle the upholstery. Challenging but not rocket science. I did my 40 Chev. sedan several years ago. Not perfect but looked good. Ready to do my 36 Plymouth this winter. My son recently told me a neat thing about my coupe was that I had done it all myself. Why stop now.

 

I did mine. Made all the panels, back seat, hired a guy to stitch. Never left my garage. Less than 1/3 of the cost if I had it done. Leather , wool head liner, german carpet. First time. Like everything else, there are a few tricks ya need to know. The next one would be easier.

 

me too. money is a big part, but that leaves us more apt to learn stuff, eh?

if you believe "I have no limitations", that thought lets us keep learning each day, on every topic in life.

I bought a 80-100? year old Singer walking foot, built a table, geared it down and tried to learn it. Seats are the hardest part for sure...I need LOTs more practice on seats, but the entire car I did everything including engine, and cutting flywheel and pressure plate...the only thing I did not want to try again, is cutting safety glass to fit the frames I made. I also sewed the top covering on the hard top I built.

Below, I narrowed a 31 Cadillac V12 seat that I got for free. ...and $10 swapmeet 1937 ford hood stainless trim shortened on the door panels, the fronts angle up to flow into the 40 dash when door is closed.

These people are some that I met at a Christmas Festival recently.

 

Just saw this thread for the first time. my 59 Nomad has a mixture of parts done from scratch and "Kits" where the seat covers were sewn and the headliner had the pockets for the rods.
It is covered in the build thread, but was done over several years.
Thought was to consider it like a shop class and give it a try after reading a lot and watching videos, if it was a total disaster it could eventually be fixed by saving up and paying a pro.

 

I responded to this thread way back in the past. Since then we have completed the interior. It was a learning experience. Not perfect but our first one. This is not a particularly good photo but it was one that I had handy.

 

I also farmed out my seat , but did all the rest. My first time behind a sewing machine


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

Have done it both ways. Do the easier ones myself. Farmed out the difficult ones. Currently doing a 29 Model A fordor myself.

 

I just finished these today, so I've jumped in with both feet. These are for an off topic little British sports car and they are so narrow that nothing from a junkyard would fit. Aftermarket seats are outrageously priced, so I can ruin a lot of material and still come out ahead. I have all the door cards and other interior pieces for patterns.
View attachment 4196646

 

I took a shot at doing the tuck and roll interior for my 31 A roadster. Stitched up my own seat, kick panels, and door panels. Wanted a hand stitched look to it. Had no experience but my wife and a buddy did. They guided me and helped out when needed. Picked up a Consew sewing machine and did some test stuff and then went at it. A pic of the seat. Have the same pattern on all the other panels.

 

I spend a lot of time on YouTube to learn stuff. I recently found a channel there that I think might be the best one for learning "by watching". This guy does not talk at all, he just slowly shows how to do what we need to know. He also uses very contrasting thread color to make it easier for us to see and understand what needs doing.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Cechaflo/videos?disable_polymer=1

You will have to scroll down to his older vidoes to get to door panel and seats like we use.

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Yep. The one thing I guess I'll pay to have someone else do some day. At least I made the door panels match the cut down school bus seat.