JR Wadhams interior retrim

As I posted the original question I'll expand on it further.

It's difficult expressing an opinion about a business because experiences will vary. For example if stocks of one item are difficult then your experience would be totally different to something that can be taken off the shelf. How the business communicates that situation is of course another question. There are also clearly issues of creating a slanging match or even legal problems too which I guess the admins really don't want.

BUT that wasn't really my question.

Presumably as these items are listed, someone is buying them. So I was looking to hear from someone who bought and fitted them, preferably with pictures. That was all. The truth is, it is now impossible to match the original materials in a P6 without finding genuine NOS material. I've never seen a perfect match to buckskin as a colour and the Ambla material in terms of texture and patination, even with modern stuff called Ambla. Modern automotive leather is also processed totally differently to old, even at the high-end, it feels softer and more plastic than of old. Like I said £380 for a front seat retrim is cheap.

So the point to to ascertain whether this was a good alternative. In my experience the only faithful recreation can be done in black.

I still have up to a grand for a very good/excellent leather interior secondhand which is my preferred option. Somewhat less for any nylon interior (which perversely I prefer).

Here's a picture of really incredible craftsmanship which was done in Spain, I've not seen better in the UK. It might also shock you to learn the entire work only cost €1200. The result is BETTER than the original BUT the colour isn't right. Not even close. Notice two things that many others seem to get wrong. Firstly the way the backs to the front seats fit properly. Secondly the shape of the piping curves perfectly around the seat. The eagle-eyed might have spotted that the centre panels of the seats are perforated as some rare examples were - rather like a Mercedes.

Now I would be happy to go down this route BUT I'd also change the door panels, gloveboxes, D-pillars etc to match.

12068554_10154331007448009_121589205587164636_o.jpg
 
Hi peter,

If you send a sample of what you want to SMS auto fabric in Canby Oregon USA they will match it for you and send a sample of the product back. I used them to get the later nylon cloth and it was a perfect match. They do take ages though but the prices were reasonable.
 
Hey Peter, do you have the contact details of whoever did the seats in your photo above? I agree, that looks like a really good quality job, and at that price (really an eye-opener!) I would think it worthwhile to ship off my spare interior all the way to Spain, and have the finished work delivered back to me in Germany! Feel free to send me a private message if you can help, but perhaps don't want to post their contact info on the open forum.
 
Hi peter,

If you send a sample of what you want to SMS auto fabric in Canby Oregon USA they will match it for you and send a sample of the product back. I used them to get the later nylon cloth and it was a perfect match. They do take ages though but the prices were reasonable.

Any one thinking of dealing with Doug Pollock at SMS Please please please do lots of research on this company, take it from someone who had to fight for 18 months to get money back for goods ordered and not supplied DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY !
 
To Peter's point - it's very true that experiences will vary when dealing with suppliers. And, suppliers are people too, they have good days and bad ones. Most of us are able to discern the difference.

That being said you spent 1200 Euro having your seats done - you got a great result and are happy with the workmanship - the other side of this coin is that if I (or anyone else) were considering spending that kind of money with a vendor and you had previously experienced bad service or poor quality goods I would want to know about it. It doesn't have to devolve into a slagging match and if it did I am sure that this forum could take care of it (sorry if that sounds like I am volunteering you Rich ;)).

I always read the one star reviews on Amazon to see if there might be a valid reason for the poor rating - I am able to dismiss the reviews that complain about the color of the box - however, reviews that go to the heart of the product or the vendor are of interest to me.

I have made this argument in the past and I will continue to do so - clearly others here are frustrated about the policy that allows positive reviews but frowns on anything negative, no matter how true or appropriate.

I get really weary of the argument that there will be liability issues for the forum or the individual member - it's just not the case... and buying into that mindset just worsens the perceived issue... UK law on website/forum liability is quite clear - it takes more than a negative review to impose liability. The law of libel is quite basic and truth is always, always a complete defense. Amazon and Yelp both carry negative reviews...

Rich, feel free to move this to a different thread if applicable.

Back to your seats Peter (none of the above is directed at you or anyone), they really do look fabulous, I am very jealous. If you are super keen to get proper Ambla that matches your door cards you might be able to get me to consider swapping my seats with you :)
 
The aren't my seats sadly. They are the very best work I've seen. Others either get the shape slightly wrong especially showing in the piping or they have little creases or baggy excess material in places, especially the inner edges of the outer section of the seat back towards the bottom where it meet the base.

belong to a Swiss guy who lives in Spain. I bumped into him at the Morges British car meet in 2015. Sadly I did't get the details of the people who did the work. Hopefully I will meet him again in October. BTW anyone who can get to this part of Europe should go - around 1500 British cars - from Morris Minors to DB5s and Graber Alvises.

I don't mind paying out for this kind of quality, cheap a twice the price. However I's still prefer original - money waiting.

This is his car if anyone knows him:

12045638_10154331004023009_8328438615172249275_o.jpg
 
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The aren't my seats sadly. They are the very best work I've seen. Others either get the shape slightly wrong especially showing in the piping or they have little creases or baggy excess material in places, especially the inner edges of the outer section of the seat back towards the bottom where it meet the base.

belong to a Swiss guy who lives in Spain. I bumped into him at the Morges British car meet in 2015. Sadly I did't get the details of the people who did the work. Hopefully I will meet him again in October. BTW anyone who can get to this part of Europe should go - around 1500 British cars - from Morris Minors to DB5s and Graber Alvises.

I don't mind paying out for this kind of quality, cheap a twice the price. However I's still prefer original - money waiting.

This is his car if anyone knows him:

View attachment 11345
do you have a side on view of the car please?
 
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