Last year, I organised a "group buy" over on the 350Z forum for retrims. The reason I did it over there first is because they only have two seats which (in theory, anyway) meant I could keep the waiting time down to a minimum.

 

But I've been here for a few years now so I'm considering setting one up for Z32 owners on this fine forum. :thumbup1:

 

There would be a couple of rules and stipulations, so here they are:

 

The discount would be a maximum of 25%, which would be entirely dependent on the numbers involved. If I did it the same as the 350Z one, it'd be as follows: 5 to 9 members total would get a 15% discount, whereas 10 or more members would all receive a 25% discount!

 

The group buy would only go ahead once at least 5 (or 10) participants had paid their relevant deposits.

 

The minimum requirement for this would be seats (either front two, or all four).

 

Delivery would not be included in any costings.

 

There would be no limits on materials or designs or anything like that - the only limits would be your imagination (and the depth of your pockets ;) ).

 

Realistically, any work for this GB wouldn't be taking place until mid-2017 by my reckoning, so that's something else to bear in mind.

 

So, with all that said, might there be many (or any!) members interested in such a thing....?

 

Discuss. :)

Edited July 21, 20169 yr by Mondo

Hi I will be looking to do my interior as well, like the colour combo you have on yours actually mine are the standard seats not recaro. so count me in as a strong possible. rough cost? 1400 minus discount ?

 

If you wanted the same leather I have in my Zed, you're looking at circa £300 per hide....

If you wanted the same leather I have in my Zed, you're looking at circa £300 per hide....

 

Unfortunately that doesn't mean much to most of us :lol: How many hides to do a car? How much is a "normal" hide? Whats the difference between the two, thus what is the overall price increase? For all I know a "normal" hide is £5 and you use 5 a car so that's an extra £1475 :smartass:

Unfortunately that doesn't mean much to most of us :lol: How many hides to do a car? How much is a "normal" hide? Whats the difference between the two, thus what is the overall price increase? For all I know a "normal" hide is £5 and you use 5 a car so that's an extra £1475 :smartass:

 

Good point, well made. :)

 

As a rule of thumb, an "average" leather hide is 50 square feet and it takes two full hides to trim the front and rear seats in a LWB Zed. It's then another hide for all the panelling.

 

So a Z32 interior is basically three dead cows' worth. The leather I use day to day is roughly £160 per hide and it's very nice stuff indeed, but the Andrew Muirhead leather (as in my own car) is superb leather! It's currently regarded as being possibly the best available today, in much the same way that Connolly Leather was back in the 80s and 90s. And the Muirhead hides are around £300 each.

 

My SWB has roughly £1k in materials alone in it's interior, never mind the labour involved in making everything. So anyone else fancying some seriously high-end leather in their car would need to be prepared for a representative price tag...

And this Andrew methhead leather is what? Softer? less defects? If you did the interior in your car with normal red leather, to us simpletons would it be worth the extra price?

And this Andrew methhead leather is what? Softer? less defects? If you did the interior in your car with normal red leather, to us simpletons would it be worth the extra price?

 

Hmmm. I'm trying to think of a suitable analogy here.

 

To most people, especially on here, the extra cost involved for using Muirhead leather wouldn't be worth it. That's not meant as a slight against Zed owners but the majority aren't interested in ploughing vast amounts of money into their cabins. Which, a lot of the time, can be the difference between a good project and a great one.

 

In a way, it's a bit like asking whether an OEM bumper (for example) is better than a fibreglass replica and worth the extra expenditure. For those interested in longevity or originality, then the OEM part is easily the best option. For those on a budget or more interested in just the look, then a GRP part will suffice.

 

If someone wants their cabin freshening up without breaking the bank(comparatively speaking), then the leather I use ordinarily will do the job and last very well - it's not crap hide, by any means!

 

If, however, someone wanted to use the best materials available (as FunkySi wanted to, before he opted to go back to a standard cockpit) then Muirhead leather is pretty much the best available.

 

:thumbup1:

Alcantara is a good example of "cost vs suitability"

 

I get a lot of enquiries from people wanting things to be trimmed in Alcantara and 95% of them seem shocked when I give them a quote.

 

Why? Because they think that the stuff that's on eBay for £7 per metre is absolutely fine, whereas the reality is that it'll fade incredibly quickly because it's simply not designed for automotive use. It also won't wear very well because it's designed to look like Alcantara does but not to perform in the same way.

 

Genuine Alcantara was designed solely for automotive use, so it's very hard-wearing and also very UV-resistant. That's why it costs around £100 per metre length, rather than the aforementioned £7 off eBay.

 

Yes, you can use the cheap stuff and yes, it'll look good for a short amount of time. But it won't be long at all before it needs replacing!

