Opinions on reupholstering fox body seat

View attachment 38500I went to get an estimate for reupholstering my 84-86 SVO front seats to put in my 72 Mach. The shop quoted me $650. Does this sound fair? I told him that I wanted them to match my stock rear seat in my 72 Mach. It's TMI black standard vinyl interior. I've never had anything reupholstered from a shop before. I've seen his work and its top notch. Ryan. Sorry picture loaded wrong!

Sounds pretty expensive to me. You could buy a set of aftermarket seats brand new for less than that.

HMMM.....maybe if you break down the cost for a closer look. 2 seats = $325 per seat. Are you buying the material or is the shop? What about the foam? Labor is the big issue and these days a lot of small businesses are getting hammered with insurance costs, building costs, etc. which in the end will get included in the rates that are being charged. If he is charging $50 - $75/hr then 3 - 5 hours per seat may be right in the ballpark.

If its a top notch shop, you should end up with top notch product. Personally, I don't find that price all that much out of line for first class work.

Seen the hourly rates at your local dealership for mechanical plug ' play work these days?

Doesn't seem to out of line to me. There is a lot of work to cover those seats.

I have done a little upholstery went to the local Tech College and took a course to learn to sew upholstery. The material is pretty expensive. It takes time to pull the covers, take them apart, layout the pieces on the material. sew the pieces together, sew the piping around the corners, sew any of the listing wire pockets back on and put the covers on. I think you got an excellent price if it includes everything. SVO seats are pretty comfy I have an 85 but it has leather which I hate. Hot in summer cold in winter and does not last as long a fabric.

Everyone should try to sew on one of those machines. If you put the pedal down all the way some will sew 11" a second. Picture that needle going through your fingers over and over, lol. I have a Singer commercial machine they were cheap, $300 - $350, when all the furniture plants closed in N.C.. We stacked over 20 layers of denim together and the machine would sew through all of them. It is an acquired skill for sure.

Sorry I thought that was for 1 seat!! If that's for both it's not out of line!

Considering todays labor cost for getting anything done, that's a reasonable cost from reputable shop for both seats. I had a set of articulated sport seats out of my 85 GT recovered about five years ago and $600. is what I ended up spending. I considered it money well spent as the shop had a great reputation going back to the 60's and I ended up with seats that looked as good if not better than when the car was new.

As David stated those are very comfortable seats and you will really enjoy them.

I paid 400 for all seats in my mach 1. I supplied foam and covers

$650 is cheap. I paid $1200 for the damn foam and supplies for my 4 seats

TMI set $500

foam $350 front seat

foam rear seat $300

rods and extra CRAP $100

Those look like 1984 SVO seats due to the piping. The covers may be of value to those SVO people looking for them. The TMI covers are pretty expensive. May be able to make some money back on the process if they are removed carefully and are able to be resold.

Honestly, any 83-86 GT seat frame is the same thing. The foam is just different and available from several vendors if needed.

I just paid $300.00 to have new seat covers and foam that I supplied I installed. I tossed around doing it myself, but realized that I didn't have the time, mindset or proper tools, so I had it done professionally and I'm very please with the out come.

Thanks, Jay

I went to get an estimate for reupholstering my 84-86 SVO front seats to put in my 72 Mach. The shop quoted me $650. Does this sound fair? I told him that I wanted them to match my stock rear seat in my 72 Mach. It's TMI black standard vinyl interior. I've never had anything reupholstered from a shop before. I've seen his work and its top notch. Ryan.    Sorry picture loaded wrong!

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I am curious how you are planning to mount these. Will the original seat tracks bolt to the bottom of the seats or will you be using the newer seat tracks and modifying them to work in the car?

I believe the original seat tracks will mount up just fine.

Yes, those look like SVO seats to me as well.  The GT seats had the halo head rests, if I remember right.  Those look great, and would be awesome to have in a 7173.  The only issues I remember with the seats in my '82, was that the seat frames did the twist, buckling toward the inside - the seat backs looked like they twisted inward toward each other.  Then again, they were the low-back stock seats (which basically sucked).

It sounds like a good deal to me, having done mine myself and paid more for just the TMI Products materials from CJ Pony Parts.

They're in such nice shape - you might consider getting them cleaned (if there aren't any other issues), and maybe check with an SVO forum to see if someone is looking for a stock set of seats - might land you even more money to score a better pair of seats and even pay for any upholstery work needed. Just a thought.

If that is making the upholstery it is a great deal, if it is just installing upholstery not so much.

TMI makes seat covers for those seats IIRC and I think they even do them in vintage appearing materials I think pricing starts about 400 then you have to install. I paid about 250 to have my seats recovered several years ago, the TMI stuff is decent, but not perfect.

http://www.tmiproducts.com/mustang/browse-by-vehicle/fox-body.html

Those look like 1984 SVO seats due to the piping.  The covers may be of value to those SVO people looking for them.  The TMI covers are pretty expensive.  May be able to make some money back on the process if they are removed carefully and are able to be resold.

Honestly, any 83-86 GT seat frame is the same thing.  The foam is just different and available from several vendors if needed.

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The SVO seats were different made by Recaro I do think. They had pump up lumbar and the front of the lower seat moved in and out for longer legs. There was more support also on the sides. GT was a lesser seat. That is one reason a SVO cost about $10,000 more than a GT and did not sell very good.

Sort of like the F-150 Raptor truck. We were on the lot last week and they had them marked $18,000 above sticker, yes above sticker, I think $78,000 to over $80,000 out the door price. You would have to be crazy to pay that when I know the true cost to build was not over $18,000. They said they could not keep them on the lot. Too much money floating around or they bought a big gap insurance in case of accident.

Well, you've got an SVO - so you should know.   ::thumb::

I was thinking the SVO seats also had the detached/adjustable quad bolster (front most part of the lower cushion) which this one seems to have.  I also believe we've discussed these particular seats before and they turned out to be SVO seats.  Can't see the lumbar pump maybe because of the trash bag.

Those are GT seats. They are not the Recaro SVO seats. The GT seats came with two different head rests, the solid ones on these and the Halo ones in a padded plastic/vinyl covered material. Exact same seats in my buddy's 86 GT. Also a guy has the same set locally for sale here for $150.

Awesome!  Thanks for clearing that up.

I just remember the '84.5 SVO having similar seats when I test-drove one in '89 (when I was thinking of upgrading from my '82- E3 pay would've only left me about $40/month after insurance as a 21-yr-old).  Loves me some SVOs! ::thumb::

I went to get an estimate for reupholstering my 84-86 SVO front seats to put in my 72 Mach. The shop quoted me $650. Does this sound fair? I told him that I wanted them to match my stock rear seat in my 72 Mach. It's TMI black standard vinyl interior. I've never had anything reupholstered from a shop before. I've seen his work and its top notch. Ryan.    Sorry picture loaded wrong!

Click to expand...

I am curious how you are planning to mount these. Will the original seat tracks bolt to the bottom of the seats or will you be using the newer seat tracks and modifying them to work in the car?

Click to expand...

The stock 71-73 brackets mount right up, no drilling