In 2021 I moved to Las Vegas to continue working as an upholsterer. I started working in a small shop that did repair work, convertible tops, after market seat cover installation, and fully custom jobs. While I came in with a decent bit of knowledge on all those things beforehand, I left with even more.
For the first couple months of working in Las Vegas I was tasked primarily with the installation of aftermarket seat covers. This work would often have me removing the seats from vehicles, removing their original seat covers, making any necessary foam repair, installing the new cover and installing the finished seat back into the vehicle. The aftermarket covers were from all ranges, everything from the more standard OEM style replacement to the high-end “luxury inspired” designs. Doing this repeatedly taught me a lot about how seat construction and how trying to apply an “off the shelf” solution to well worn seats isn’t always going to produce the best of looks. Time and use wears these seats and a cover designed to fit one that is new isn’t going to be as good as something tailor-made to how it is currently. In order to address these issues, I was taught how to pull the material more or less where it was needed and how applying heat would allow the material to relax where it needed to. These techniques have proven invaluable over the years of doing this.
Eventually I was given tasks for higher end clientele, which often meant the material I was installing was either custom made for the job, or was supplied from the highest tier aftermarket supplier. In the case of the seats above I was given covers that were a one to one match of the factory original covers. Each seat proposed its own unique challenge. The S2000 seat on the left was the least challenging of this trio, but working with the far newer seat meant having to deal with more complicated construction processes and more common use of now brittle plastics. The BMW 2002 seat in the center was done for Peter Brock and it came out of his wife’s car that was listed on Bring A Trailer shortly after work these seats were reinstalled into the car. Being an older vehicle the seat construction was much simpler as were its installation methods. This seat was an exercise in finding the right amount to pull the material around in order to avoid a cover that was either too lose or too tight.
The final seat on the right was from a Porsche 914 if I recall correctly. The 914 was highly customized but retained it’s factory seats despite the hulking V8 that was mounted behind them. The funny part to me was the similarity in construction between both the S2000 cover and the 914 cover. Having done the S2000 previously made the process a little easier, but the age of the 914 seat construction meant things weren’t one to one. Installing the 914 cover, particularly the back, was a long process of installing and uninstalling to get the desired amount of pull in the material where it needed to be. The seat bottom presented less of a challenge, but having to factor in the recessed electronic seat controls posed its own issues. I also remember installing these seats, but having to uninstall them so I could put carpet in, which wasn’t originally planned.
The fast-paced nature of the shop and its untidy surroundings lead me to not take as many photos as I often should have. The inner photographer in me was never satisfied with either the cluttered background or less than stellar lighting. That being said, this small smattering of images isn’t everything I’ve come to do there at that first shop I worked at in Las Vegas. Over time I was given the opportunity to do door cards and other interior panels on vehicles. I’d do simple things like old off-roaders with flat, square panels to the more modern ABS cards with inlaid materials and complicated construction. Doing repair work on material and fixing said ABS cards with their broken clips or scuffed surfaces were a regular occurrence as we worked with several high-end dealerships in the area.
After being in Vegas for a couple months, I was presented with an opportunity to work with a Datsun 240Z restoration shop. They wanted to do upholstery in house and I was given the opportunity to create their in house upholstery shop. I was given near complete control of the upholstery work, deciding what was to be done, materials to be used, and time frames. I did a few odd jobs here and there that weren’t specific to 240Zs such as headliners for other cars or replacing carpets or other small things, but the task I took the most photos of was the Concours level restoration of a 240Z. There are absolutely things I’d do differently now if I were to go back, but I’m still happy with what I was able to do and with what I learned. As you can see above the seats I was working with at the start were in very rough shape, but still there enough to make a pattern off of.
Not only was I responsible for the seats, but the entire interior as well. I had to install sound deadening, build structure to smooth out sections at request of the owner, and replace well worn heat set vinyl closeout panels on things like the shock towers, transmission tunnels and firewalls. It was very involved and required tons of fitting and refitting to get things where they needed to be. This was my first time doing something so involved on a car and I learned a ton doing it. While I was not able to complete the project due to issues with funding, the only thing left undone was the installation of the headliner. I had completed a set of seats, rebuilt the foam, replaced all the worn original material that covered the insides of the car and installed carpet.
