I suggest recovering a bucket seat from a Mitsubishi Eclipse and attaching the chair legs to it. Add an 18V battery from a cordless drill and it's a power chair to boot. You can show off your work and have a super comfortable sewing chair at the same time. Like Hanna Montanan says "Its the Best of both Worlds"

Harbor Freight! $ 18.00 for a gun that will last 5-8 years. I have a love hate relationship with Harbor Freight. Normally if you will use it 1 or 2 times a year, tools from HF will do the trick. If you need a daily driver spend the extra on something good. BUT when it comes to my glue gun, my HF junk will do just as good as any Binks for a fraction of the price. Besides when my HF gun gets too much glue caked up on it.. I toss it in the trash and grab another, not only saving time cleaning the gun but saving $ as well. you could buy a 1 Binks for $275 ish or 15 HF guns for the same price.
I mainly do production work now days, and I go through 5-8 gallons of glue per month. The HF guns hold up just fine.

Hey Matt. I didn't see your specific clip when I quick scanned through my catalog, but page 179 has a clip that could possibly be used .

Restoration Specialties

This place is an ABSOLUTE MUST for anyone doing auto restoration work. they even have a section for International specific parts that your customer may be interested in. page 54 - 59.

If the customer requires the work to be as authentic as possible then making your own is your best option. If he/she is not concerned about authenticity, then just use pinch weld molding (snap on trim / snap on windlace, what ever you want to call it) Page 114 in the above PDF catalog) Every upholstery supplier has it, one side should tuck into the channel (if your vinyl isn't too thick anyway.)

I do have the 2607 light grey. I didn't roll it out to check how much but I have approximately 20 yards

I'll have to double check but I think I have close to 20 yards. I bought up a bunch when I heard it was being discontinued. I'd sell a few yards or all if you can use it

Cant say anything about Robbins as I've never used them, but discounts are normally a good thing.
I'm currently only using Electron. Why bother with the middle man when you can buy directly from the manufacturer. The only other top I'll install is Al Knoch (corvette only), If I ever have a high end exotic top to do I'd probably go with GAHH, But I don't see that happening in my area.

Does Robbins sell over the internet or do you have to be a trimmer to purchase? That's another reason I'll only use Electron. They only sell to people in the industry

ditto.. do not repair replace only! those repairs are for the customers to try themselves, Then when it fails (because it will) you can sell them a new top with a guarantee!
You don't want any rework attached to your name, regardless of any warnings to the customer. In the customers eye they took it to you to fix it and it failed, there is no up side for you, there are only possible negative reviews

Kydex is far superior to ABS, the only downside is the price. I think kydex also passes burn tests for aviation, where abs does not.

Around me a 4X8' sheet of .060 ABS is $20.00 and .090 ABS is $30.50
I use .090 for main panels and the .060 for insert sections.

ABS is very common plastic sheeting, any plastics supplier will have it.

other Threads to look at for ABS info
glueing upholstery to abs
Best door panel substrate

There are benefits and drawbacks of any materials used for building panels. Give it a try but do a lot of testing. Test cutting, gluing, and forming with heat, before you dive in and cut out your finished panels.

My employee gets too much attention. UPS guy always brings her treats, the ladies at the bank down the street come by almost daily to pet her when they go on their walk. Customers spoil her with toys and treats, many times they stop by just to see her. I have also caught her sleeping on the job! But she is a good model and helps with deliveries.

Well I finally remembered to look through my stuff. I do not have any black ink left. I do have 20 ish yards of light grey, 2 yds Lt charcoal, .75 yds dark grey, 5-8 yds sandstone, small scraps of graphite, flame red, & moss

I'll look in the morning but I may have a yard in the shop. Rave was discontinued, which stinks I used it all the time. I for sure have aprox 20 yds of the light grey. I've called just about every supplier I could find trying to buy up what was left, but had very little luck. I honestly think here on T.H.R. is the only place you will be able to find any.

