[jimib]

I’ll be starting the interior of my ground resto. I will need “everything” (headliner, door panels, seat upholstery, foam, carpet). I may go with what Ames has to offer but need suggestions of other companies that may offer competitive prices and additional choices such as colors.

[rohrt]

PUI and Legendary are the main players. Legendary is know for the better quality and higher price. I believe Ames sells both brands. If your doing a restoration ames should have everything you need. Keep in mind that some things can be done better than how they were originally.

[Jack P.]

Go with Legendary. PUI was good back in the day when they made their stuff in the USA. Now it is mostly Mexico and since then most of their products are not up to good repo standards. Their grain is not as defined as original and seat covers are often hard to get to fit.

[roy381]

legendary is worth the extra cost

[flyingn]

legendary.

[66beaumont]

Legendary

[Old Goat 67]

Legendary.

[jimib]

Okay, so I’m going with Legendary. My ride is a 67 GTO hardtop. I want a white interior as I think this will be an eye-catching contrast to the red exterior. White is not offered for my year model; the closest is Parchment which looks like an off white with gold….no thanks. Ames contacted Legendary and they said they can give me the color I want for an additional 20% of what’s listed in the Ames magazine. This works for me.

[Bob's GTO]

I bought my Legendary from Rick at Wellington Classics. Pricing was a little better than Ames, service was excellent.

[Greg Reid]

J.C. Whitney

[rambow]

Originally Posted by Bob's GTO

I bought my Legendary from Rick at Wellington Classics. Pricing was a little better than Ames, service was excellent.

I'm also on the legendary bandwagon... I've installed both. PUI's are ok, but legendary is hands down better.

I'll also give Rick at Wellington another big ThumbsUp- if you have not already ordered, give him a call for price quotes.
I send all my customers to him for their orders after having a very positive experience with him as the middleman with some covers that were defective- he really went the extra mile to make sure everything was right. Also- as Bob mentioned, he consistently beats the prices of most of the big catalog vendors.

Anyway- not yet mentioned- but be sure to get the American Cushion Industries (ACI) seat buns for the bucket seats.... Under no circumstances buy the cheap "economy" buns.. Buying the right buns is as important as the choice of seat cover MFG in my opinion.

I've installed both PUI & Legendary Headliners- they are both about the same quality, I would buy that based on price.

Carpets- ACC & Trim parts both sell the molded carpet sets. I've installed both, they both look good- they come with all the same options, again i'd buy whichever one of those two is cheaper.

[jimib]

Great info. I’ll contact Wellington (Rick) tomorrow. I’m not cutting any corners on quality and cost but look for the best deals. The most important quality to me is professional customer service (respectable phone manners) and I would pay considerably more for this. Sounds like Rick may be the way to go.

I would prefer to buy an entire kit from the get go, but I’ll buy starting with the headliner because this is what my interior guy wants to start with (from top down). I can’t afford to buy the entire kit and pay him simultaneously.

I’m assuming buying from Ames or Wellington is cheaper than buying direct from Ledgendary?

BTW: these seat springs are as old as the car (50 y/o). Is it necessary to stiffen up the springs? Can this even be done?

[TPM]

Legendary through Rick at Wellington for sure.....ACI cushions are a must!

[tom s]

FYI,I had a issue with Legendary with the door panels in my 69 Judge.The mylar on the trim was pealing off.I bought them thru Ames.When I called Legendary they would not deal with me and said I would have to send them back to Ames,Ames would send them to the maker,maker would send back to Ames and then back to me.This was even if I gave them a pick of my bill from Ames.Kind of pissed me off.I now look at the quality of PUI and them side by side.If they look good enough I give the biz to PUI and if the Legendary look better a go to them begrudgingly.Tom

[jdb]

I'm trying to find interior panels that will fit a 64 Tempest Custom convertible I'm fixing up, Ames folks told me today the GTO/Lemans panel is different shape then the Tempest panel, so I was surprised and disappointed but still not giving up. Anybody know if the panels are the same fit, except for the styling.

[jimib]

Originally Posted by tom s

FYI,I had a issue with Legendary with the door panels in my 69 Judge.The mylar on the trim was pealing off.I bought them thru Ames.When I called Legendary they would not deal with me and said I would have to send them back to Ames,Ames would send them to the maker,maker would send back to Ames and then back to me.This was even if I gave them a pick of my bill from Ames.Kind of pissed me off.I now look at the quality of PUI and them side by side.If they look good enough I give the biz to PUI and if the Legendary look better a go to them begrudgingly.Tom

I concur with your aggravation Tom; this bureaucracy would piss me off. These situations need to be public for the masses to read and I look for evidence of these situations. Eventually staff from Legendary will see this thread.

[tom s]

They make great stuff.Nothing is worse than dealing with SMS though!Their stuff is the very best IMO.Tom

[Greg Reid]

^^ I was going to comment on SMS for the headliner. I still haven't replaced mine but it was the only place that had the exact match for my original.

[rambow]

Originally Posted by jimib

I concur with your aggravation Tom; this bureaucracy would piss me off. These situations need to be public for the masses to read and I look for evidence of these situations. Eventually staff from Legendary will see this thread.

Legendary's own customer service does leave a bit to be desired... one of the reasons i prefer to deal with a vendor instead of them directly. I love their products, not their customer service! That said- they do stand by their lifetime warrantee for issues and will make things right- but you do have to follow their procedures.

They include a big orange sticker right on the box and inside the bag that says exactly that(thought i made the same mistake and didn't pay attention to it either)- if you purchased through a reseller you must handle issues through that reseller... and this is exactly where my experience with Rick from Wellington was different as he personally handled the issue I encountered, and when legendary was balking at covering the return shipping until they had the product he reimbursed me directly and waited for legendary to reimburse him. Thats customer service.

PUI is no different- they just don't sell directly to the public so you have no choice but to go back through a dealer to talk to them- but they too will usually treat you right if defects are found.

[64speed]

Originally Posted by jdb

I'm trying to find interior panels that will fit a 64 Tempest Custom convertible I'm fixing up, Ames folks told me today the GTO/Lemans panel is different shape then the Tempest panel, so I was surprised and disappointed but still not giving up. Anybody know if the panels are the same fit, except for the styling.

Same panel just a little fancier in the Lemans/GTO. I have the GTO ones to go in my Tempest Custom cause nobody will ever notice it’s basically just the placement of the pleats. I can’t get a straight answer on whether it’s supposed to have carpet on the bottom but I think it looks better without so I’m gonna leave it off!