Thank you @Nadeem Muaddi. It has been an up hill battle trying to make a dent in educating an industry that needs help but just doen't want to accept the help.

I learn new things every time I work on a project. As I talked with the students I learned even more of what they are up against. One said to me "I just do not want to make any mistakes". My response to him was that making mistakes is your best teacher. The bigger the mistake the better the lesson. I also added that the more costly a mistake was, the more you will benefit from it.

Starting at the top gives you only one direction to go . . . and that is down. I still have a long way to go and I will never give up.

This could be an air pressure issue. You should not overpower the stapler, but use the maximum allowable air pressure for the devise. Look at your pressure gauge when the trigger is pulled to see if you have the correct setting. Hose size and length ca affect the performance output of the tool.

If you still encounter issues, there may be a physical problem with the tool and it may need to be serviced. You said it was new, but new tools may not always be assembled correctly and can have damages components from the assembly process..

Well . . . Gravity still works and having something so big overhead may prove to be a hazard. I built a shelf 8 inches under the surface of my cutting table. I can still store material under the workbench and my panel board is safely tucked under the table, flat and ready to use.

I have a $65 destination fee added to an out of shop project. It covers travel time and gas. For out of state jobs or multiple trips, the fee goes up. The customer will understand. Call a plumber and you find that the first hour of service is five times the additional hourly rate.

I also have a dedicated travel kit. It is a roller bag that carries all of my essential tools. (Yes I have at least three sets of everything.)

I travel a lot. Many of my customers do not have the car running and driving and I will go to them.

This is a business and you are providing a service. The customer hired you to work on their project that is in a situation making things difficult for you. This requires an additional "service" charge and/or "location" fee added to the invoice.

Location work helps free up my shop so that I can get more work done. The customer appreciates the fact that I come to them and is willing to pay more for my time and skills. Charge your customer more for location work.

It might be the direction of the stretch in the vinyl. Vinyl must be patterned correctly so that when it is installed it will lay on the surface padding and conform.

You might try using a heat gun to warm the material to help it relax into position. Work the stretch up until the vinyl cools, reheat and then forward or down until it cools.

Do not over heat the vinyl or you will get shiny spots. A rule of thumb is- if it is too hot to the touch, you have overheated the material.

@Cody Lunning
I have attached an image with the foam area marked. I use a half inch seam allowance and I would cut the foam 5/8 of an inch away from the seam before the corner is sewn. Leave the foam along the flat seams.

You have to be careful with a short stitch length so that you do not perforate the material to the point it will tear out. It is best to eliminate any excess bulk in the seam allowance by cutting slits or notching the material.

When I first opened my shop I did a lot of furniture. I hired two upholsterers as sub-contractors to do the work. I bid the jobs, picked up and delivered and worked on car interiors.

One trimmer came in at 9:00 am and worked to about 2:00 pm. The other began at 1:00 pm and worked to about 7:00 pm. They earned 45% of the project that they worked on. I paid the bills, purchased materials and answered the phone.

I still turned away 3 out of every 5 projects that called. Eventually I just did not want to have anyone working with me and I concentrated on classic cars exclusively.

Check with your accountant about taxes, zoning and benefits that you should offer your people.
I feel that sub-contracting worked better than hiring an employee outright.

Notching the inside seam allowance is also helpful to relieve the stress on an inside curve.

Cody-
I would most likely remove the foam from the seam on both pieces in the curved area. The bulk from the foam is causing tension issues.

Is the cover padded? It almost looks like you have the material bonded to sew foam? If this is the case, Try to remove the sew foam from the seam before you sew it.

It is our job to make these projects look good. The kit interiors are just not as good as we would like them to be and complaining about how bad they are is not the issue.

What needs to be addressed is that the professional trimmer has the skills to turn the junk into gold. Do what ever it take s to make the project turn out right.

If you do end up coming to the UK to do a course i would definitely attend. — Joseph Bennell

Some day I would like to take you up on that offer if I can work out the details for a session. The project you are working on now is just the thing that a training session would benefit many other trimmers.

For the most part, Once the springs have been serviced and covered in burlap. There is no need for jute padding to be added. This will over tension the springs and cause them to break prematurely.

A layer of cotton batting should be added to the the surface of the burlap to level out the springs and then a 1 1/2 inch layer of poly foam cushion material is applied. The poly foam should lay even along the back of the seat frame a with about an 2 1/2 inch wrap-over along the front and sides of the frame.

Add another two layers of cotton batting to the top of the poly foam and cover the cotton with cheese cloth to keep it from pilling or bunching up. Hog ring the cheese cloth to the underside of the frame to hold everything in place.

The cover should fit pretty good once the frame id padded correctly.

I have found that the Ciadella seat covers need a little tailoring to make them fit well. Dry fit the cover over the padding and chalk up the cover and make alterations as necessary.
You can call me if you need any other help.

It is good to see another trimmer passionate about education. Keep up the good work John.

If the original headliner material has the foam backing, then you should remove the original covering before proceeding with the change over.

Why?
1. The foam will most likely fail within the next five years and the headliner will sag.
2. The suede material is most definitely heavier than than the original material and it will cause the original to pull away from the backer board. (Gravity still works)
3. It is always a good practice to never cover over old material when installing new. Cutting corners will come back at you later and you may end up redoing the project at your cost if it fails.

I agree with @Gareth Judd. Everyone will work at a different rate of speed.

When I was a young man and living on my own I wanted to make pork chops for dinner. I did not know how to cook them, so I called my mother on the phone and asked how do I cook pork chops. She told me how to prepare them and at what temperature to cook them. I thanked her for the help. About 45 minutes later, I called my mother again and asked her, "Are they done yet?"

We all work at different paces and it just take time to gain the experience to quote a job.

I have to agree with @Sam Rod completely. I have always told my customers that I do not want their family living in my house, after they sue me for the death of the car owner.

Unless you have the proper equipment and training to certify a repair, why would anyone even consider repairing these items when there is so much to loose if a problem develops. I know that there are plenty of good paying projects out there that do not require you to risk everything.

Just to follow up. The J-Clip is part # SC-008. I get them from Pyramid Trim Products. In St. Paul, Minnesota.

Another alternative is to use the plastic snap edge. The profile of the plastic mimics the metal retainer. I used a heat gun to shape it and then rivet it in place. Brush glue along the lower edge and tuck your headliner material under. It worked well on this custom suspended headliner I did for an Econoline pick up.

Ply-grip is used mainly in furniture upholstery for blind edging backs. Is has been used in the automotive industry to fill the need of lost or missing parts. When used correctly, ply-grip yields excellent results.

The part that you are looking for is called a headliner retainer side valance. To my knowledge, these are not available in the after market.
A retainer can be fashioned with some effort, they are not that hard to make.

I am not set up to hold workshops at my location, that is why I am taking it on the road. There are many trimmers that have projects that are over their head and could use some additional help. These are the projects that I am looking for.

I do make house calls. That is the whole reason for the "On Location Workshop". I have found that a lot of people will not travel very far for anything. I have already been invited to Ireland to help, the UK is not that for away. I am still working on how to structure the program so that it will benefit those that attend.

The need for education seems to be one that a lot of trimmers would like to pursue. There are a lot of formal classes being offered that cost a lot of money and require months of commitment with mixed results.

Next year I plan on holding "On Location Workshops" that will target specific tasks that trimmers are having trouble with. Workshops would be hosted in a trimmers shop with several other trimmers attending and completing the interior of the car.

The logistics of holding these workshops are being worked out and will be announced later this year. If you are interested in a hands on workshop, you can message me and I will be happy to talk to you about it.