John S. Markowitz

Hi All

If I purchased a quality carpet replacement kit from a place like Classic 9 Leather, can anyone give me a ballpark idea of what I should expect tp pay an upholserty shop to remove the old and install the new?

1991 Auto S4

Thanks!

jsm

Mrmerlin

you could do it yourself ,
or figure about 40 hours to do the job,
includes revamping the door vapor barriers and servicing the window lifts and door latches ,
and removing the seats

Wisconsin Joe

I don't think an upholstery shop would be the place to go. I'd go to that type of place if I was buying seat 'skins' and having them installed.

Not exactly sure where you should go.

However, I would do it myself. None of it is all that hard. Pull the seats, get the old carpet up and the glue cleaned up, new glue and lay down the new carpet.

The stuff on the door cards requires them to be pulled, but again, not that big of a deal.
And, as MrMerlin suggests, having the door cards off is an excellent opportunity to go into the window motors, door latches and replace the vapor barriers (those make a huge difference).

Landseer

What is your general location, John?

Best to have a 928 guy do it.

drooman

Depends on the result you expect at the other end of the job.

If you are removing the original carpet, and the interior has never been apart you have the opportunity to actually preserve all of the original hardware, clips, screws, etc required to be removed to do the job.
There's a lot of pieces of carpet, and a lot of stuff to remove to install it correctly. The carpets were installed before much of the interior was assembled and many cars I see with replacement carpet have a lot of missing/incorrect fasteners.

A lot of the parts you'll be working with usually need repairs/ replacements: door panels and console sides break easy and are usually compromised by now. door sills and associated clips, and hood releases break easily on the way off. there's lots of specific hardware and order of arrangement anchoring the seat belts, and care must be taken around the e-brake area panels with their associated wiring. Removing some of old carpet pieces can be a chore, and removing the rear seats is work too if they've never been out. (think old german environmentally unfriendly nuclear powered GLUE)

I think stan's number of around 40 hours with door (and other) fixes, and assuming total commitment to correctness everywhere, is accurate. None of it is rocket science but the person doing it needs to be mindful of your goals. You'll probably be buying some various clips at a minimum.

One can also install this carpet set in about 3 hours, you can guess what the results are like.

Mrmerlin

To note the carpet set has 30 pieces of carpet in it ,
so practice on the small parts first ,
then remove the seats and put the floor carpets in.
I only use Weldwood brush on contact glue,
NOTE if you use the spay on glues from the spray cans,
you might have to do the job twice

GregBBRD

The "professionals" have a crazy "high stick" glue, which they buy in gallons and spray from a spray pot. We were not able to get this glue, in California, but now the "pros" complained so much, that California now allows them to have this glue.
Not for retail sale, still, in California.
However, likely not an issue in Florida.

I don't think we could do a quality job in 40 hours....I usually plan on 60 hours. Of course, we check/replace all the vacuum pods for the HVAC, repair the door windows, and all the other ancillary components, while everything is apart.
Silly to not check/look at components you can touch, while the interior is apart!

Ghosteh

I have a kit from Classic 9 arriving this week. Looks like I'll have my winter project now. 40-60 hours? I had no idea!
Maybe I can document the process so everyone can see what NOT to do.

Speedtoys

Im going to have my preferred upholstery/vehicle restoration shop do this in March...ill reply back then.

Ill prepare the car some, removing the cards, and having a perfect spare set redone..

I'll still be down from a full knee replacement bout that time, best Ill be able to do is drive the car to the shop.

For those in Norcal that need top notch -anything- fabric/leather/interior done, Say Jeff with the 928 sent you, it will help...and you wont be dissapointed.
https://www.wardellauto.com/

drooman

A good point here on the slippery slope of time to address EVERYTHING. Once a door panel is off, and you want everything in that door to work right and be right, days can go by.

Starts to show why a properly sorted 928 at $60-100K can be a pretty good deal.

sendarius

Definitely do it yourself.

Unless you can get the car to one of the experts on this list, why pay someone else to learn how to do it, and finish up with a job done by someone who doesn't care about the car as much as you do?

Besides, when I pulled the seats from mine, I found 700 yen in coins, a Lego brick, and four hair elastics under the driver's seat! Win!

danglerb

For various reasons mentioned, while you are already in there, etc, slow DIY might be best. OTOH if you are old and lazy, maybe practical is to split the job up with you doing critical prep and whatever else you think you can do best, and leave the nasty hang upside down smelling glue jobs for the shop.

John S. Markowitz

Just realized I never thanked everyone for all of this great info and insight- so THANKS!
Sounds like the take away is DIY, 40-60 hrs, do some refurb while in there, and have the right adhesive.

Landseer I am in Gainesville, FL
and Ben- I'd love to hear an update or see pics of your experience installing!

John