crxcte Posted May 30, 2015 Report Posted May 30, 2015 Can anyone recommend a shop near Oklahoma that is experienced in Mooney aircraft to refurb the interior in a M20F? That being seats, carpet, ceiling, etc. Quote
MyNameIsNobody Posted June 2, 2015 Report Posted June 2, 2015 You didn't provide a budget/price point. Aero-Comfort is a Ferrari grade interior and price point. (They charge several hundred dollars to wrap leather around yokes. You bought an F Model. A nice plane, but not a ferrari. Go to Airtex. Find the color combination you want for header, seats, sidewalls and carpet. Order them. Find a local boat/car upholstery shop. Get quotes. Look at their work. Get her done for a fraction of the Ferrari shop-Local='s less $ and Time. Or pay a lot and get a fantastic interior. Quote
MyNameIsNobody Posted June 2, 2015 Report Posted June 2, 2015 Aero Comfort in San Antonio. You have no interior photos in your Gallery Randy. Do you have an Aero Comfort interior? What did it cost? Closer to $10AMU's or $2? Quote
1964-M20E Posted June 2, 2015 Report Posted June 2, 2015 There are shops in Mena AK that do good work. 1 Quote
BigTex Posted June 3, 2015 Report Posted June 3, 2015 You have no interior photos in your Gallery Randy. Do you have an Aero Comfort interior? What did it cost? Closer to $10AMU's or $2? Check out my gallery. I had Aero Comfort do my complete interior about a year ago. They do fantastic work and couldn't be happier with it. Plan on spending $12AMU for a turnkey or $10AMU if you remove and install it yourself. Quote
PTK Posted June 3, 2015 Report Posted June 3, 2015 I think 12 grand is a lot of money. I did the interior in my Mooney for under 3K. Plastics refinished utilizing the SEM colorcoat system, new comfort foam, finest Spinneybeck Forte leather throughout, (seats and entire backrests including storage pockets, armrests, side panels with storage pockets, yokes) and new carpet. I've yet to see an interior by aerocomfort or anybody else that's 9K better!!! 2 Quote
PaulB Posted June 3, 2015 Report Posted June 3, 2015 I've been contemplating them covering my panels as they are pretty cracked now. Not sure that I can rehab them and make them look good Quote
BigTex Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 I think12 grand is a lot of money. I did the interior in my Mooney for under 3K. Plastics refinished, new comfort foam, leather seats armrests side panels and yokes and new carpet. I've yet to see an interior by aerocomfort or anybody else that's 9K better!!! Value is a personal thing... I guess you can always go down to Walmart and get a few cans of Krylon paint and some of their finest vinyl seat covers and call it a day. Quote
Andy95W Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 Value is a personal thing... I guess you can always go down to Walmart and get a few cans of Krylon paint and some of their finest vinyl seat covers and call it a day. If someone pays $12k on an interior and they're happy with the result, then they got a good value. But holy crap, paying 1/3 the value of my plane on just the interior would scare me away from aircraft ownership for ever. And comparing a well-installed Airtex interior to "a few cans of Krylon paint and some of their finest vinyl seat covers" is pretty obtuse and incredibly uninformed. 3 Quote
PTK Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 It's not called value. It's actually a phenomenon called "post purchase rationalization", aka buyer's Stockholm syndrome! It's when consumers will not admit their poor judgment in an expensive purchase that was emotionally driven rather than justified by careful research. Quote
DonMuncy Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 I think Big Tex is defining the ends of the range on interior redo's. Someone may be happy with a first class interior at 12AMUs and that is great. Someone else may be happy with vinyl and spray paint, and that's great too. I will try not to scoff at anyone else's choices. 1 Quote
Bob_Belville Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 I redid the interior my '66 M20E for under $3000. Leather seats, side walls, rear seat kick panel, baggage surround. Work done by a local custom auto trim shop. New automotive grade headliners. Same resource. New carpets, 4 pieces. Cut and edged by same shop. New rudder and JBar boots. Repair and refinished plastic panels (profession auto body shop) Skandia testing of all materials used. My A&P signed off on all the work. I did the r/r except for the headliners which the trim shop owner came out to the airport to install with contact adhesive. 2 Quote
PTK Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 just out of curiosity, can you go into a little more detail on refinishing the plastics? I've always wondered...Peevee, the process is outlined here step by step on pg. 2. Feel free to pm me with any questions. http://www.semproducts.com/manage/html/public/content/techsheets/SEM%20RAP-1%20Training%20Manual.pdf 1 Quote
Bob_Belville Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 just out of curiosity, can you go into a little more detail on refinishing the plastics? I've always wondered... We used SEM Color Coat paint and Clear coat. The most important factor of course to successful paint is surface prep. And there are probably cracks, old holes, and other damage to repair, perhaps reinforced on the back. These considerations were why I took everything to a body shop instead of doing it myself which certainly is doable. I matched interior colors to the exterior trim colors. (Had my cover to match the maroon as well. $405 from Plane Covers - Salisbury MD) http://www.semproducts.com/refinish-flexible-coatings 1 Quote
