[s-cars] Re seat restoration specialist?

[Tom Green]

Bob Pastore had some nice work done on one of his s-cars -- alcantara  
inserts, etc.

I had two drivers seats recovered in ecru leather and neighbors seat  
redone in
platinum leather at Pro Auto Custom Interiors here in Knoxville, TN.   
All outstanding
work, but the waiting period was 2 months or more (explains why I had  
2 drivers seats).

Unfortunately, the guy doing the actual work decided to do some side  
work and
contacted me.  I bought a set of seats that needed recovering (holes)  
and staked him
to materials cost to do them for my avant.  I have now sued him and  
have a judgement
but no money, and he lost his job. so nix on that recommendation.   
Pro Auto has not
been able to find a suitable replacement (they specialize in complete  
custom interior
design and installation for custom cars and hot rods) so there is a  
longer wait for these
smaller repair jobs.

I posted my experience in finding matching leather (back seat was  
good) and a shop
to do the work in a April 2, 2007 post in the archives if you are  
interested.

My advice is if there is a set of seats (most only need the front  
seats) out there in the
condition you require, go get them, even if you need to drive 1000  
miles.  Plan a
vacation or something in conjunction and get the seats.  They will  
fit in the back seat
area of the sedan, or just swap them out on the spot in an hour, and  
be done with it.
Get the whole interior and swap door panels and console and make a  
color change
if you find this great interior in another color.  It will cost less  
than recovering seats.

The sedan interior I did in ecru looks great.  It was just a little  
blemish on the drivers
lower bolster that started it and some crumbs of foam on the rear  
carpet from a broken
bolster padding.  The first repair shop screwed up the bolster so bad  
I went into shock.
Every other part of this seat and the remaining interior was  
pristine, the other seats
rarely sat in or the doors opened.

The eventual repair cost $150 for the bolsters from Audi, $321 for  
the hide (minimum
quantity) and $400 for the labor.  Of course, I do have this spare  
drivers seat sitting in
my office.  I should have done the center section on it in  
retrospect, but it served its
purpose for me and the neighbor.

Now, this last deal is a different story.  I am out the $600 for  
materials (none were
ever purchased) and have two ratty seats for my wife to complain  
about with no
prospects for eventual repair that would have cost $1000 if things  
had gone right,
now $1600 for a vehicle that seems to be losing $1K in value every  
month.

Tom




> Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:26:58 -0400
> From: "Mark Underwood" <mark at underwoodgroup.com>
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] seat restoration specialist?
> To: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Cc: rpastore at animalfeeds.com
> Message-ID: <036a01c92b05$c89aaa60$6501a8c0 at mark>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> Doug and list:
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mark Underwood
> (919) 782-3024
> Doug et al,
>
> Ditto on seat repair for me. I need a repair in the southeast I am  
> in NC. I
> need a seat cushion re-do for the passenger side. The bolsters, etc  
> are OK
> but the seat cushion bottom was damaged when the water came in the  
> passenger
> side and then dried out.
>
> The good news is the car is running again! Drove it last night for  
> the first
> time in several years
>
>
> Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:14:00 -0400
> From: "Douglas Landaeta" <dlandaeta at gmail.com>
> Subject: [s-cars] seat restoration specialist?
> To: Scar <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Cc: rpastore at animalfeeds.com
> Message-ID:
> 	<29f1d8510810101014y20f2a68bgad5e9b3618daf959 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> S-heads,
>
> I recall at S-fest some various recommendations of old-school  
> leather seat
> re upholsterers for our recaro seats. The bolsters are shot and new  
> leather
> is the solution. Any sources in the northeast would be appreciated.  
> Thanks!
>
> Doug