VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Upholstery - Interiors & Glass alternative to Hampton Coach???

I was going to buy door panels and pre sewn seat covers from Hampton Coach but there prices have really gone up.I was qouted about a year and a half ago $1095 for door panels and $1369 for seat covers.The panels are now $1366 and the seat covers are $1715.I dont mind spending money but it seems like they are just being greedy.I understand inflation and all but to jump $300 and $400 in just over a years time is CRAZY!

Can you guys point me in the right direction?

I bought the bulk fabric from Hampton and had a local upholsterer do the work. I didn't know were else to get the correct materials that I needed for my car. It was way less that way for me. Good luck with your project.

MistGreenFifty,

That does sound like a big increase. I don't have anything against HC. I've never used them. From what I can gather from folks who have dealt with them, it's about 50/50 on the satisfaction scale.

BUT

For me personally, I would much prefer to use a 'local' guy. Always. At the very least you can drop in and see how things are going. Sort of stay on top of the situation.

With that in mind, You could buy the materials from HC. And then have somebody around your area do it. Essentially the way Sal did it.

Or - based on what car you're talking about (I presume the 50) - I may have a GREAT lead for you on material. Confirm what year it is and I'll shoot you my idea.

I hope all is well, Jaime. How's the 50 coming?? Out of the paint shop about a year now....

Heres the thing though,the seats were redone in the past and not in the original pattern.The upholstery guy I have locally has nothing to go off as far as measurements and I can not find a car near by that has the original interior either.I contacted SMS and they have the door panels for $700,just waiting on there samples to see how close they are.

MistGreenFifty,

Well you just played my trump card when you mentioned SMS. That was the "big idea" I had for you depending on which car you were talking about.

$700 for door panels is a lot less than what you mentioned for Hampton Coach. About 1/2. Even that sounds like a lot to me. I guess I'm still living in the "good old days."

Well, good luck with the upholstery work. I hope all goes well.

Bill.

thanks Bill.I have about $30,000 into the car so $700 isnt going to make me or break me.I think it is alot also but I want it to be right and not "doable".

Mist Green50;
Check out WALT's Top Shop on Zuni west of Wyoming in Albuquerque,they have a great supply of fabric and could help you out. Also check with Chuck @ the Color Works in Los Lunas, he also knows of a good guy to do your work!!

Walts did the headliner and I specified that I wanted WALT to do it,not his workers,it came out good but was not happy with the price and a couple of the items(nails and screws) they used.I took them the headliner,pre sewn and they still were trying to charge me $850(after getting a $450 estimate) to install it but they dropped to $750.The used these weird little straps that were rivited to the floor to hold the wind lace on the bottom because I forgot to take them the sill plates(I offered to drive back up with them).Then on the bottom of the panel that goes on the post between the two doors,theres a screw on the bottom,well they used half a snap(for a conv boot)as a washer that looked tacky.I know thats minor but for the price it should have been right.

As far as Chuck,I dont talk with the guy.I use to have him media blast exterior sunvisor's for me and everytime I went in there he treated me like I was a piece of crap and it got worse through out the years.I stopped putting money in his pocket about a year ago.

Thanks for the advise though.

forgot to mention,Walt owns R&R trim and supply in down town Abq,most people dont know that.

update-I talked with SMS today and they said it would take 5-6 MONTHS to get them done.That is way too long IMO.I am just going to buy some yardage from them.

I am having a local guy do the interior seats on my 41 town sedan and yes Hampton coach has increased there prices from last year when I first asked them to send samples. then a few weeks ago I asked for a price update and was shocked at the increase. being in business myself I know things do not increase that much. My local upholster told me he can copy the seats I just need bring the seats to him for measurements.{ after the holidays} to get the material, I also need to do the rest of the interior. does anyone know of a better place to get the carpet set and the head liner kit.

I think Hampton Coach seems to be getting out of hand with prices.

When I bought my 48 Aero in 2003, I found an HC receipt for the entire interior kit dated 1996.......$1200!!!! (for the ENTIRE interior). In the Fall of 2003 I requested interior component prices because I thought I wanted to change the headliner because it was the wrong color; I got prices for all components and the entire interior kit would have cost about $4300 at that time. I'm afraid to ask what it would cost today!!!

I have learned to take real good care of the interior that's in there now!!

It seems there really is a need for an alternative to Hampton Coach......has this happened since LB bought HC or what??? That's what a F**d will do for ya!!!

Pretty much! Seems like since they bought HC their tech. support has diminished, their upholstery materials have changed and the prices seem to have gone way up.

:cry: :(

Saw an advertisement for LB in a magazine the other day. It had a picture of the president of LB........no wonder he was smiling !!! :cry:

Does anyone know of a good supplier for the material for doing the seats and a complete headliner kit. as I will be doing some searching in the next few weeks

Have to agree that they are pretty pricey, but I also have to say the quality and fit was very good on my '52 convertible, complete interior and top. Their problem is in-house support. They actually bought Hampton Coach from another purchaser, not direct from the original Hampton Coach. And at that point, the original H-C employees were no longer in place, which is a major problem if you run into a question. They really don't have the in depth knowledge of the Chevrolet kits. This is probably only a problem if you intend to install the kit yourself as I did. Not having any original interior to refer to caused me to spend many hours in a total fog!

Does SMS have a web site? If so can anyone tell me what it is?
thanks!!

They sure do! All ya have to do is go to Google and type in their name, hit "enter" on your key board and up it comes. Here is their web site:

http://www.smsautofabrics.com/index.html

:) :grin:

The advantage in using someone like H/C is that they have so many patterns. A good upholsterer can do a good job if you have the old upholstery,but if the interior is missing or incorrect then its a different story.H/c makes its patterns from original interiors and that is quite a job.Some of the former employees are now working on their own and I was lucky enough to visit while they were fabricating an interior for a Cadillac.The old interior was dissected down to the # of stitches per inch and matched for material etc.There are quite a few stitches in a complete interior so making the patterns and recording details is a time consuming and expensive job.Having the patterns is a plus but each kit is still done one at a time so the benefits of mass production are not available,though they have invested in an automated panel cutter.(which I'm sure was not cheap).I too wish there was a less expensive alternative,however I am also concerned about where to get the same quality and variety and where would we go if H/C did not exist.

I was going to try to duplicate the interior on my 38 but when I went to the HC website I clicked on the Bulletin Board and found an interior kit for my car at half price. I bought it that night.

After installing the kit I have to agree that they do really top of the line work. The upholstery was EXACTLY the same as what was left of my upholstery, down to the pockets that hold the metal rods so that you can hog ring the top of the seat in place and it won't move around. Every strip of cloth that the original upholsterers used to get a good installation were on the HC interior.

I thought their prices were always high but you can't fault the product. I don't have an alternative but if you end up buying the HC interior it should be a perfect fit.

Brian

Ciadella Interiors is tooling up for manufacturing 1949 to 52 models, including the Convertible. www.ciadellainteriors.com

Did not find any information about 49-52 interiors on the site.

Hi, 49-52 info is not on Ciadella's web site yet. I called the other day and talked to Natalie. She said they are about a month away from production. I the sent a follow up email and got a reply from Pete Ciadella within 2 hours. Their 55-57 work is top notch and a lot less than other suppliers. Dale

I got the materials for my '38 through my upholstery guy. We used a synthetic material that closely resembles mohair but wears much better. My complete job cost me under $600 for the seat, door panels, kick panels, package shelf, headliner and seat side panels. That was materials and labor as of 2005.