Jeff I indu Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 It's running good and just thinking about how far I want to go with the interior. As far as I can tell its 100% original except for the front seat. I assume the front seat originally looked like the back and someone replaced it with a cloth bottom. I like the look of the back seat but the whole interior needs to be upgraded. I haven't really talked much to upholsterers and before I do want to understand what is available. The door sills are cracked pretty badly. I have not yet found a source to repair or replace them. The back seat carpet is cool because of the vents at the bottom. I am sure a upholsterer can match it. However the floor in the front was rubber matting. The original is in the trunk in pieces. I have not seen a supplier for molded rubber matting. I assume it was made this way to provide access to the master cylinder and torque converter if needed. The dash is badly cracked and would need replaced or redone. Maybe a reupholster can do it. The dash pad also wraps around onto the door. I know there are resources for the headliner,window felts etc. I can do some painting, chrome polishing, steering wheel repair and things like that. But I am not a upholsterer and will farm much of it out. But if I cant repair/replace the door sills, dash pads or front rubber matting it kind of defeats the purpose of upgrading the interior. This would be a winter project and i would want to do whatever I can myself to lower the cost. Just fishing for ideas at this point. I know it wont be cheap but if it's not doable from a practical point of view then I will just drive it for fun for now Jeff . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcDeSoto Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 Knowing these cars as I do for over 40 years, you got the upholstery a bit wrong. The only original upholstery on the seats is the front seat with the beige color and thin stripes. Chrysler never used a thick striped material like that on the back seat. The bottom part of the front seat is the original broadcloth wool material used on many Chrysler cars of that era, including my 48 DeSoto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper50 Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 I believe that if you removed those wide stripe covers you will find the original upholstery underneath them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff I indu Posted July 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 Well, I believe you are both right. I assumed since 3 of the 4 sections were the vinyl type material they were original and that since the front seat bottom section is usually the first to wear out, that it was a replacement. Just inspected a little closer where some of the vinyl material is splitting and I can see the original cloth pattern underneath Wonder why the previous owner only recovered 3 of 4 sections and didn't recover the one section that I would think would have been easiest. Guess I will never know. But thanks for the info. As I get closer to starting the interior I intend to keep it as close to original as possible Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg51T&CWagon Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 My 2 cents. If you have the hand eye coordination to rebuild a carb and the self discipline it takes to do bodywork or welding you can teach yourself to run a sewing machine and do seat upholstery. An old used Singer*- mine's from the 30s-simple and powerful, will sew that wool broadcloth no problem, you don't need a walking foot machine to do that I don't think. There's a very talented Mexican upholsterer who has some great youtube videos on how to do it and watching him to see how he handles fabric and prep, his pace of work etc you can figure it out. Do a couple or three small projects to get the hang of it and learn what's what. BTW I once had a car with aftermarket seat covers, I pulled em off to find original upholstery that wasn't that bad at all. a coupe split seams i resewed by hand with a curved needle and it was good to go. Upholstery cleaners can do wonders as well. Garage sale find 20 bucks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff I indu Posted July 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 I have done some upholstery on chairs but not on car seats. I'm sure it's the same principal. Pull the staples or clips, lay it out flat and follow the pattern. Your comment about the actual condition of the original cloth under the seat covers is interesting. I am now going to have to remove and find out what is underneath. I might be surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg51T&CWagon Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booger Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 I'm curious what a shop installed interior runs? Headliner, seats, door panels. Just a stock look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 I've been doing my 49 royAl myself and I'm fairly pleased 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Did the headliner, door panels, dash pads and an ok carpet job myself. New windlace and package tray. I'm now making panels for the trunk. I will.post those pictures tomorrow. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50mech Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 These interiors are particularly easy and simple. Any sewing machine with a little power will do. I use the oft copied older necchi machine on everything but Arctic vinyl and as mentioned the old singers and nearly all the copies of them will do it it too. Tear out the old with a seam ripper trace it for a pattern and re- sew as it was. You'll have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcDeSoto Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 On 7/21/2020 at 4:59 AM, Jeff I indu said: Well, I believe you are both right. I assumed since 3 of the 4 sections were the vinyl type material they were original and that since the front seat bottom section is usually the first to wear out, that it was a replacement. Just inspected a little closer where some of the vinyl material is splitting and I can see the original cloth pattern underneath Wonder why the previous