VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 31 4 dr. Sedan Special Re-Upholstery

So, what would I expect to pay someone to re-upholster my 31 Sedan back to original with mohair material? I have no idea what to expect, but I assume it will be quite pricey.

Seeing as no one has replied I'll offer an opinion. Perhaps it will motivate those with experience to jump in. I purchased a Hampton Coach kit for my 32 23 years ago and had someone install it . I don' t remember the exact cost but it was about $4000-4500 . Seeing that HC is no longer in business and kits are not available the job would have to be custom fabricated. This is simply a guess but I think it would be around $8000 and possibly more and I can not image it being less. The important thing to keep in mind is having it done by a shop that has experience with cars of your vintage. They should be able to give you a fairly accurate quote barring unforeseen circumstances such as bad wood or delivery problems with the material supplier. For example I am working on a 51 and ordered interior items and was quoted 4 months delivery that ended up being more like two years.

In 2016 I paid $856 to have the front (only) seat done in my 31 Sport Coupe. That included the material which was obtained from Hampton.

Since the Hampton Coach demise I have been looking for a shop to do my 31 Cabriolet. Found one I liked and he said he was getting $125 and hour and it looked like 10K +. He said I could do as much as I wanted to save money and order the material. I didn't clarify but think the 10k is labor.

This includes a new convertible top.

Dave

These days is finding a good shop that can source the materials. I installed many L&B interior kits and can tell you there’s a lot of different materials in an interior. Just getting the windlace for the doors and door openings is a chore. The proper headliner material, the mohair, etc will take some time and if you don’t source it yourself, expect a fair amount of money in labor costs for your upholster to do it. For a four door car I would expect now it would be about $10-$12k as the interior kits at the time of L&B closing we’re about $4,600 for a full kit for a 4 dr. It’s wise to also replace the roof at the same time and get a good look at the roof wood. Most upholstery shops cannot replace wood and this can cause issues. I am currently looking at my own options if I want to get into the actual sewing and fabrication of the panels and seat covers. There’s just not a lot of options out there right now and there’s a decent market for it.