Upholstery and Interior Kits

[norms55]

Hi all, what are some good sources for interior kits. I have an estimate from Heritage, nice stuff. Any suggestions though for a good set around $2000. Things are adding up big in other areas quickly. thanks

 

[Gliderman8]

I am happy with the interior I bought from this company...
https://www.aldridge.co.uk/

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Hi all, what are some good sources for interior kits. I have an estimate from Heritage, nice stuff. Any suggestions though for a good set around $2000. Things are adding up big in other areas quickly. thanks

One of the most important things about interiors is the correct "fit" and if you buy a kit you should be ready to pay big time for someone to correctly install it on the front & rear seats, console, etc. IMHO, I believe two very significant areas that add resale value to the Healey is the panel seam fit and interior fit. I've seen Heritage interiors and "others" and I believe I'm making the best decision ordering from Heritage. I'm due to send them my interior bits that they will cover to them this week. You might want to see if someone near you has an Heritage interior and also if an interior from a "kit" for comparison.

 

[bighealeysource]

Hey Norm,
I have bought interior kits from Heritage, Moss, AH Spares and John Skinner. Heritage makes great interior parts and pieces and I actually used them to trim out my seat backs on a BN1 several years ago. IMHO getting the seat backs done correctly is the hardest part and they did do a superb job. But expensive for their trimming services. If you can locate a good trimmer who has done Healey seats before will make a big difference on the quality you get back. I used one once that did not glue the pleated portion to the seat foams and as a result, they would not lay correctly so make sure they glue that portion to the seat foam or actually to muslin put on the seat foams before you put the cover on. Anyway, I'm running on here. Heritage makes great stuff but will cost you 20 - 25 % more than the others.

I recently bought a new seat kit from John Skinner in UK as well as their door cards and very pleased with the quality and service. In fact their door cards were the best I have used including Heritage. AH Spares in UK also produces a very nice seat cover kit but they did not have the red I wanted as theirs is more of a burgundy red than a red red if that makes sense. Skinner was able to supply a more correct red so went with them this time. Again, very pleased.

Have also used Moss and think the world of Moss Motors and what they have done for the LBC world over the past 50+ years. But think their seat covers are cut a little too close as far as the excess materials once you pull everything into position and then go to attach to seat bottoms or backs. A professional trimmer might not have an issue but for us amateurs, just a tad bit more of that leather or vinyl would make them easier to work with. The UK shops products did not have this issue with the sets I have bought from them over the past few years. BTW, Moss used to have a great interiors install video a few years back that I used and might still sell it but was in VHS format. If you are thinking of doing it all yourself a very worth while investment and will really help you get it right.

I would suggest you get on the websites for the above, compare prices and the available colors of leathers and vinyls and see where you are from a bottom line pricing situation. Figure shipping from UK is going to cost you a fair amount and believe both AH Spares and Skinner can give you an actual shipping cost before you release the order for production and shipping. I would figure 25% of the cost of the kit as a guesstimate. But pricing on interior bits is less than domestic so you should save there and overall price still be less. Pound is down now to the dollar so good time to be considering a purchase from UK.

All of the above are good suppliers and make excellent products as far as fit and quality with the exception mentioned and if the shipping does not put them out of reach for you in OK, really look into the UK boys.

Regards,
Mike

 

[57_BN4]

The condition of your foam cushions will to a large extent determine the overall look of the finished job. I went for keeping the seat back (front seats) foam and replaced the base foams with ones supplied from Heritage after drilling them to reduce stiffness. The replacement front seat-back foams are quite a different shape and will not look the same. You can go a long way to recover the original foam by using a heat gun or hairdryer to soften the contact glue so it can be gently separated from the covers.

The original seats use a kind of paper wadding (sorry, don't know the correct term) on the back side of the front seats and also on various places to provide extra padding. I trimmed my own seats with Heritage kit parts and used "bamboo batting" from a quilting supplies shop to replace the original wadding as it is the closest thing I could find. The application and trimming of the wadding will have a big effect on how the final seats look too. Factor in a couple of weeks work to get it all looking right with quite a bit of trial and error.

If you'd like a factory-original looking interior then the Heritage kit is not very original in that it uses far superior leather which is soft and matte-finish rather than the shiny original and also Heritage uses machine cut foam for padding in the pleats which makes them flat-topped and square rather than the original "row of ellipses" shapes. It is a very nice upgrade for sure, just not particularly original.

Andy.