upholstery venders

LopezCarguy

LopezCarguy

Senior Member
Which is preferred.. LeBaron Bonney or Cartouch?? and preference being cost or quality?? How about their willingness to help with information?? And knowledge of subject/product pertaining to specific vehicle?? Lots of questions and very little knowledge on subject, but getting close to doing upholstery in Cabriolet...:confused:
 
this has been hashed over many times do a search.....
cartouche is cheap crap when you do a search youll see the pic i posted of my worn out seat and door panel after light duty use.....
lebaron bonney is the way to go, its a no brainer for me..
you get what you pay for
just used the LB in my last resto night and day difference
 
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Do a search to learn more. If I have it right, cartouch is great if you need something that holds up for a few months. LB does pretty good and so supposedly the same goes for classtique, but they are a bit shy of perfect.

If you want perfect then you send the whole car out along with a pile of cash and have one of a few guys do it perfect. Worth every penny if you have the extra pennies.

Here is the third supplier:

http://www.classtiqueupholstery.com
 
I installed a Cartouche kit in my dad's 31 Tudor about 5 years ago. It still looks good but in comparing it with LeBarron Bonney interiors, the LeBarron Bonney is a higher quality fabric.
 
As an example of the quality between the two take the kick panels. Cartouche doesn't even have a correct type finished edge sewn where it fits along the cowl. They fold the material over, glue it to the back side and sew along the edge. The LeBaron Bonney have a finished edge sewn on with a length of tail on top that is used between the edge of the dash rail and cowl as original. I'm comparing the kick panels for a CCPU.

I can't imagine what short cuts they take on other pieces of upholstery.
 
Elizabeth at Classtique sews the seat cushion seams down from the seat top edge, where they should be.

I can't understand why L/B does it wrong, except it's easier. This is something that really stands out, so why not do it right?
 
Tom, L/B does many things incorrectly. We just installed a customer ordered L/B kit last week and I was amazed how much had to be redone or altered. The doors panels had to be taken apart and trimmed to fit correctly, the seat cushion cover was sewn incorrectly where it is crimped into the springs. Again, almost everything in the kit required re-work to be even somewhat correct HOWEVER I am not so sure it is all L/B fault. If the seat cushion cover had been sewn correctly, I think most home installers would have complained about the fabric being too short since most installers only use hog rings to install them instead of correctly crimping. ( I have noticed even some of their factory-authorized installers do this. ).

So who is at fault? Chances are, L/B would have made the kit correctly if the Restorer would have made the special requests for them to do so. On the opposite hand, the Restorer does not know what is correct (-and is likely unwilling to devote the time to research what is), and as such he is relying on L/B to provide a product that is considered authentic.
 
LB has a wonderful reputation, probably correctly earned. Wonder if being in New England area has helped. I have an LB interior and top. Looks fine, but is well worn. I have also dealt with Classtique and Elizabeth has been a great help. Perhaps she is not as well known around the country but you will be very pleased with her materials and fit if you use Classtique.
 
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