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In any shop, doing virtually anything, the quality of the work is totally dependent upon which person is doing the work, they day it gets done.
And like every business, there is bound to be a certain amount of turnover of employees.
If the master craftsman is doing the seats, they should end up really good.
And there's bound to be a pecking order below that level.
If you end up with one of the people with the lower ability doing your seats....well, you get what you get.
Rob Edwards paid big dollars to have a seat of Pasha seats done by a VERY highly respected Southern California upholstery shop. They took many months to complete this work.
The seats were so terrible, that he didn't even bother taking them back....they clearly did not have/lost the ability to do this job and no amount of complaining was ever going to "fix" that.
He sent the seats off to Brian Olmann, to have them redone.
Your Classic 9 seats...they charge a bit for a sport conversion, but...it's just some crappy threaded rod, poorly shaped and welded down.
The threads then tear up the WRONG foam that is in a single layer, that then tears and the bolster collapses.
Note the humps in the profile:
Here's what under them..well, it was what was under mine that looked the same. When the foam tore/collapsed I took em apart and was beside myself. Had them reconstructed locally. It took maybe 3mo for the bolsters to collapse.
In any shop, doing virtually anything, the quality of the work is totally dependent upon which person is doing the work, they day it gets done.
And like every business, there is bound to be a certain amount of turnover of employees.
If the master craftsman is doing the seats, they should end up really good.
And there's bound to be a pecking order below that level.
If you end up with one of the people with the lower ability doing your seats....well, you get what you get.
true that.. I'm pretty sure at Brian's shop you have his wife making the upholstery, and Brian building the seats. I think we can expect sustainable quality with that model.
Your Classic 9 seats...they charge a bit for a sport conversion, but...it's just some crappy threaded rod, poorly shaped and welded down.
The threads then tear up the WRONG foam that is in a single layer, that then tears and the bolster collapses.
Note the humps in the profile:
Here's what under them..well, it was what was under mine that looked the same. When the foam tore/collapsed I took em apart and was beside myself. Had them reconstructed locally. It took maybe 3mo for the bolsters to collapse.
Did you address the issues with the owner of Classic 9?
What was his "Rod's" response?
Please post the communication over the issue's you had.
TBH, no, they know what they did. This was not a minor oversight, this was 'how we do it'. (More led to this not telling them what I found in the seat below**)
And I wasn't going to wait many more months again to fix it..and then wonder what was in there.
I only wondered WTF when the **bolster went floppy** about 3 months later...I knew something was wrong. And then when the widening wasn't done (found that out in the first hour I had the seats and only THEN I was told it was not possible) this was just the last drop.
Had it done locally, and the seats are 2.5" wider as required. Now my bones dont sit on the bolsters, and shoulders on the tops the same.
Exactly what I was thinking, you never addressed the issue with Classic 9. just trash their work online.
Maybe you should have told them up front that you needed an "extra large" size, as you did with your seat guy (extra 2.5" wide) then you would not have broken the seat
Please post pic's of how they built your modified seats so we can all learn the correct way.
I was driving that car yesterday and looked for what you pointed out, those pics were taken when the seats were installed w/o any seat time. I can not see anything wrong, nor do I feel anything other than padding beneath the bolsters.
Annie and I have done five hour drives and we find them most comfortable, we have over 40 hours on them now, no issues.
Exactly what I was thinking, you never addressed the issue with Classic 9. just trash their work online.
Maybe you should have told them up front that you needed an "extra large" size, as you did with your seat guy (extra 2.5" wide) then you would not have broken the seat
Please post pic's of how they built your modified seats so we can all learn the correct way.
I was driving that car yesterday and looked for what you pointed out, those pics were taken when the seats were installed w/o any seat time. I can not see anything wrong, nor do I feel anything other than padding beneath the bolsters.
Annie and I have done five hour drives and we find them most comfortable, we have over 40 hours on them now, no issues.
Fine..I trashed it online.
But no way I was going to wait for a fix I couldn't trust. Children did the work the first time. They were not going back.
We did go back and forth on why I spent many thousands on seats to be widened that when I got them were not because his words "Thats not possible there"...when in fact, it entirely is.
i am pleased with work done by Classic 9 (under Rod’s ownership) on my black/blue pasha seats (front, back, door cards). I’ve had a few dashes done very well by them in the past too (under Rob’s ownership). After hearing about disappointing work from other shops (especially with pasha), I wanted to use Classic 9. I wasn’t aware of Brian having acquired Paul’s business until after I placed my order. Since then, I’ve bought a few items from him and he is terrific and I would go to him for anything else in the future.
I have used classic 9 on multiple occasions. They have done some amazing repair work to original covers and did it quickly and at a very competitive price. Rods service is always good!
My full seat kits in leather were excellent. My Pasha/vinyl seats were less than stellar. Mostly in the fact that the vinyl is just too thin for seat use. Rod offered to fix them but I didn't take him up on the offer at the time and then COVID came. Again, good service all around
In any scenario, my local upholstery guy backs his seats with a 1/4 inch foam sewn into the covers. These makes the covers much easier to install and much more forgiving. While he will make me any Porsche cover, he refuses to do a 928 cover.
Local work, my install Repaired original by Classic 9 on front seat, my install My Classic 9 vinyl /Pasha, my install
Used their materials but install was done locally… used leather but the color is spot on… last two pics were taken before we found a new console bezel and stock radio.
I had Lakewell make covers for my '84 Euro. It had old burgundy vinyl replacement covers on the seats when I got it. They looked like they were pretty good quality, but poorly installed. I have found several bits of original burgundy leather when disassembling. I finally decided to change interior to black leather and black-beige pasha. I got samples of material from a half dozen sources, and opted to have Lakewell make the covers. I went with their Nappa leather, but sourced the pasha from an eBay seller out of Germany. Wouter said no problem, even though they offer their own pasha (I was concerned about their pasha pattern being a little different than factory, based on some threads here). I'm very happy with the quality of their work. The leather might be smoother than the heavy grain of the original. I also purchased two extra hides of leather for re-covering other interior pieces. I found one guy in the area that I think would have done a great job installing the covers, but I got tired of waiting for his availability. So, I'm attempting it myself. I'm sure I will make plenty of mistakes, and it's pretty intimidating. Here are a few pics of the driver's side backrest cushion and rear cushions. I'm almost done with the rear top headrest too, but I just picked up a pneumatic stapler and need that to finish. I'm using the steel rods, lacing/tying them together, to keep the pleats snug between the individual cushions. I will post more photos as the project slowly progresses.
It was their Nappa leather, and pasha fabric that I sourced from Germany. I think it was about 6 weeks before I received them. I could double check. I told them I was not in a huge hurry, but not sure if that was a factor.
I also purchased their full "sliverknit" carpet kit, which I haven't installed yet but it appears to be high quality.
Last edited by Farginicehole; 12-03-2023 at 10:52 PM.
11-23-2023, 07:07 PM
