Leather, which way to go?

[jraines]

My 95 is in need of new leather. I have seen the katzkin advert.
I have been thinking of having them recovered here by a local custom interior guy.
Has anyone else done this? what is the concensus on custom leather? If done professionally, I think it'd look great. My foam seems to be very nice. I dont see any reason for ordering something when i can get it stock.

If its been done here, I'd like to see pics and get an idea as to what was the price for the custom stuff.

Thanks,
Jaime

 

[excidere]

My 95 is in need of new leather. I have seen the katzkin advert.
I have been thinking of having them recovered here by a local custom interior guy.
Has anyone else done this? what is the concensus on custom leather? If done professionally, I think it'd look great. My foam seems to be very nice. I dont see any reason for ordering something when i can get it stock.

If its been done here, I'd like to see pics and get an idea as to what was the price for the custom stuff.

Thanks,
Jaime

1st, the leather interior in your SHO is not really all leather, actually 90% of cars (the exceptions being high end BMW/Mercedes) are vinyl, with leather inserts (the middle section). The Katzkin kit is sewn in the same fashion.

Has anyone done this? Yes I have seen two forum members that have used the kit with good results, I think one of them goes by the name 'shooff'. I personally use Katzkin leather kits every day, our shop installs about 6 a day on average, they are great quality and they have a warranty to back their kits...

Custom leather? I think it is a great addition to any car, and often makes a good car into a great car... I have pics of my car here http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g87/excidere/

Those are custom sewn seat covers by me and the man that I apprenticed under, now do not confuse those with a kit. A kit that comes from Katzkin is a one size fits all from a factory fresh foam bun to make a pattern, and most often they fit great, especially if your foam is in good shape. However sometimes they do make mistakes, when you make 100s a day.. well you do the math. In that quantity, though, they can give great discounts, 6-700 for a kit is GREAT... I charge almost a grand for one of my kits...

As for custom trim shops, they run pretty high most of the time, I would charge upwards of 1500 to do just the seats. Then something close to 3000 for an interior.... That said, in trim work you get what you pay for, much like a paint shop you need to ask around. Get good recommendations from hot rod guys and stuff, there are just as many cheap crappy trimmers out there as there are good ones. There is always someone who can do it cheaper... but it wont exactly be right...


All in all if you want perfection, get a good trim shop, if you want a good balance between price and quality do the katzkin kit... I have a bunch of pics and am planning on putting up a how too on the recovering of the front seats in a SHO with the Katzkin kit, maybe someday ....
Hope that helps...

 

[jraines]

thanks for the info. I looked at your seats and they look great!
the guy im going to see has done alot of the custom cars in the area and ive never seen his work not look great!
I guess we'll just wait and see what he says. If his price is 1500, I will go to a custom interior shop. There is a Katzkin guy here close.
Jaime

 

[excidere]

Now if someone is just installing the katzkin kit, (not sewing), it should be around 900, installed, labor and everything... That is what my shop charges, and it should not take that long. About a week to order a kit and get it to the shop, then you should get a call, and take your car in... will take about 5-6 hours to install... My shop could do it in shorter, but we are pretty damn quick...

Or you could order the kit from Katzkin (600 or so) and install it yourself... which is what I was referring to about the pics....

 

[jedhead]

I do plan to do my seats. I have a quote for $1500 for leather with suede inserts where the perforated leather is now with embroidered SHO logo in the seat back. The seats would be two tone with mocha leather and dark brown suede. I haven't done it yet since the interior will be the very last mod to do and I still have some more performance mods to do first.

Bob

 

[SHO92]

I have a katzkin kit, and I'm fairly happy with it overall. A friend of my dad's did the install for me, and the backseat came out really well. The front's however don't fit the seat exactly right, and he had to get "creative" with the install around the bolsters. He had to use hog rings on the bolsters to get them to stay put, and they are visible. I really wasn't happy with that part, but I really can't complain. The previous owner bought the kit and included it with the car and the install was free too.

I'd get Katzkin's again, but I'd have some that installs them often install it for me next time.

Everything is coming out anyway when I install my Corbeaus, and black interior pieces.

 

[yamahaSHO]

I was looking at recovering mine until I saw it would cost me less to get better seats. My Corbeau seats in microsuede cost about $700 and I sold my old seats to more than pay for the brackets to install them.

 

[jraines]

im meeting with a guy tomorrow who does custom interiors for the rod guys around here. I'll see what he has to offer. I was thinking about going with new seats, but these are very comfortable, other than the condition of the leather. He told me today that the SHO seats are tough if you wanted to go back to the original design, but I was thinking of something custom with a Logo in the seats. I'll see what he has to say tomorrow.
Jaime

 

[Devin]

I was thinking about when mine get redone to have the SHO embroidered on the seats, but haven't decided where.

 

[38SHO]

I was looking at recovering mine until I saw it would cost me less to get better seats. My Corbeau seats in microsuede cost about $700 and I sold my old seats to more than pay for the brackets to install them.

I like his point of view, if your going to spend all that money, get something else........ something that is lighter, something that is more modern, something that is cheaper, something that holds you in better..........

I wish I could graft like some Mitsu EVO seats into the SHO.........