 

Just to add a caveat here: all the leather I use is treated for auto use and is therefore UV-protected. :)

so just to so i can look at the potential cost, an interior similar to yours leather and Alcantara, the leather is an extra 420 on top of the standard price of around 1400 then minus the discount. or is the Alcantara another extra cost? and yes it is a LWB

so just to so i can look at the potential cost, an interior similar to yours leather and Alcantara, the leather is an extra 420 on top of the standard price of around 1400 then minus the discount. or is the Alcantara another extra cost? and yes it is a LWB

 

If you wanted yours done using the same materials as mine, you'd be looking at around £1,900 minus whatever the GB discount turned out to be.

 

Which, I appreciate, is a lot of money.

In a way, it's a bit like asking whether an OEM bumper (for example) is better than a fibreglass replica and worth the extra expenditure. For those interested in longevity or originality, then the OEM part is easily the best option. For those on a budget or more interested in just the look, then a GRP part will suffice.

 

Love the analogy!

Possibly for me too Si, that is next on my list :)

Yeah I'm in, not sure what I want exactly yet though.

Yeah I'm in, not sure what I want exactly yet though.

 

If this goes ahead, I want to do something spectacular with your car...!! :biggrin:

:scared::scared::scared:

If this goes ahead, I want to do something spectacular with your car...!! :biggrin:

 

:scared:

:scared::scared::scared:

 

:scared:

 

Looks like purple animal print with snake skin inserts coming your way Paul !!

Well according to the poll, there's enough "definite" interest for this to go ahead and almost enough for the full 25% discount!

 

So I guess I'd better start giving this some serious thought....

No time off for you next year then ;-)

Here are my thoughts thus far: if I go ahead with this, I'd most likely be looking to start the first job in mid to late September 2017.

 

There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, I'm already booked up well into next year and secondly, it gives everyone involved chance to get "show season" out of the way before the inevitable winter hibernation starts.

 

So how does the above sit with any interested parties...?

 

Obviously, this would run on a "first come, first served" basis so, if you're the 10th person to sign up (for example) then you're likely to have a sizeable wait before your interior gets done! I wish there was another way to do it, but there simply isn't as I'm only one man.

 

The timescales would run something like this: a 2+2 that was having all seats and panels trimmed would take approximately 2 weeks from start to finish. So, for arguments' sake, if the first five people all had a 2+2 and wanted the seats and all the usual panels trimming, the 5th person would be looking at a likely start date of mid-November (based on me taking 8 weeks to complete 4 complete trims).

 

Now it may be that these timescales don't work for people, and I can understand that. This is why I'm mentioning all this now, so interested parties can be fully informed before they agree to anything and especially before any money changes hands for deposits!

 

So... what are peoples' thoughts on all of this please...?

I'm happy with that, it gives me time to drip feed you the money:thumbup:

Winter 2017 is ideal for me, so the family estates take 2 weeks what about the sports zeds?

 

I wouldn't care when it started after September, as long as it was done before April, gives me plenty of time to get the funds too,

 

Might take me a couple of months to get any significant deposit together, just spent loads on the repairs still need to pay for mapping and a good clutch yet...

I'm happy with that, it gives me time to drip feed you the money:thumbup:

 

Anything above and beyond the deposit would stay with you until the work was completed, Richie. Put it in savings... hide it under the mattress... I don't care - just don't send it to me! :lol:

 

Winter 2017 is ideal for me, so the family estates take 2 weeks what about the sports zeds?

 

I wouldn't care when it started after September, as long as it was done before April, gives me plenty of time to get the funds too,

 

Might take me a couple of months to get any significant deposit together, just spent loads on the repairs still need to pay for mapping and a good clutch yet...

 

Proper Zeds ;) would take about 10 days, Ash.

 

Once I've given this some serious consideration, I'll go from there. It's a massive undertaking for me and, of course, it swallows a sizeable amount of time out of my diary... and I'm already disappointing people who want work doing but then do a double-take when I tell them it's well into the next year before I could start! :pinch:

That's ok with me. Gives me plenty of time to change my mind on what I want, might even go back to diamonds.... ;-)

Good for me especially now iv took side skirts off my Zed to find rotten sills ahhh

...ive just bought a new car and its interior sucks...

 

 

..ahem

Well, so far it seems that there are no objections to the start date being around 12 months away :thumbup1: I realise that may seem like a crazy notion; paying a deposit for something that's the thick end of a year in the future, but it's just one of those things.

 

I'll no doubt be starting a proper GB thread once we're into September, so it's thinking caps on all round!

My zed has been off thew road for over a year now, just managed to pick up an engine from Ebay which i have been working on since friday, still trying to solder the entire loom back together! But once it runs for a few months and proves itself i'll be taking it back off the road for a major refurbishment so this ties in perfect!