Bob Danielson wrote:
I'm looking to completely redo the interior of a 75 TR6 including: carpets,
seats, dash top and bottom, sun visors, panels, weather-stripping, window
seals etc.. What's your experience been with the quality available from
Moss, TRF etc.. I was surprised when it all priced out close to $2200
(well, that is with leather seats). It all looks pretty straightforward to
do but........ looks can be deceiving.
Bob Danielson
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Bob - I had a similar experience when restoring my early Spitfire. My
advice is that before you spend the money on any of the interior kits, go
to two or three good auto upholstery repair/installation shops and get some
estimates. Ask to see other works in progress, ask if they have ever done
a TR6 before, take some books with you showing how an original TR6 interior
is supposed to look, etc.
For approximately the same cost as a kit, I had Westminster Auto Upholstery
in Westminster, CA do a complete interior, with leather seat faces, all new
door panels, rear panels, dash covering, top grade carpeting, etc., etc.,
etc. Far better than I could have done, even with the best quality kit.
Interior kits are expensive, and IMHO you will likely find a shop near you
that can do a superior job for only a couple of hundred dollars more than
the entire kit will cost you. For a couple of hundred bucks I would gladly
let somebody else hassle with the interior.
BTW, I gutted the old interior, installed the underlay insulator and
prepped the car. This saved me money and assured me that the interior was
fully insulated. Installing a kit is, as you noted, not particularly
difficult. But, for the extra couple of hundred I spent, I got a warranty
on the workmanship and materials, and a truly "professional" end result.
Anyways, that's my $.02 FWIW. Good luck and lt us know how you decide to
handle it.
Ross D. Vincenti
Asst. General Counsel/Asst. Sec'ty.
Transamerica Home Loan - Legal Dept.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 742-4756 phone
(213) 741-7231 or 741-6945 fax
ross.vincenti@transamerica.com
64 Spitfire 4
64 Porsche 356C Coupe
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