Hot Rods IS THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR UPHOLSTERED?

Here's mine.

 

Truck bed coating.

 

A point I'd like to make about upholstery and trunk mats is that if any water leaks occur your looking for big time rust issues. In one of my cars on the way home from an event I had to drive in extremely heavy rain. Once I got home I forgot to take out the thin rubber factory mats and dry out any accumulated water. This created some rust under the mats. I had to remove the rust and respray the splatter paint. Now I don't bother with the rubber mats.

 

It's been a long time since I had a hot rod with a trunk and my roadster was upholstered and I had a thick rubber seal and was fortunate it never got wet but being topless the interior got soaked many times. HRP

 

Fully upholstered and carpet . Here is the tire cover

 

In the '55 yes but only black mat sound deadener in the '34 coupe.

 

YEP

 

Well you can look at this every time you open your trunk or...

Or this .... I chose this.

Inserts for the lid.

I manage to get a lot of things hidden away behind the white panel. I have always thought
finished trunks are a nice feature on a car like this. I mean you go to all that trouble to make
everything else nice you might as well finish it off right.

 

I never did anything with the trunk in my 55, even after I painted the car, and it always bugged me.

But I also used the trunk, at times hauling transmissions, cylinder heads, etc so having it nicely upholstered would have bothered me, too.

There is probably a happy medium, which is likely restoring it to stock, with it's original mat.

 

I have a vague memory of houndstooth pattern trunk mats in the early 60's. These probably over lapped into the OT, later half of the decade but they may have been around in the 50's too.

 

HRP, no upholstery, battery, fuel cell and tow bar mounted on a 2" ball for ballast and emergency. All illuminated by a '34 Ford cowl light converted to 12V

 

The trunks of Muntz Jet's were trimmed in a sort of houndstooth patterned thick-backed fabric, going back to the year 1950, as standard from the factory.

 

On the 31 Model A that I am currently building I used truck bed liner for the trunk. I will also use a rubber mat . The way I see it if water gets in the trunk it will clean right up.

 

The trunk of the '32 matches the interior. The tab you see pulls down for storage behind the panel.

 

The trunk of my 38 Chevy was disgusting, so I did a quick and dirty "fix up" with some leftover carpet, some PVC? sheets and vinyl that was on sale at a fabric store. Does it look show quality, NO, but it looks better than it did. Actually the trunk is better than the 35 plus year old paint

 

Well, mine isn't exactly upholstered....but I'm happy with it.

 

First pic is when I bought my '39, 2nd pic is after I created some boards, and covered them with carpet..nothing fancy, but a cleaner look.
I included the pic with the lawn chairs, to give some of you ammunition to slam lawn chair owners.
But as I get older, I become more practical..if you're sitting in some show all day, it's nice to have a place to put your ass.
And no, they aren't a permanent fixture, as I don't go to many shows.

 

^^^^^^^^^^Hey, I'm gonna be 80 in 2 weeks and for cruise ins, I've graduated from a lawn chair to a travel mobility scooter in the trunk. It comes apart into 5 pieces, none over 35 lbs., will fit in the trunk of my '40, and it allows me to get around and look at the other cars as well as socialize.

 

tool box and a cooler

 

my 51 merc is done up real nice but the 41 olds is about stock looking. i do like seeing customs with the trunks done right but daily drivers not so much

 

WOW! nice, but where did you put the Flux capacitor? lol

 

Not as fancy as some shown here-and the color not really practical for a trunk...but then we don't really build these things to be practical

 

...most hot rods I know don't even have upholstery in the interiors.

 

The '32 Roadster I built was my first attempt at an interior. As "practice" I did the inside of the trunk. I'd say it worked.

 

Not exactly a trunk , but it is in the same area. The bed of my truck. Bill

 

Could just be the time I'm from with my car likes {50s/60s}. Doing the trunk nice was for sure cool with show cars an added points. But even cars that never went to the shows,many would do it,the gal's really liked it when you picked them up for a date picnic,cook out or beach party,pretty much any thing were you were putting any of her stuff in your trunk for the date. Fact is,most that had it decked out,could also just unsnap the upholstery an leve it at home for every day driving around carrying odd stuff that may mess up the cool! Same as some of the things we kept in the trunk,there were show prop stuff=gas cans,tools an safety kits and then the real ones that had stuff in them to use if needed. I carryed when not decked out for a show,two spair tires an rims{smaller for front an bigger for back etc. Rug in the trunk,even if not for show,is nice to keep raddels an sound down anyway. Even better for snicking guys into the drive in movies/well maybe not so much now days LOL

 

I'll play. My roadster

 

My '39 Deluxe Coupe..........