what is the best way to go about finding someone to Reupholster a boat, ive got a 357 formula, need all new cockpit, would like it to be done professionally and look good, with formula vinyl, what is the average price to do that, and does anyone have pics of there freshly Reupholstered formula or factory upholstry. Can any old upholstry guy do it, or should i stick with someone who strickly does boats, and what are the reasons

THanks
Steve Jr

Get a good auto upholsterer. I doubt they will make the parts if your wood is bad, but it's easy to make them. Mine is at the uphol shop right now, I hope to have it back by this weekend.

I had my 357SR1 done by a marine upholstery shop that also did a lot of canvas work for me. They did a great job and were reasonable. I had them remove the bolster seats and the hatch cover.

THey also had to remove all the small vinyl coverd trim pieces along both sides of the the cockpit and the vinyl covered trim along the deck. The biggest time burner (and blood draw) was in getting to all the nyloc nuts that held all that stuff in place.

I used white marine vinyl with yellow accents. The yellow was a mistake--the sun faded it badly in three years. Had the same problem with the yellow sunbrella. Make sure whoever does it uses the highest grade marine vinyl to get maximum UV, mildew resistance.

As a suggestion while they have the bolster seats tripped go over the mechanisms and clean. lubricate, adjust everything. Use something like COrrionsX on everything while that is all apart.

The mechanism was made by a compnay that makes the control mecahnisms for airline seats so its a somewhat complicated system.

Good luck.

I'm getting ready to do the interior now and I'm finding similar "challenges" with how things were fastend and attached. Like the mood lights behind the valences or the way the a/c cabinet has to come apart to work on the unit or the way the refrig is "built in".

how about prices??

I'm sure they will vary greatly.

The upholstery work only on my sundeck including the vinyl and foam was just over $200. I supplied the starboard cut to size.

All the work in my cockpit including all material was around $1500. I thought it was a bargain but that was 3 1/2 years ago before all the hurricane repair work inflated everybody's workload and prices.

Now they get $90/hour her for an oil change---plus supplies and shop charges.

Redid the interer in my 303. Got all the vinal direct from Mcleod Design.com, all made up with orignal graphics. All I had to do was staple it on. All they needed was the hull number. It was less than half of what Formula wanted. And everything fit like a glove.

what was the price? ballpark

I just picked up replacement sunpad, trunk, headrests, and headrest trim skins from McLeod at lunch for a 95 336. I'll probably replace them at the end of the season. McLeod was great to work with and the total was $882, using the original vinyl, colors, and patterns.

For reference, I had my 272's sunpad, backseat, and some side panels recovered about 4 years ago for $1900, and that price was 2/3 of most of the quotes I got. That was also for pretty much straight panels, not the more intricate detail like what I just picked up.

Secretformula, glad to hear it fit like a glove. How big of a job was it to replace?

whats the deal with Mcleod Design, i checked out the web site, they look good, are they skins that fit kind of like a seat cover would on a car, or do they fit on and staple in as tho they were like new, what are the pro's and cons,