Leather retrims and carpet

[PhilW]

Hi all

I am considering a retrim of my esprit S3 Turbo. I have a had a rough quote of £480 for the seats, £420 for the door cards and back panel and £470 for dash and centre console. Leather is 6 hides plus any required foam etc at £700. All this is Plus VAT

Total £2484 inc VAT

This seems rather a lot to me. Can anyone confirm if this is about right or advise me otherwise.

Also I may replace the carpets. S.J. sports cars have a set for £235. However I have been in touch with

www.allonwhite.co.uk

119 High Street

Cranfield, Bedfordshire. MK43 0BS

These people have the original patterns from Lotus for the carpet. However their prices are

Labour to manufacture and fit carpet set; 15 hours. £825

7 metres of Hilton Grade carpet @ £38 per metre. £266

Sundries (binding, threads etc.) at £25

I have since asked for supply only but assume we are probably talking £7/800 in total. (To be confirmed)

Can anyone advise me on their experience of carpet supply. Do you know of the quality of S.J. sports cars set?

Many many thanks. Phil

[rogerch]

Not really relevant since I live the other side of the world, but I think the quote for the leather is cheap. Having redressed and redyed the leather in mine including the dash, I know the work involved just getting it out.

The carpets are easy, be careful getting the old bits out, use them as templates to cut new pieces (I did buy the floor mats with the Lotus logo)

[Nelly]

Hi Phil,

I have just paid £2500 for my interior retrim and from the costs I got before doing it this is about right.

I purchased the carpet set from SJ, it is supplied slightly oversized so you can fit it - which I did myself and am really pleased witho how it went, having never done anything like that before. Really helped that it was already the right shape! All the bots around the seatbelt slots and handbrake have a leather gaiter too. If you check out the thread for the leather retrim on an S2 I have posted a photo and the carpets are clearly visible in the picture.

Probably pricer than buying the carpet in a roll and cutting yourself, but defo the way to go for someone like me!

[dodge1979]

The last set of premade to fit yourself carpets bought by myself were for my triumph, and the kind of put me off really. Fitment wasnt a problem, having never done it before, but they turned out very well. However, after a couple of years, 2or3 the colour has faded from red to orange...which in my opinion is not very good quality. So I would be looking to see who has had a set fitted, from whatever supplier, for a couple of years and see what the long term quality is like on them... Darren

[andydclements]

I've tried to do carpets myself from scratch and it's a nightmare but on the Gold Excel I'm doing I'm using carpets from Coverdale (they also trade under several other names). The Excel cheap ones I'm using are circa £170 including fittings but you can get the wool better carpet (and I've had a sample so know it's nicer to the feel) for around £300 / set. I guess the Esprit is a similar price. To fit them myself I'm using contact adhesive and a roller, they need slight trimming in places but that's (same as SJ) better than being too precise and requiring you to position them perfectly, or worse under-size.

Re the leather, I supplied the leather to the person that re-trimmed the Europa but he re-built the seats including foam (they're an all leather seat, he supplied the carpet (Wilton) and it cost circa £1400 material and labour, so £2,484 just to do the leather work seems a bit expensive but a long way off.

If you are prepared to travel, then I'd suggest giving david a call (who did my Europa and does the work/ did the work for Strattons). David, 88 Ketts Oak, Hethersett, Norwich, Norfolk, NR9 3DJ Telephone 01603 813400

[Bibs]

Allon White's prices are off the scale! I called them for a quote for a carpet set and I seen to recall it ending up in 4 figures too! Mental.

[rogerch]

When I did my leather I used a product called "Leatherique", the first stage was to use the cleaner, apply lavishly and leave the car in the sun for a couple of days to make the leather sweat, greenhouse effect. My point is that having done that and cleaned as instructed, the leather came up almost like new, so if you don't want to change colour you may find just a good industrial cleaner will give a finish you can live with.

[PhilW]

Many thanks to you all for your help. Now have a few more options so will be looking into these for the best way forward.

