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Need some pics of original type interiors for 46-48 DeSoto


MarcDeSoto

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10 hours ago, Andydodge said:

I first saw references to "Naugahyde" in the 1960's hotrod magazines I started reading around 1965/66 and even back then I am pretty sure that I saw that naugahyde was a brand name for a particular type of leather patterned vinyl upholstery.

 

......andyd      

I reckon I also knew that it was a brand name, since 'hide' is not spelled 'hyde', and it is also a separate word.  But maybe I also never saw it written, and thought of it as "nauga hide".  And I don't know at what point in the darkening past I heard that it was an animal native to Australia.  Of course it was obvious that it wasn't real leather.  I don't know if I still have any, but back in 2018, when I was going through some old boxes of my stuff that had been stored at my folks house all of the intervening years since I moved away from there, I came across some scraps I'd saved from when my mom sewed the seat covers for the 53 DeSoto.   I only realized that it was a fake story when I just recently looked it up to see how it was spelled.

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I GOT some samples sent by SMS for my 48 DeSoto.  these are broadcloth and headliner samples plus a carpet sample.  From memory, I'm thinking the E headliner is closest to my car and none of the broadcloth samples are correct, but top one A might work.  What are your thoughts?  

 

 

des interior4.jpg

des interior4 1.jpg

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I have yet to see any upholstery fabric anywhere that really comes close to matching what was in my 46 Plymouth.  The closest thing I've seen was a suit my brother-in-law had.  So I started looking at suiting fabric in the fabric stores (when roped into going there with my wife), but even then, I've never found fabric like was used for his suit.  I know that suiting is thinner fabric than was used on the seats of these cars, but I figured that if I could find a good match, I'd use another fabric behind it, to take the stress, especially to withstand the "pull" at the seams.  But now I'm more so looking for a seat cover fabric that will be a reasonable match for the common seat covers of that era, generally a plaid pattern.  But no luck with that, either.  I know it's "wrong", but maybe I'll just use leather.  I figure it's better to be way off than to make it obvious I was trying to match it, and missing it.  However, I have a LONG way to go before I'm ready for the interior work.

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Here's a few photos of the crusty remains of my '48's interior. I'm guessing the seats might have matched either the door handles, or the back seat arm rests? The brown fake leather is some kind of paint impregnated cloth. I can't take a pic of the package tray now, if I don't start loading the van for Thanksgiving, my wife will kill me ?. I can also take a pic of the headliner cloth in a few days.

 

20211124_10075020211124_10071720211124_100619

 

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My guess is that your front armrests were recovered at some point in the past.  My 46 Plymouth Special DeLuxe had leather on the front arm rests, and I cannot imagine that the Plymouth would have had a better interior than the DeSoto.  Also, I would think that otherwise the fabric would have matched the seat cover material.  

 

The vinyl picture - Is that the lower part of the seat frame or of the door panel?  My Plymouth used a sort of burgandy-reddish vinyl material in those places.  I wonder if yours was also that same color.  (It seems that they had a LOT of it, because most of the cars used it, to my recollection.)

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6 hours ago, Eneto-55 said:

My guess is that your front armrests were recovered at some point in the past.  My 46 Plymouth Special DeLuxe had leather on the front arm rests, and I cannot imagine that the Plymouth would have had a better interior than the DeSoto.  Also, I would think that otherwise the fabric would have matched the seat cover material.  

 

The vinyl picture - Is that the lower part of the seat frame or of the door panel?  My Plymouth used a sort of burgandy-reddish vinyl material in those places.  I wonder if yours was also that same color.  (It seems that they had a LOT of it, because most of the cars used it, to my recollection.)

It's possible that they were recovered, but I don't think so. The driver's side arm rest is in tatters and looks original (i.e., crusty and gross), and the arm rest is leather (pretty sure it's actually leather, but I could check) underneath. I've noticed in pics I've collected that a lot of folks just yank off the remaining cloth and leave them leather, so maybe your '46 was originally cloth? Unfortunately, the seats were recovered, so I have no way of knowing if the armrests matched the seats. 

 

The fake leather is the lower part of the door panel. I'm pretty sure the color was a chocolate brown originally, it doesn't look faded. I wonder if there were many options for interior colors and patterns in those years, or you just got what you got and liked it?

