Company:
Hawkes Bay Trim and Canvas Ltd Mahora, HKB

Project Details

Fabric 1

Leather
Producer: OTHER
Supplier: OTHER

Fabric 2

Auto trim fabric
Producer: OTHER
Supplier: OTHER


Design Name
James Simons

Design Company
Hawkes Bay trim and Canvas

Fabrication Name
James Simons

Fabrication Company
Hawkes Bay trim and Canvas

Project Manager Name
James Simons

Project Manager Company
Hawkes Bay trim and Canvas

Installation Name
James Simons

Installation Company
Hawkes Bay trim and Canvas


Please describe the project specifications

This project involved re-covering and the making of interior seats and panels as requested by the customer. He had been building this car for 10 years to compete on the show car scene here in New Zealand and wanted a custom interior to match the custom car.


What was the purpose of this project? What did the client request?

The purpose of this project was to transform the customer’s vehicle interior into a show spec vehicle.


What is unique or complex about the project?

This project was both unique and complex because every part of it is custom made. The front seats where originally from a Mitsubishi lancer but I cut off the head rests and changed the shape of the top to integrate a smaller lower profile head support, the side and base bolsters have also been changed to give more support. No panel on the front seat is the same as the original cover.
The rear seat is completely custom made using a plywood backing board with sheet metal sides to provide some support for the foam. The customer wanted the rear seat to replicate the front seats as closely as possible to give the look of two sets of bucket seats in the vehicle. The back seat is so close to the fronts that most of the front seat patterns were used to make the covers for the rear seat.
All the carpet panels and smaller surrounds have been made from a composite board that was shaped and cut to shape because of the massive modifications to the vehicle a standard carpet and coverings were not possible.


What were the results of the project?

The final design was a laborious process with numerous samples made and design options discussed with the customer before the final design was selected. This alone took 2 weeks before we even ordered the selected fabric and leather.
During the building and covering of the parts of this vehicle there were many discussions with the customer and quite often once something was made and covered he would change his mind on how he wanted it to look. This lead too many late nights and subsequently took a lot longer than most standard re-trims would normally take.


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