Substitute for windlace

[YukonJack]

I'm getting annoyed with the windlace in my 47 P15 2dr sedan. Anytime I go to get something out of the back seat it pulls loose. Is there a modern substitute for it? I have seen some newer cars that had a plastic or hard rubber channel instead. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

 a wind lace tacked to the proper backing strip should not be giving you this problem..either the wind lace is from defective material used or the cardboard tacking strip has deteriorated over the years due to being wet etc.   As no one here has seen your lacing or your base strip there is little anyone can say or do to help you until inspection is made and the product that is the problem is defined..maybe the installer did not use the proper method to tack the lace or went at to great of intervals between tacks...again..it would be just a WAG at best without further info..as this is assumed to be below the headliner issue one can remove the lower panel and the glass garnish to address this with deeper inspection and possible use of more tacks to hold in place...

Edited November 18, 2013 by Plymouthy Adams

[desoto1939]

Is thias the original windlace or has it been replaced?  If original then i would also suspect as tim stated the tacking strip might have torn loose and the  outer material is now disconnected from the tacking strip.  If it was replaced the smae thing could also be happening.  There is a tacking strip and mabe there are not enought tacks or the distance between the tacks is to great to hold the windlace in position.

 

You will have to remove the maternial also the piller post to see what is up and then go from that point.

 

Rich Hartung

[YukonJack]

Interior was redone when I got the car about 12 years ago. My concern is not with saving the windlace as much as replacing it with something else. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

this style car is designed for tack on wind lace and as such the pinch welds are not of a design to accomodiate the more modern style of opening seals/trim...for this one needs a lip to allow the spring molded rubber to adhere to

[BobT-47P15]

You can make new windlace by getting some new

Rubbery rope stuff, wrap it with whatever

Material you like. Just stitch next to the

"Rope" and leave a tail to attach with

Edited November 18, 2013 by BobT-47P15

[Robert Horne]

I bought my new windlace at Walmart.

I covered the windlace with black leather(real cow type stuff, not plastic leather),

from an old leather coat, and some spray glue.....looks very good....

[Plymouthy Adams]

sewing wind ace is not hard but you really need the special foot to get the stitch tight against the cord

[RobertKB]

There is no substitute for windlace except to replace it or live with the condition it is in. I had a similar issue with the replaced windlace in my '48 Dodge club coupe. It would pull away when people climbed in or out of the back. First thing I did was make sure that my seat mechanism for moving the front seat forward worked properly to give as much room as possible for backseat passengers getting in. Secondly, I took off the panels below the the window mouldings and glued and retacked the windlace. Although not perfect, the windlace problem is greatly improved.

[Eneto-55]

The original windlace had a wire mesh embedded in it to keep it hard against the door when it was closed.  It was not there just for looks, or to cover up a weld seam like it is used now-a-days.  It really did keep down the drafts and wind noise.  Back in 83 I bought a whole roll of something that I thought was really going to be the cat's pajamas.  It was sold as door sealer for walk-in refrigerators, and had the same basic construction as the original.   (It was uncovered.)  I had just met my future wife the year before, and I never did get back to the resto on my 46.  That roll of stuff has not survived the storage time, and is now falling to pieces, having never been installed.  It was supposed to have done both my 4 door P15 & my brother's 49 DeSoto.  Since the internet I have searched for something similar, but have never found anything like it. (I bought that roll in some supply house in North Dallas while I was working as a buyer there in that area.)

[Robert Horne]

Chrysler windlace is still available on ebay, $2.99 per foot.......

Walmart windlace in the sewing department is alot cheaper........

[RobertKB]

I have seen home-made windlace many times and unless you know how to sew well, it is often a disaster. Not always, but most of the time it looks very hokey. I am not made of money, but I would rather buy the professionally made windlace as I think the finished result looks much better. Sometimes you need to pay to play.

[bob westphal]

One of the problems mentioned in connection with windlace is the the thick cardboard tack strip around the door opening. Over the 60 some years these cars have existend, this stuff disindigrates. I ran into this problem while installing new upholstery in my P-15 club coupe. The tack strips weren't there in several places. I checked with several local upholstery shops to see what they do when they come across this problem. They didn't have an answer. I racked my brain for a couple days and finally went to Home Depot in search of a substitute material that would work. As I entered the store I saw a garbage can with several pine 1'' strips sticking out that are the same thickness as the original tack strips. I grabbed them and went back home. I made patterns to fit where the tack strip had been out an old cerial box and transfered them to the pine strips. I cut the new strips out with a coping saw. After some working and fitting the pines strips into the tack strip cavity, I had new tack strips that will hold the windlacing in place.

 

Bob

[murfman1967]

I bought a rubber/plastic tack strip at my local upholstery supply shop, DuBuos Fabrics.  It looks like this stuff:

http://www.ezsofttops.com/p-2381-convertible-top-tack-strip.aspx

[Plymouthy Adams]

home sewn wind lace is not a substitute for wind lace..it may just be a poorer quality version of the same thing...lol

[BobT-47P15]

If you have a local auto upholstry shop, they might consent to make you up some new lacing. 

[oldodge41]

Restoration Specialties has windlace and tack strips.

[wilbur46]

My local fabric supply store has a bunch of nice ,friendly ladies who will "demonstrate" how the "foot" for the sewing machine works.

By the time they have finished the demo, I have enough for both doors.

Just take one piece so they can see how much 'tail" you need.  I use the rolled cotton batting they sell and naugahyde, cause its bulletproof.

Just smile a lot!

W