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longbridgehealey

longbridgehealey

Obi Wan
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So, after spending hours carefully measuring, transferring, creating patterns, test fitting the patterns, etc. for the inner door panels on my 100-6, I finally was ready to cover them in vinyl. I, thinking ahead, went on to write in LARGE letters on each panel, the left and right, COVER ME on one side, and DON'T COVER ME on the other side. Fool-proof. Then I went ahead and covered the same side on both of them, and had a finished result of two perfectly fitting left doors. Sometimes I drive myself crazy.... :eeek:
 
Or they could both be wrong, and I could do both of them on the other side, too. Reversable door panels!
 
Twice???
 
Actually I feel like I've recovered two cars already, I did the dash and the dash top twice before I was happy (those redo's were intentional), and now the outer door panels one and a half times. Talk about a learning experience!!
 
If I don't do it twice, I worry that I got it wrong.
 
Just curious, what is the market price for those Healey panels if one wanted to purchase them?

Correct interior stuff ain't cheap, I know. I recovered my GT6 dash tops and a few other bits, saved a ton.

For example, cockpit panel kits for Spridgets from Moss are $528+ for 1275 Midgets. Nuts, I say. :crazyeyes: :cryin:
 
The complete interior kit, headliner to carpet, for the Jag I just bought was about $4900. I am glad I didn't pay that much for the entire car.
 
I bought the seats, covered in leather, from Phoenix Upholstery, David Gallegher. Cost was close to 3000. I also bought the carpet from him, still waiting for it. Cost around 600. The rest I did myself, from creating the paterns, to cutting the panels, to covering them with vinyl. Vinyl, priced from Heritage and Phoenix, was 39 a yard. Matching blue vinyl from a fabric store was 7 a yard. Guess where I bought mine... My total cost for the interior, not counting the seats and carpet, will be around 125. If I bought from a supplier, it would range from 5 or 6 hundred to 1200, depending on the source. I didn't trust myself to do the seats, and getting the correct carpet cut is something that I trusted David at Phoenix to do. My total cost is coming out around 3800, and I think I saved maybe a thousand, between parts and installation, by doing the rest myself. My last hurdle is installing the carpet, once it comes in from Phoenix.

Larry
 
longbridgehealey said:
Then I went ahead and covered the same side on both of them, and had a finished result of two perfectly fitting left doors. Sometimes I drive myself crazy.... :eeek:
Click to expand...
There's only one correct answer for this dilemma. Buy another Healey that needs a new interior.
 
Now why didn't I think of that. Wait til I tell my wife of the new plan!
 
Oh THAT'LL go over well, I'm SURE.


You're gonna need Nomex AND Kevlar. :jester:
 
Nope, I'm sorta lucky that way - she drives them as much as I do, last year I was showing her a bugeye on ebay, and she just said - Why don't you buy it?". So we did....
 
The earlier "Big Healey" seats are a true nightmare to recover correctly.

From getting the bases & foams correctly shaped,(there are several versions of the foam available) anchoring the inner sections of the covers to the foam, tucking in various bits & pieces of filler to provide exactly the correct loft & shape, getting seams aligned, all difficult even with experience.

I had Heritage supply new pans, bases, & backs, all perfectly fitted. This was while Dave Gallegher still worked at Heritage. Cost was around $3,000, maybe more now?

Heritage will also supply other new covered panels which IMO are far more likely to be perfect than DIY. I suspect that DG at Phoenix will do the same.
D
 
Yep, Dave supplies the panels as well as the seats. I thought a long time about trying to do the seats myself, there's even an old thread on the Forum where I was asking for advice. But I finally let Dave do them, and I couldn't be happier.
 
sheesh... and here I was thinking "This side up..." was a label you intended on putting on the bonnet or roof panel of your car :jester: Some people need reminders on which side of the car is the top side :jester:
 
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