this "material" goes in a grove in the body of my 51 ford. metal tabs hold it into the body and then staples attach the windlace to this "JUNK" its not wood, its not a plastic Its kinda like a fiberous "junk" perhaps one step above hardboard ? where do i get this? or where can I get something that I can use in its place?
Most offered these days is rubber. Local upholstery guy makes his out of thin cardboard. He cuts correct width strips and glues them together. Stacks them to thickness desired. Works great for him
It's usually referred to as "tack strip" and I really, really prefer to put rubber tack strip into cars instead of this stuff, the rubber holds a tack or staple so much better, and if some of your foldover tabs are missing, you can drill through the rubber and mount it with aluminum pop rivets instead. Some tack strips I've run into were originally stapled through the sheetmetal to hold it on, that's when the rivets really work nicely. EDIT the stuff is considered plastic and not rubber, although it's a soft, black, bendy type of plastic.
I should mention you can buy it on eBay in generic lengths, just figure out the thickness and width you need. Like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/2008191805...4WDhIVNrUfmjSKqeeD6U8WSGPw==|tkp:BFBM1JvC8upk
If it's the board that goes between the windlace check local upholstery shops. It's the next thinner chipboard than the door panel one. They will sell you a sheet like 2'x3' and you cut the strips and do the rest. The guys sew it into the windlace. I would say it's about two thicknesses of cereal box. The alternative is to use wire and weave it into your wind lace and the when you are setting it make sure the rack strip teeth catch the wire.
For oddball stuff like this, I go to Restoration Specialties and Supply Inc. They have an incredible selection of, well, "junk". They are a source that should be known by anyone contemplating any kind of restoration or refurbishment.
If you can't find the plastic tack strip in the size you need; you can use "vinyl wood" trim boards from a home store and rip them to the desired size on a table saw. Since they are white; I give them a coat of flat black paint just in case an edge or something shows. Picture of a strip I cut for my coupe. A couple screws replaced missing bend-over tabs. The material is pretty flexible for curves and a heat gun can help it conform to tighter curves like the strip on my old roadster in the second picture.
Convertible tack strip ,works well , you can also use plastic body side molding strips , you can cut them to size and put them in a bucket of hot water, to help with bend and curves , And check out rubber base board moldings in the hardware stores, it can be glue together, and laminated to get the thickness you need later kb Custom - Premium Universal Body Molding for All Vehicles - Easy Install, Black F | eBay , Inc. ES210018-PK Universal Fit European Style Matte Black Body Side Molding | eBay
Ford used asbestos strips in their folding roofs to tack the fabric to. Could be the same stuff. Try burning it, if it won't burn its asbestos!
Hello Jeff, Restoration Specialties and Supply, www.restorationspecialties.com 814-467-9842, has it in several different sizes. It's called ''Laminated Waterproof Cardboard Tacking Strip''.
It's called "tack strip". You can buy it from Restorationspecialties.com Page 117 in their on line catalog.
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