Don't bother calling that place! It's not worth your time. If you do call them, you should charge them for wasting your time.

"Scam me once shame on you! Scam me twice shame on me." I will not be scammed a third time, I learned my lesson.

If you are like me I have to learn by screwing up. Failure is the best teacher, though it would be a lot cheaper and easier if I could just learn from others.... So go ahead and call them and order something. Then when its wrong or doesn't show up, never order from them again. Don't be a dope like me and order from them twice.

Good tips and tricks guys! ... BUT.... I think we need to work on our cross-pond dictionary! You Europeans have strange words!! (kidding of course).

-A hood is an exterior body panel that covers the engine.
- A trunk in an exterior body panel that covers the storage compartment which is not connected to the car's interior! A boot is something you wear on your foot!
-Gas is the fuel that an internal combustion engine burns! Petrol is an abbreviation for petroleum jelly which you put on your lips when they are chapped.
- A Bonnet is the thing that Little Mis Muffet wears on her head.
- In the states we build door panels. Other places build cards. We give cards to friends and family for birthdays!

Of course I'm kidding around, though I do like to poke at "Gareth Judd" every now and then... (It's been a few years) but we should start a dictionary / reference guide for everyone. We talked about it in the forum before the big update but never got around to it.

It would be nice if we could put together a shared doc. That anyone can add to or edit (anyone in the forum anyway) Basically a list of auto & upholstery terms, where anyone can add a definition. Terminology changes from region to region, not to mention country to country. I can understand how confusing it could be for a new comer to our world. Here in the States soda pop has at least 4 different names depending on what part of the country you are from. It's pop by the way! Not coke, or cola, or soda. I can't imagine how many different names there would be internationally.

Wow Fred. that's a lot of pressure to put on the pot. I use my pot with Du-Bois 301 glue which is very thin, but I run my pot at 5-8 psi and gun at 65-80. I know the weldwood will need a higher psi. but anything above 20 on the pot sounds dangerous to me. I have not run weldwood through my pot so maybe that much is required to make it spray properly.

Be safe and look at manual for the pot you have, and do not exceed what is specified. I don't recall what brand it was but when I attended Wyo-Tech we had a test on pressure pot usage, and for that brand the maximum pot pressure was something like 15-17 i think. (forgive my memory that was in 1999)

Fred Knows what he is doing & I'm not questioning him. I'm sure his glue pot is a really good purpose built setup, and can handle those pressures.

I'm Just hoping no one puts that much psi. on a cheapo harbor freight pot like mine. The harbor freight pots absolutely need modification to work properly for glue. Low psi regulator for the pot side and absolutely add a relief valve. I use a 25psi relief valve on mine

I love the rat rods. Honestly its the only reason I can stand to go to car shows around here any more. I can only look at so many Tri-5 Chevys, late 60's Camaros, and all the other resto-mods that all look exactly the same. All clean shiny paint, sparkly chrome, nice interiors, fancy wheels, etc. This is what I stare at almost every day in my shop while I'm working on them. Don't get me wrong I'm glad people are still restoring these cars. That's where 1/4 of my income comes from.

The way I am, it's really hard for me to look at any car without picking out the flaws. With rat rods I don't bother looking at paint or interior. I can focus on all the cool home made things that people come up with. If you stop and actually look at some rat rods you may see some really cool fabrication. At the same time you'll see a lot of junk just thrown together, but the cars owner likes it, and must really enjoy the process of building and driving it. I'm sure the typical rat rod owner has just as much fun if not more working on and driving their car with a fraction of the investment $$

I wish the crazy low rider stuff was still popular. It's not my thing, but I've seen a lot of really innovative things and awesome fabrication on those.


It all comes down to what you like, and who you hang out with. I'm much more likely to hang with the tattooed rat rod crowd rather than classic car, tuner, or low rider guys.

There has been a lot of discussion on this, but I cant seem to find the old discussions in the forum.