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On 11/7/2021 at 1:56 AM, Andydodge said:

I didn't realise that there were still some Naugas left.....I thought they had all been shot & were now extinct...........lol...........andyd

 

I think all the naugas we have now are farm raise. 

 

And I think they're raised for food, not just for the hide.  Isn't that the meat in a McRib™ sandwich?

Edited by Racer-X-
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56 minutes ago, ratbailey said:

It's possible that they were recovered, but I don't think so. The driver's side arm rest is in tatters and looks original (i.e., crusty and gross), and the arm rest is leather (pretty sure it's actually leather, but I could check) underneath. I've noticed in pics I've collected that a lot of folks just yank off the remaining cloth and leave them leather, so maybe your '46 was originally cloth? Unfortunately, the seats were recovered, so I have no way of knowing if the armrests matched the seats. 

 

The fake leather is the lower part of the door panel. I'm pretty sure the color was a chocolate brown originally, it doesn't look faded. I wonder if there were many options for interior colors and patterns in those years, or you just got what you got and liked it?

My Plymouth is light green (Balfour Green, if I recall the name correctly), and the leather is dark green.  (All dried up, of course, but the underside, where the bottom plate is screwed down over the edge of the leather, is nice enough that I will be able to match the color pretty well.  I cannot recall hearing anyone else with a P15 say what their armrests were like.)  I think that a lot of people back then either ordered the car with seat covers, or put them on right away, to protect the original fabric.  (Now-a-days I suspect that perhaps most people think the opposite way - they only put covers over stuff after they've made a mess of the original.  I've never owned a new car, so I can't say what I would do.)

Edited by Eneto-55
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Thanks Ratbailey for those pics.  And you are going to do what i would have asked you to do.  Take some pics of the headliner and package shelf!  Thanks!  I think that A, B, C. D, and E above show some good samples of the vinyl leatherette to choose from.  I'm not sure yet what seat cloth I want.  but I think only some of the cloth materials are real wool.  I think the others are some kind of sythetic cloth.  I want real wool for the seat and real brushed cotton for the headliner.

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8 minutes ago, MarcDeSoto said:

Thanks Ratbailey for those pics.  And you are going to do what i would have asked you to do.  Take some pics of the headliner and package shelf!  Thanks!  I think that A, B, C. D, and E above show some good samples of the vinyl leatherette to choose from.  I'm not sure yet what seat cloth I want.  but I think only some of the cloth materials are real wool.  I think the others are some kind of sythetic cloth.  I want real wool for the seat and real brushed cotton for the headliner.

Cool, glad to help. Those samples look nice, I think these late 40s cars really look fantastic in wool pin-striped broadcloth. I've not heard great things about SMS, as far as getting the goods delivered on any kind of a timely basis, but they seem to be the only game in town for 40s interior materials. I'll get those pics in a few days...

 

Also, do you have your kick panels? Mine have the heater vents built into them, and are some really cheap cardboard embossed with a leather pattern, and like the rest of my interior, are pretty nasty. The moths and the mice had a wicked raver in my car ? 

Edited by ratbailey
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I haven't heard anything about SMS good or bad.  Ratbailey,  I would also like a pic of the door panel so I can see the whole panel to see what the design looked like.  I've seen armrests done both ways, in broadcloth and leatherette.  The geometrically designed trunk floor mat looks fine, but I think the original would have been a ribbed black rubber mat.   I have a semi retired upholsterer who was recommended to me helping me with my choices.  He suggested I get a pre-sewn kit for the headliner from ACME of Long Beach, but they haven't sent me any samples yet.  SMS's price for the headliner kit is $339.  Marc.

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2 minutes ago, MarcDeSoto said:

I haven't heard anything about SMS good or bad.  Ratbailey,  I would also like a pic of the door panel so I can see the whole panel to see what the design looked like.  I've seen armrests done both ways, in broadcloth and leatherette.  The geometrically designed trunk floor mat looks fine, but I think the original would have been a ribbed black rubber mat.   I have a semi retired upholsterer who was recommended to me helping me with my choices.  He suggested I get a pre-sewn kit for the headliner from ACME of Long Beach, but they haven't sent me any samples yet.  SMS's price for the headliner kit is $339.  Marc.

