Ive been pondering this for a while. My 40 Ford Sedan will be reasonably low with a mild rake, small window Kidney beans front and back, halibrand quick change, louvered hood, 348 tripower, fenderwell headers etc. Inside, Ive decided to go for 65 mustang buckets in front, no back seat and some kind of 'period' roll bar. The issue comes with interior color choice, the buckets are in good shape and black, but way before buying the buckets, I bought a Le Baron Bonney headliner kit for it in a biege/taupe colour. I like the idea of an all black interior, a bit of tuck n roll possibly on the door/firewall/quarter panels, and a black carpeted rear 'seat' area, but not sure weather to paint the dash black and loose all the 40 deluxe appearance, or keep a stock looking dash, but would the stock colours go with black, and what about that beige headliner? Today I though maybe I could get replacement 65 seat cover that would go with the beige headliner. Turns out I can, Palomino its called, but it looks pretty beige, fine for a resto type ride, but a hotrod? It does mean a standard colour dash would work, but is beige a bad ass hot rod interior colour, or a grocery getter/parade car colour? Ive been looking at pics of Mustang interiors in this colour,they definitely look a bit 'Driving Miss Daisy' to me. I can't find any pics of cool hot rod beige interiors, anyone have any inspirational pics?
Taupe headliner, black seats and brown square weave rugs trimmed in black would look pretty cool. Maybe seat belts that match rugs. Black door panels trimmed with left over bits from the carpet job. Same on the quarter and kick panels. It would compliment the original gauge cluster too. Chrome the interior window frames.
Thanks for that, a lot of them are exactly what I dont want, really well done, but either 2000's street rod, or a bit too 'leather sofa' I found these tho for inspo.. They've all got white in though, and the bottom one shows that an all black dash would work with a bit of chrome, which a deluxe definitely has.
Maybe ignore the interior kit you bought, and clear your mind so you can have what you want, ... meaning, what would you really want if you never bought the headliner. That headliner should resell for full price or more, because so many people still want that companies former products.
On cars that were missing moldings,I made some out of wood & stained to match as needed. I also did a tech for us home do'ers, with tips n tricks that should be handy in part to anyone ! https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-sew-at-home-upholsrety-hot-rod.604077/
I don't think a light color headliner will look bad or detract from the rest of the interior. It might even brighten up the interior with the rest being black, and maybe some dark brown accents with the black on the door and side panels.
This is mine. Its not a 40 or even a closed car, but i just used a staple gun and made panels of styrene. Wood and stapled the vinyl to the seats, and made snaps for the top of seats. Farmed out the carpet and was debating doing a tan carpet with a white shifter boot, but ended up going with black with white piping on the carpet. I don't think tan would look bad with white. I think my next car Im going to do peanut butter tan seats OR just make sure i dont lay down on grinding dust before getting into my car lol. Your 40 sedan sounds bitchin with the halibrands and everything.
You could probably make out pretty well if you sold the LB kit since they're no longer in business. Be sure to make patterns using the kit before you sell.
My brother has an off topic 1966 MeteorMontcalm S33 that is completely original. From the factory, the whole interior is black, except for a white headliner. It does brighten the interior. To be honest you don't even really notice it, as it is not in your line of sight unless you look up. Having said that, if you want a black interior but want to tie in the headliner, how about using vinyl dye (paint) to paint the seat inserts beige. Applied properly, it is extremely durable.
@neilswheels , the idea is to look at a hundred, pick out what you do like and what isn't going to work for you. It used to be called discriminating, but that's evolved to mostly negative. How about discerning instead. Just keep looking; different stock interiors, boats, planes, home and office from the time period. Some small item, finish or color can make it unique in a good way.
...Good ideas. Absolutely, lighter headliners can make everything else pop. Dark can make things look like a funeral car.
A black headliner can kind of make the interior of the car feel like a cave, so having one that's lighter isn't necessarily a bad idea. My off topic daily driver's interior is all black except for a light grey-ish headliner and it looks good. On the other hand since you have Mustang buckets, if you're going for a mid-1960s style build it's easy to imagine someone back then getting a pair of palomino buckets from a crashed Mustang and slapping them in his car as is.
sell the headliner you will never be happy with it if you want black Vinyl .my 40 I used to own black diamond chrome frames and dash.it was just another black 40 but the interior stood out
Not this particular 40 Ford sedan, but the one that one of our friends had a bright red two door 40 Ford sedan with a Buick motor during our 1959-62 high school era. Hello, In our high school hot rod/drag race/cruising scene, there was a 40 Ford two door sedan that has a bright red paint color and an all white tuck and roll interior, including the interior roof and trunk. Most cars went south of the border to get the white tuck and roll upholstery. But this one guy in the 40 sedan went to a local Bixby Knolls upholstery guy and it came out looking like a show car. Not that the white tuck and roll from TJ was any different. It was, but still looked good in the daylight or night. It was the contrast of all one style bright interior, white, that made each of the hot rods/customs that got the white tuck and roll. No, plain upholstery, but all the same pattern and color on the roof, door panels kick panels and even the trunk lid, too. It was the way to go even for those that had a limited budget. That is why most went south of the border to get the one shot complete upholstery. You might bite the bullet and get a one time full on upholstery with your base bucket seats as a starter. Make sure you bucket seats are fully adjustable for a true comfort in your road trips. A lot of bucket seats look nice, but only go forward and back as well as fold for rear access. The best bucket seats have infinite adjustment backs for full comfort for the driver and passenger. Jnaki When we installed the foreign car bucket seats for our 40 Willys, we just moved it as far back as possible to give two teenagers some space inside for racing in comfort. There was no need for infinite back adjustments. We just needed leg room. But, in the following years, afterwards, our 327 SBC 40 Ford Sedan Delivery had bucket seats with infinite back adjustments. Driving around the seats were fully adjustable for my wife and changed over for me in the driver’s seat. The color was a darker tan and it did not show scuff marks. We also got a lighter GM tan color seat belt pair and were installed safely. when left at a parked spot, we always had the light color tan GM seat belts sitting on the bucket seats. The contrast looked good. It is your choice as to what it will eventually look like. A light tan seems like it would always look as if it needs cleaning. As far as color, a dark tan does not look like a faded brown color. But, white just stands out as a show quality car. That white color was not our choice and we know how fast Levi Jeans colors rub off on the surfaces of any leather color seats. So, get used to constant upkeep from getting in and out of your bucket seats if you go white or light tan... YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