Phil

[esprit s2]

I got a couple of samples from Coverdale as i need to replace the carpet on the Elite. Good quality by the looks of it and I will probably order a set from them when I am ready to (read: can afford to) replace them.

[steve930]

I purchased the high grade wool carpet from coverdale, the quality of the carpet is spot on and the company are friendly/efficient to deal with

[PhilW]

Hi Steve930

Did you make your set using the old carpets as patterns? Was it easy enough. What about any edging? Dont suppose youve any pictures?

Many thanks

Phil

[steve930]

hi phil, there are some pics on here from when i did the job, but i can post some tomorrow (Wednesday).

At the time coverdale only had templates for the S1-S3 cars, They were quite happy for me to send my old carpets in to use as templates.

My mother is a retired upholsterer so in the end i just purchased the carpet off the roll (4mtrs) some new rubber inlays where your feet rest and some leathercloth edging. The leather gaiters around seatbelts/handrake were re-used as they were in good order. I cut out the new sections of carpet and them handed it all to mother to stitch on the edgings etc etc.

Apart from stitching on the leathercloth edging every other aspect of the job was quite easy/straightforward

[andydclements]

PhilW, you'd not have the same issue as Steve as your carpets should be the same as an s3 set whereas Steve's had a slightly different shape.

[steve930]

pics as promised

hope this helps

[PhilW]

Hi

Pictures look really good. Have spoken to Coverdale who tell me they only have templates for 88-92. Certainly not S1 - S3. I will recheck with them

Will probably go down this route. Just have to find someone to do the edging. Am going to have the seats retrimmed so will hang on to use the same leather for the handbrake and seatbelt slot.

Thank you all for your help although any further info or pictures will always be very gratefully recieved.

Phil

One other thing Steve....What quality of carpet did you use from Coverdale. They offered me 3 or 4. Is yours good? Good as original

[Bibs]

Looks lush, very nice

[andydclements]

I'd say their cheapest is about the same as Lotus original spec, the best one is very nice, soft to the touch but probably harder wearing as it's wool based.

[steve930]

i agree with what andy says, If i remember rightly the higher the quality the higher the wool content/fibre density. The shade of blue i wanted was only available in the highest grade they sell so I had no choice!!

[DarrylV8]

i agree with what andy says, If i remember rightly the higher the quality the higher the wool content/fibre density. The shade of blue i wanted was only available in the highest grade they sell so I had no choice!!

Steve,

You get what you pay for and yours does look extremely good

[robington]

Thread Resurrection!

Phil, what did you do in the end?

I am curious as to what the results were and which way to go with mine.

I am going to have to replace my carpets. I always liked the patina so was happy to keep them, however I am just replacing the handbrake cables and I had no choice but to ruin the bit that goes over the sill to get it off. It was really glued on well!

Thanks

Robin.

[Steve V8]

8 minutes ago, robington said:

Thread Resurrection!

Phil, what did you do in the end?

I am curious as to what the results were and which way to go with mine.

I am going to have to replace my carpets. I always liked the patina so was happy to keep them, however I am just replacing the handbrake cables and I had no choice but to ruin the bit that goes over the sill to get it off. It was really glued on well!

Thanks

Robin.

Hi Robin, we would happily reproduce a set of new carpets for you to your specifications, we have recently made sets for @Barrykearley & @ian29gte who hopefully would vouch for the quality of workmanship.

We would use your existing carpets as templates, can bind in faux leather or cotton webbing, and can supply samples of all available colours and qualities. A few photos of work in progress below.

PM me if interested.

Steve 

[Barrykearley]

Mine look great - they are the better quality ones at the top 

wish the rest of the car looked as good....

[jcslocum]

Steve, just make templates from a set of S3 carpets and I'm good to order. Sending my old shite from the USA isn't cost effective :-)

[robington]

Hi Steve.  Thanks, will you be at Brooklands tomorrow?

[Steve V8]

Sorry @robington  Just saw your message, unfortunately I wasn't at Brooklands, my car is currently scattered all around the house and neighbourhood. The next event I'll be at will be Beaulieu family commitments permitting, with or without car. But am happy to offer my services meantime.

Steve