i was a certified tech at the dealership for years before doing this. Been doing this on the side for 5 years now and full time the last year of those 5. Definitely cant price everything before hand. Unfortunately these people are so cheap its sickening. Its nothing but pure hatred in response. They want the best work out there and want it yesterday and for cheap money. And they love saying its all overpriced and they can do it themselves. And then when they try its horrible craftsmanship done with retail crap supplies from a sewing hobby store. Then everyone thinks its comparable to a professionals job. Its a real mess. People are something. And they love to find anything possible to complain about.

I filled specific low points with a small sections of 1/8" landau foam, then did a layer of 1/4" landau and then after shaping I did 1 final layer of 1/4" again and did the final shapes

Thank you. The right side of it (passenger side) that was a real bear to stretch. Has a tiny bit of stretch mark but its not bad at all.
I used Longitude Morocco vinyl from the Partners catalog at Keyston Bros

here is the results. I have some touch up to do around the defrost vents but its not too bad. It was one hell of a stretch

i appreciate that feedback. I have only been doing this type of work for about 6 years all self taught figure things out as well as using this forum and some videos i have seen from chefaflo on youtube as well as videos from gabes. I love seeing other people work.get good ideas and perspectives too. They do make new ones of these pads for $400 + ship. But the vinyl is still very hard like a shell and it does a bit of damage to the foam when being cautious even heating it slowly. But unfortunately about 90% of customers or people in general love comparing the cost of our skillset and time and quality materials to the very cheap cost of a machine made in a billion dollar factory part thats not even custom to their specific want and the quality is usually lesser. It amazes me that amount of people that think that way.

So far i am very happy with how it is coming out. In the morning i have to custom perforate the speaker hole with small hollow punches. Im going to be gradually increasing size of thw perforation working into the center, starting at 1mm and i creasing .5mm up to 3mm. I think that small detail will be all the difference. The customer is alteady angry saying they can buy a new one at lmc truck for a few hundred. Its irritating bow people compare pricing of a brand new item produced by machines in a billion dollar factory and compare that to the time of craftsmanship and custom work instead. Sadly its a common thing people do. Do you think im already in it for too much time around 11 or 12 hours to this point? I wish it was more like 8 or 9 at this point

i just ordered the hardcopy off amazon thank you. Any tips and tricks help with out work. Some things have certain processes and concepts. Some are just your own creative ways and tips and tricks. The more knowledge the better

It's a battle we all deal with. I myself haven't found the best solution yet. We are all burried in work in this industry and my favorite thing lately is the inquiring customer who wants a full interior re done and wants it yesterday and wants it for basically $1000. When you legitimately can not touch it for a year and they scream and say your running a bad business and so on. We all get those people. Thats my favorite when they don't understand how stuff works and they feel they are the only one wanting work done. The other local shop in my area is booked out 3 years. He isnt taking any new work at all unless its tiny petty stuff. He locks his doors and doesn't answer phones unless its a good customer or something of importance

looking for something to use to make headliners for 4 door trucks that have some curve to it. We use a lot of abs when we manufacture our own parts and i dont feel that would work for the shaping of the roof

Google vyper chair
They look amazing

hey thanks! Looks like an awesome deal for that price too! Definitely buying.

I thank you for all of your compliments and more than appreciated them as well as your opion on the warranty. I do agree because you never know what abuse it will get. I have seen 2 year old vehicles with average wear and tear where the leather peels up. And some that go 10 before it happens There is no saying in the end. And I do know people love cheap polishes and iv seen it do extreme damages to new and old vehicles. And it kills leather. They love cheap junk from the part store to obtain a shiney look

you're thinking no warranty? May I ask why?

what do you think a fair warranty is on the leather wrap for the dash?

what type of cream do you recommend? I've never used it before.

Also what tyoe of warranty do you suggest on a wraoped dash? For peeling.. I've seen 2 year old dashes peel and 10 year old ones not peeling yet. So I don't know what's fair

So i have this issue as well, but i was told once to not glue to the foam... i forget this during the time of need of course... but i use landau and i dont have this issue a whole lot. But i do use also prestocell foam and this is a major issue. I get it from Miami corp because its black and works well under perforated materials so you dont get the white from the landau foam. But the indentations kill me... but next time i made myself a note on the project i need to do next to not glue on the foam. This was told to me, but leather was the material i was using when I asked the person the question. But like yourself vinyl is a big issue for this

I'll check it out. Thank you. Do you have experience wuth that merchant by chance?

I would like to add, we are not worried about getting them in and out to replace them, thats nothing difficult. Just the bristles themselves we are in search of. I saw them somewhere a month or 2 ago and now out of luck.

I'm a certified tech at a dodge dealership. The conectors tend to be sensitive to poor connections. Its common in those trucks especially with thr thorax inflators in the back seat sides. Double check all connections and unplug them and plug back in 1 at a time. Also when you turn the key on the modules self check the system and if it doesn't see an airbag issue it shuts the light off instsntly. So each connector you try, cycle the key

that sounds like a good trick, i like that. Thank you for that. I did experiment some and found that low pressure from a spray gun at a distance of about 1.5-2 feet away has been working but definitely intrested in that trick you suggested. I assume i can use what ever color i want with the idea that the perf holes would "match" close to the vinyl color.

Also is the adhesive strength compromised at all by this?

Thank you for the reply. Seems like i was about right on pricing. What about hourly rates? If injeed to charge a certain amount of hours whats a fair rate?

I will get some and compare, it just doesnt seem like it looks the same. But either way I will end up using it

I use perforated vinyl when I recondition door panels and it gets glued. I haven't run into it coming through the holes. You should be fine.