New interior in the works

[Joe]

I went to pick up my 1965 230SL from the paint shop today, and the shop owner showed me an old Nova he is restoring. The interior was all new, so we talked about interiors. He has an interior man a couple of blocks away, so he asked him to come over to see my car. I just had it painted Horizon Blue, replacing the original white, and the interior is cognac. The previous owner had an economy job done on a new interior, and the car looks so nice now I figured it would benefit from a new interior. The interior guy took me to his shop and we talked about changing the interior to parchment, which would look wonderful with the Horizon Blue. He called GHH and they are having a sale on leather now. His cost for all new Mercedes Tex, plus square-weave carpet, is about 1300 dollars, and about 1900 in leather (with the same carpet). He added a grand to rebuild the seats and install the carpet and interior, so I gave him the go ahead for leather. He isn't marking up the materials at all. That seems like a real good deal to me, but I've not shopped around.
Now, what color carpet works with these colors?
I know it is sort of gauche to tallk about prices here, but thought others might be interested in the cost of interior changes.
Another problem is, with new paint and interior, the chrome now looks terrible. Maybe it is time to sell that extra kidney.
Joe

[psmith]

$1000 to install the kit and rebuild sounds almost too cheap, but that was before October '08, when people still had discretionary income.  Make sure to look at examples of their work and try to talk to previous customers.

[Garry]

Joe,
That sounds like a very good price if it includes the dash top and under dash knee pads, kick panels and glove box, doors and pockets and elbow rests? Then there is the Soft Top lid, windscreen posts etc etc etc. It never ends.  Maybe that will all be extra? You want to be very clear on what it includes. 
See photo

[Mike Hughes]

I've seen that interior done with either light beige or navy blue square weave on lighter blue pagodas and they both look great!

[bpossel]

Joe,

Gaah sells a "kit" which should include everything you need, including extra material to cover the dash, side pieces, kick panels, etc...  When I ordered my kit last year, I also ordered an extra couple of yards of material just in case it was needed during install or even in for future interior repairs.  The extra material can be ordered at a later time but there is the risk of a dye lot variation...  Turns out that my local Memphis installer needed the extra material to redo part of my dash.  First time around it didnt fit very well....  Your labor price quote of $1k seems very good.  As recommended, you may want to check references.
Should look nice when you are finished!  Good Luck!
Bob 

[J. Huber]

Hey Joe. I think it sounds like a great deal. And the combo sounds sweet! I am partial to blue in most everything -- so I think the Horizon Blue with Parchment might look nice with the blue German squareweave. Mine came from Miller's -- here is their swatch...
Good luck!

[graphic66]

I did my interior a few years ago. I did almost everything myself. I believe I had about $5500.00 in parts into the job. It adds up, visors alone were over $700.00. There are some less expensive options out there now. $1000.00 is way low, you get what you pay for. Quality labor now is running around 60 70 per hour. I don't think the job can be done in less than 20 hours. From reading past posts a expert interior job runs 10 grand plus.

[Joe]

It's a buyer's market out there now.
I have seen my guy's work, and it is excellent. He has 30 years experience and has several guys working for him. He will do the work himself.
To clarify, the dash is apart, because I had it painted along with the car. He is going to do the complete interior, less headliner, and I am going to install the kick panels and dash parts (he will glue the leather to them). He will install the door panels, soft-top cover, carpets, and seat covers. He said he would help me with installing the dash if I run into trouble.
If anyone wants a great paint job now, I can highly recommend the shop that did mine, here in Colorado Springs. The shop's work is slow now, and deals are to be made. He has one body man who has done several pagodas, and he did a first-class job on mine. I thought the car has no rust, but after it was stripped, some rust was found, oddly enough, on the rear panel that contains the tail lights. I ordered a new panel from K&K and it looks nice now. I have to drill holes for the license plate, it is so new.
The interior guy recommended the light blue (same as James suggested, above, I think), so I am going with that for carpet. The car should be finished in a week or two, and I'll post photos after I get the chrome polished and reinstalled. It is a heady feeling to have such a nice car! My wife probably won't let me go out alone with it!
Joe

[Garry]

Hi Joe,
It all sounds good.  Like Bob, I also had a bit of difficulty with the dash in the corners so you will find that you really want to stretch the leather out and see that it is perfect before applying any adhesive as the leather tends to contract over a time as the adhesive takes. Costly lesson I learnt and had to re-do with a bit of extra material. It may be one of those areas where your interior guy can assist with his experience.
Garry