I got to the point that I needed to get an interior put in my 50 Merc. I had moved to a new area and knew no-one and was having trouble getting quotations on a car that was not yet ready to drive. My sister had s***ched up her own interior for her 55 Ford, so I though what the hell I'll go for it. I did a bunch of research on the HAMB and learned just enough to be dangerous. I have to thank Gill Gonzales for his awesome technical post, without this info my work would not have been possible. I decided to use Trophy Queen hand bags for inspiration. Black patent leather, red sparkle Tuck n Roll, with gold sparkle piping & windlace. I bought a cheap Chinese walking foot machine and went for it.This was a huge project and it took me several month to complete. I measured out my seats and door panels and figured that I needed 120 feet of piping. I used a Sharpe to layout my lines for cutting the vinyl for my piping. I marked on the back side but I also marked the front when I made other panels. WD40 works well on vinyl as a cleaner if you make a mistake. This is what a 120 feet of piping looks like after cutting Completed piping sewn around 5/32 polyethylene piping stock. This is a shot of the rear door panel. Note how much smaller the panel is than the vinyl. I lost 3/4" per pleat so this process uses a lot of material. I used spray adhesive to keep the vinyl in place when I sewed the vinyl to the 1" sew foam. All four door panels, rear seat side panels, and parcel shelf all s***ched up. [/IMG] This rear panel was my first. I started small in the event I had a problem. Noticed that I have already installed my windlace. I had purchased stock windlace but hated the way it looked. I could not return it so I removed the black cloth & covered it gold sparkle. Note vinyl sticks to itself so my doors tend to stick shut. It's not a huge deal, but worth noting. 1st rear door panel complete. I ended up changing the black center post to red tuck n roll, just thought it looked better. Note that the spiky strips that attach the headliner are installed over the windlace. I chopped my car so you also have to chop these pieces too. I just laid the rough pleated section on my parcel shelf just to get a feel for how it would look. To protect the seat foam I covered the springs in heavy cheap vinyl The stock seats used burlap, but mine was rotten and falling apart. I made the seat cushions from “foam skin”. This stuff has a hard skin that is more durable and should hold up to the spring pressure. [/IMG] This is the cover for my rear seat. Because this was my first seat cover, I started on the rear first because it is not as visible as the front. I also had a stock cover in the rear that I used to make this shape. This is the section the runs along the top of the rear seat. Both pieces get sewn together to make one seat. Note how much longer it is before sewing. Marks are made with a silver Sharpe. The pleats get sewn twice so the marks are completely hidden. Upright of the back seat completed! Tip: use a dry cleaning bag over the seat foam and in between the seat cover. The bag acts like a slippery sock, this will make slipping a tight fitting cover on a lot easier. This is a little trick I learned on the HAMB. Test installation, it fit perfect. Note the ugly green & gray arm rest. I was lucky to have that cover and used it to make my new ones. Don't throw anything away, a bad pattern is better than no pattern. Original stock lower seat mocked up with my new upper. Note that I added a layer of chopped foam carpet pad over the sound material and under the carpet for a little more cushion. Rear arm rest completed! These little guys were tricky to make, thank god I had a pattern. Lower rear seat completed. Back seat complete and installed. I can't tell you how good I was feeling at this point. [/IMG] The front seats were very beat up, ugly and I had to weld and repair some of the springs and frame under the burlap. Front seat complete, one more to go. Note that the carpet is installed and bound in black patent leather. Also the center post that was black is now made out of red sparkle. To be continued................ Click link below for part II http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=827519
Very nice. Doing something like this iyourself s a huge accomplishment. Would be a great help for other if you could post some of your equipment and material sources.
Thanks. Great job and nice photo shoot. Way back in the 60's I did a total stock interior in a 1926 Model T. Later a custom job in a 1950 Buick. Nothing as nice as yours. I used an old Singer pedal machine with a motor added. I forgot. I also did the interior in my 55 Chevy wagon. The front T-Bird buckets were only dyed. They now need recovered. One of the most fun jobs I ever did on a car. Anyone can do it with planning and practice. Sadly back then I took no photos. I am slowly adding carpet padding to my 1948 Chevy panel. Left over carpet padding can be found if you look around. Lucky my neighbor back in Illinois laid carpet and gave me some. The 1/2 inch is great but the 1/4 inch works well on side panels. Hopefully other members will be inspired by your work and try doing their own interiors.
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