I've got what I assume to be the original trunk mat, in great shape. Black rubber, ribbed.

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Ratbailey,  I think I have  the kickpanels, but they are not original.  Save those kick panel originals, no matter how bad.  It will save a future upholsterer a lot of work.  Maybe you could even make measurements and trace to make templates. Since you have  a Custom model, the heater vents are built in, especially if you have dual heaters.  My car only has a heater, ComfortMaster, on the passenger side.  Hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and looking forward to more pics from you!  

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Couple three more pics. 

 

Driver's door handle. The handle seems to be rubber.

20211127_110726

Headliner. My cellphone really couldn't capture what it really looks like (the part that was covered by the window molding is what I guess the whole thing originally looked like). My wife, who makes a living from her ability to discern between subtle shades of color, to a degree that I swear she's making it up, says that none of your samples look like the remnant of my headliner. I'd just go with whatever you think looks good, and resign yourself to losing a few Concours points :)

 

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Another hunk of headliner, along with some ancient maggot eggs. Again, the phone couldn't capture the yellows in it (the headliner, not the eggs). 

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Package tray.

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Package tray close-up. 

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 Just noticed you asked for a pic of the whole door panel...I'll get you that tomorrow, and also the trunk mat. Let me know if you need anything else.

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Thanks again Ratbailey for the extra pics!  Maybe a shot of the headliner from a greater distance?  Maybe some pics of the kick panels in the front floor area of the front seat. On the headliner samples above, I kind of like the one on the left, E.  but I know it is a little too dark.  I think SMS has more samples, but they don't show everything on their webpage.  

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I finally got some samples from ACME car interiors.  They do headliners but don't have broadcloth for seats.  They have the dimensions for every old American car, so I don't have to measure the ceiling of my car.  Their price is $239 for a kit.  Which headliner below do you think is closest to original?  Marc.

 

 

des interior6 1.jpg

des interior6 2.jpg

des interior6 3.jpg

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13 hours ago, MarcDeSoto said:

Thanks again Ratbailey for the extra pics!  Maybe a shot of the headliner from a greater distance?  Maybe some pics of the kick panels in the front floor area of the front seat. On the headliner samples above, I kind of like the one on the left, E.  but I know it is a little too dark.  I think SMS has more samples, but they don't show everything on their webpage.  

OK. I took the close-up of the headliner that was hidden under the window molding, because the entire exposed part turned a cruddy reddish color. As far as I can tell, the non exposed close-up pic is the original color. 

Edited by ratbailey
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Velour fabric is the closest thing I've seen to the original mohair fabrics, except that it has a shiny sheen to it that is a very obvious difference.  (It just has that synthetic look to it.)  You should not be able to see the weave at all.  Looking at RatBailey's photo, you can see the difference in the protected area under the molding, and the deteriorated exposed area.  That is the same type of difference I see in my Plymouth headliner.  

 

EDIT: Oh, and about the front arm rests - don't submerse them in water to clean them.  That foam rubber will suck up the water, and it takes FOREVER to get them dry again.  (You can guess how I know this.)

Edited by Eneto-55
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13 minutes ago, MarcDeSoto said:

So from Ratbailey's pic, the bottom sample in  a light tan would be correct.  

If you were responding to me, I would say the top one, at least as far as texture is concerned.

Here is a wool suiting sample that came up in a search:

Woven Wool Solid Taupe

 

At Joann Fabrics, this is called 'Black' but it looks gray to me:

Heavy weight black wool

 

But I'm somewhat partial to this one, which sounds like it would be a bit more substantial (but would want to have a sample first):

Tanned Beige Wool Blend Twill Jacketing

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2 hours ago, MarcDeSoto said:

So from Ratbailey's pic, the bottom sample in  a light tan would be correct.  

Looks close to me, but according to my wife, I'm color blind. And, who knows, maybe DeSoto gave us more than one choice for headliner colors? It'd be interesting if someone came up with some sales literature. The big difference between the sample and the original is that the original is a "napped" cotton or wool, fuzzy like a wool blanket. 

I had done a little research sometime back, and got some samples from these two places. You might check them out, no idea how good they are...

https://wlsheadliners.com/

https://www.automotiveinteriors.com/napped-cloth-headliner-material-1-yard-p/hl-nap-1.htm

Edited by ratbailey
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