In a nut shell. Don't waste your time installing tops you don't supply. Your reputation is at risk if you do!! You can tell the customer all day that you cant guarantee the top, or the fit, but at the end of the day if something goes wrong with an inferior product your name is still attached to it. The customer is not going to tell people that they bought a bad top, they will say that you did a bad job installing it!! Its much better to chase away a penny pinching customer than to let them ruin your reputation.

The only top I will accept from a customer is an Al Knoch Vette top.

I don't remember who I stole this line from (probably from the previous forum before the update) but I've been using it for several years now.

You don't take your own ground beef into McDonald's and ask them to make you a burger. Why would you think its okay to bring your own materials into my shop!

I have used the reverse side before and it holds up surprisingly well. I did this 54 chevy PU 12 or 13 years ago and it's still looking good. Its not near as fuzzy now though, it has almost a standard suede look. It will definitely be rougher / fuzzier than your regular suede. You can see the fuzziness in the 2 pic.

I have not used it yet, but Miami has the hard hook. It sure looks like a lot of the factory versions. You can use the standard sticky back and it will work just fine. I actually prefer to mount it sideways rather than flat, but it will work either way. Just soak the foam with landau adhesive first before you stick on the Velcro. That will provide a slightly firmer sub straight for the Velcro to stick to, with less chance of the foam just tearing out.

Whattt?? You mean you guys don't put on a dress to sew? I thought everyone did, no wonder I always get a strange look from my customers.... :sweat: :sweat:

If it needs to be stock / non custom Just Dashes is your best option. You could try to patch, grain and dye. I have not attempted this myself as of yet, but it is possible depending on how bad the damage is, and how much time you are willing to spend experimenting.

I have used this plastic repair material and it works great but I will be wrapping the dash, and not trying to grain and paint/dye. I used this to fill large holes, cracks, and even to fill the center speaker which I'm eliminating https://www.semproducts.com/product/dual-mixtm-multi-plastic-repair-material then I used this Polyflex as the final filler, to smooth everything out.

I have not used this but it looks promising. https://www.polyvance.com/280Z-Dashboard-Repair/ though this wont give you the correct grain.

Give Midwest Fabrics a call, or email the pic to them. They may be able to help with that one.

Acme Auto Headlining I use them for headliners, visors, landau tops, and convertible boots. The prices are a little on the high side but the quality is always spot on.

I could be wrong but I think that most of the 69 thread you buy from the supplier is nylon. The 92 is polyester. The nylon is stronger than the polyester and therefore does not need to be as thick. The poly is slightly weaker so using the 92 is your best bet.


I will warn you however be very cautious of using the sunguard poly thread. A while back I had some problems with the poly thread bleeding color on a customers shorts, from the motorcycle seat I did for him. His Girlfriend wound up with purple diamonds on her butt. I started testing all of the poly thread I had and all of it would bleed right off the spool. The sunguard poly will also fade almost all of its color in just a few years. I used it on the bike seat just assuming that it would be the best bet because its made for marine use and would hold up best to the elements.

I contacted the manufacturer and they thought that it may have been a fluke or just an old spool so they sent me a brand new one. The replacement spool did the same exact thing. Back then I did a lot of searching and found out that Sunguard is made by Coats, which is a very reputable company. I also found on the their web page about sunguard, that it is not recommended for top stitching!!! Of course I cant find that info now, Coats does not even have sunguard listed as one of their products.





Test All of your poly thread!! Just pinch the thread with a white rag, and pull the thread through it. You may be very surprised at the result!

I have also been very disappointed with the QTC 270 nylon I used it on another bike seat and it faded a lot in just one season. It did not bleed but it did fade.

Regardless I'm now switching all of my thread over to Amann. I'm still trying to wrap my head around Amann's diff. threads and sizing, but I'm very happy with the 4 spools I'v got from them so far.

If anyone is still reading this please call your supplier and ask them for detailed information about the thread you buy from them. I always just assumed I was using the best products, otherwise my supplier would not sell them to me. Unless noted like a discount cheapo vinyl.