owner only recovered 3 of 4 sections and didn't recover the one section that I would think would have been easiest. Guess I will never know. But thanks for the info. As I get closer to starting the interior I intend to keep it as close to original as possible Jeff Jeff I think you may have answered your own question here. As you say the front seat bottom wears out first. So apparently this car was reupholstered so long ago the front seat was still good. Then the seat cover over it wore out! If the seat bottom in front is still good, that's a good sign for the rest of the seat upholstery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcDeSoto Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 6 hours ago, Hickory said: Did the headliner, door panels, dash pads and an ok carpet job myself. New windlace and package tray. I'm now making panels for the trunk. I will.post those pictures tomorrow. Hick, did the headliner come as a pre-sewn kit and where did you buy it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcDeSoto Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 On 7/21/2020 at 6:18 AM, Greg51T&CWagon said: My 2 cents. If you have the hand eye coordination to rebuild a carb and the self discipline it takes to do bodywork or welding you can teach yourself to run a sewing machine and do seat upholstery. An old used Singer*- mine's from the 30s-simple and powerful, will sew that wool broadcloth no problem, you don't need a walking foot machine to do that I don't think. There's a very talented Mexican upholsterer who has some great youtube videos on how to do it and watching him to see how he handles fabric and prep, his pace of work etc you can figure it out. Do a couple or three small projects to get the hang of it and learn what's what. BTW I once had a car with aftermarket seat covers, I pulled em off to find original upholstery that wasn't that bad at all. a coupe split seams i resewed by hand with a curved needle and it was good to go. Upholstery cleaners can do wonders as well. Garage sale find 20 bucks. Greg, can you put the link to that upholstery video? I tried to find it on YouTube but couldn't. Thanks, Marc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 My headliner came from WLS. Seen together but not cut, you have to trim. Nice quality. They didn't have the original template for my car so we went of from measurements and found it to be the same as the Coronet. They have most of the patterns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff I indu Posted July 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Wow, that interior looks great. Gives me hope to redo mine the same way. I just got plates for my 49 royal yesterday and want to drive it for a few months to be sure I am ready to go.to the next level and tackle the interior. I've looked at wls also. They redo the visors also which is a plus. One thing that confuses me is that their website now shows a headliner for a 49 to 51 headliner for a Windsor or royal club coupe. It says there should be 7 panels with 6 metal rods. I only count 6 panels with 5 rods. Is that what you have? How difficult was it to redo the dash padding. Is it all bolted on from under the dash and behind the door? Based on what I already know about working under the dash there is not much room. Looks like you are carpeting the front. I was not sure if that was acceptable or I believe mine had a rubber floor in the front but so far no source for replacement rubber. I dont really like the idea of covering access to the master cylinder with anything but I guess that is how these cars were designed Anyhow please keep posting pictures and I will be closely following. Jeff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 Mine did have carpet in the front and rear. The access doors were cut into the carpet so you just flipped the carpet out of the way and unscrewed the access panels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 The dash pads do have nuts on the back side. I had the dash out when I rewired the car so I don't know how hard it is to get to them. The ones on the door garnish is easy, just remove the garnish then remove the pads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff I indu Posted July 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 Thanks hickory, All good info that I did not know. I am a couple months away from starting to work on the interior. It's a good fall/winter project. I'm sure it will take me some time. Will let you know once I start as I may have a few questions that you may have easy answers for. If you dont mind of course Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 That maroon set up was fairly common and each city had two or three seat cover shops in the late40s through mid 60. They were sold to protect the interior from wear and tear and stains. When it came to trade in time, they would be pulled off and the new looking stock interior would get you 25 or 30 bucks more for the trade in value. Looking at the back seat where the cushion meets the floor, you can see they fit pretty well but far from what would come out of the factory. Does look like they did there job and were worth every bit of their now on sale price of 19.99 regularly 24.95. The seat cover shop was the first place he went when he upgraded. Worst ever was the clear vinyl that went on his first ever new car a 1960 Dodge Dart. Blazing hot in the summer and never warmed up in the winter. Then turned yellow and cracked from the sun leaving you sitting on dozens of sharp edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg51T&CWagon Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 Sorry about the delay in posting the link to the instructional videos. This is one of many check out his other videos as well. I learned a lot from watching them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted July 30, 2020 Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 This is what one of the side trunk panels looks like I've been making. Will post more pics soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Posted August 5, 2020 Report Share Posted August 5, 2020 It's coming along 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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