Marauder Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 I think 12 grand is a lot of money. I did the interior in my Mooney for under 3K. Plastics refinished utilizing the SEM colorcoat system, new comfort foam, finest Spinneybeck Forte leather throughout, (seats and entire backrests including storage pockets, armrests, side panels with storage pockets, yokes) and new carpet. I've yet to see an interior by aerocomfort or anybody else that's 9K better!!! I wish you guys were based at my airport so you could show me how to do this economy interior refurbishment. I have seen both of your interiors and they are great! I redid the interior my '66 M20E for under $3000. Leather seats, side walls, rear seat kick panel, baggage surround. Work done by a local custom auto trim shop. New automotive grade headliners. Same resource. New carpets, 4 pieces. Cut and edged by same shop. New rudder and JBar boots. Repair and refinished plastic panels (profession auto body shop) Skandia testing of all materials used. My A&P signed off on all the work. I did the r/r except for the headliners which the trim shop owner came out to the airport to install with contact adhesive. 1 Quote
PTK Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 Chris, we can certainly talk. At least one of those very sweet ladies of yours is bound to have an available sister or cousin, right? 1 Quote
BigTex Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 It's not called value. It's actually a phenomenon called "post purchase rationalization", aka buyer's Stockholm syndrome! It's when consumers will not admit their poor judgment in an expensive purchase that was emotionally driven rather than justified by careful research. Not everyone has the time, skill and/or desire it would take to redo their interiors. I've seen several that did attempt the DIY route and result was way below their expectations. Those folks were out the $3k and and brand new very amateur looking interior. Some of us realize that and choose to go the professional route. That doesn't mean we have poor judgement nor was the decision emotionally driven. Quote
Bob_Belville Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 None of this is rocket science. Surely most towns have shops who do custom interiors for vintage cars and hot rods. Find one whose workmanship you can judge. Decide how fancy you want to get with piping, embroidering etc. The shop will advise on new foam choices. Anything he offers will be far better than the original. (You might like wider seats but be careful if you have a JBar!) Covering the vertical side panels with leather is a matter of having him match the old using fresh backing and padding. (If you're wondering, I'm pretty confident that automotive materials have to pass more stringent standards than our planes so if the auto trim shop is hesitant to do work on an airplane you can assure him that he's not responsible for the flame-spread, that you'll just need some samples to send to Skandia. He'll be able to duplicate your carpet and bind the edges. He can back it with 1/4" silver faced foam padding. My guy spent only a couple of hours at my hanger installing the headliner pieces. I paid about $400 to have all the thermoplastic parts redone. The body shop owners are friends of mine but I would not think it hard to source this work. Or do in yourself. Several here have. I took the air plenum on the ceiling apart to refinish the louvered vents and to get everything cleaned up to operate smoothly. Once every 50 years... not too bad. The r&r is really no big deal though it will take several hours if you have to figure out how some of it is put together. The back seat on a '66 E is a tight fit and getting the bolts back in is a pain though far less so than changing oil or other tasks in the engine compartment. 1 Quote
Marauder Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 Chris, we can certainly talk. At least one of those very sweet ladies of yours is bound to have an available sister or cousin, right? What are we talking about here Peter? Using one of their sisters for material?! Sorry, you walked into that one. I would love to try to run a clinic on doing this like Brian is doing for the maintenance fly in. Quote
ArtVandelay Posted June 5, 2015 Report Posted June 5, 2015 A middle ground ... Done by Aero Trim at KFPR for $7K Headliner was covered with leather, side panels repainted, new carpeting. Professionally done. 1 Quote
jax88 Posted June 5, 2015 Report Posted June 5, 2015 You have no interior photos in your Gallery Randy. Do you have an Aero Comfort interior? What did it cost? Closer to $10AMU's or $2? No, they are expensive (as others point out). I'm milking all I can out of my current interior before giving them my money. Quote
Browncbr1 Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 I dig my current retro seats. But my headliner is sagging and panels are a little rough. Does anyone have an idea on cost for interior that doesn't include seats or head rests? Quote
Bob_Belville Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 I dig my current retro seats. But my headliner is sagging and panels are a little rough. Does anyone have an idea on cost for interior that doesn't include seats or head rests? There's a similar thread going on that started as a question about how easy is it to change a door panel and morphed into a broader discussion of interiors. I just posted info that should be on topic to your question. Short answer, the rigid plastic parts are kind of expensive to replace but even pretty worn parts can be repaired and refinished. A local auto trim shop can help you with the headliner and it won't cost that much. Automobile headliners are bound to fail when a car or truck is parked in the sun for more than 5 years. (The urethane(?) foam breaks down with the heat which must go well over 100F all summer. Quote
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