Upholstery part 1, Roof, dash & panels


Change of interior to Tuck n Roll ( pleated ) style

No other style than the Tuck´n Roll stitching of the 50s & 60s, will be right in a true Kustom car of this era. A lot of cars was raced over the Mexican border to get this cheap, even there was a lot of slap in materials. Straw, rolled paper etc. was used for stuffing that time, and of course, some interiors fall apart after some time... Good materials was expensive that and these days, but quality ,all over,has been better, to keep it over time!
   Yeah, white with contrast color looks great, IF its a showcar! When car is used all over, it quickly get ruined. Some says:"Just use a blanket"  ... whats the point of a great interior,to need hide it?  

  After the change to the Volvo leather seats, the time for rest is here. Headliner, inner sidepanels, floormat,doorsides, trunk etc. will be redone with marinegrade vinyl in tuck n roll style in marsmellow offwhite, and green. these colors wouldn't be so "dirty" as the traditional pure white, and supposedly suits better in all year driven car.                                       
  ( right click and choose view image to see a bigger pic )

Headliner removed from car and detached in seams, to make pattern for the new vinyl.
The roof inside is finished insulated with similar as Dynamat. All seams are taped w/ alutape.
Of course the steel was preparated against moisture and rust before start.
Measure of the vinyl.
Before,a materialplan was made, to get best effective use of material .
Exactly measure is done on every part,with recheck

Soft rubberstrips are sewn in,
to make the weatherlining in door openings.
.
Its more than one way to make the pleats,but when trying different ways, i found that using some woolcloth glued on the back side of foam, ( to stop tread cutting the foam ) and make a  V- shaped cut at each pleat, was best for curved mounting, as on dash.
   Always starting in the middle of foam, to alignment right, i glued only the V, and slightly pressed vinyl down at that point to dry. When gluing next one, don't tension it, just fixate it. Then sew lines straight in the V. Always sewing the middle first,then the next outwards to sides. The sewing will press together the thickness of foam, and give the vinyl tension enough to make it wrinkle free. At this way, glued and low tensioned, the vinyl wont brake easy in the seems.

Pleated section ( who follows the chromed center of dash )
& sideparts finished sewed, and mounted.
Glued at place with 3M high tension spray glue.		 <<Frontsection over windshield.

Edge against roof opening don´t get the pleated treatment all, because off width against the "rooftop".
Rear panel behind rear seat, in similar style as in upper dash.
  Sided parts have no foam for better contrast of pleats.

This needs a good panel for no bumps to show.
With careful use of a heatgun, its possible to stretch / adjust the vinyl for the best possible fit,roll the edge, or press down all pleated edges who connect to a flat area.
For flat mounting. i found chimney insulation plates who got "ripstop" backing. Theese got a stiffer foam, but dont suck easily moisture, perfect for outside and sidepanels.





The headliner is made traditional, with bows, in same style as dash etc.   Back in the Kustom era most glued the finish sewed fabric on a plate section, and some thinner covered panels aside down to window/ beltline. This way they made a sloopy curved headlining who follow the contour of the roof. Only this way, steep angle will be from the middle sections to outer panels because the roof curbs in both directions.
  When done as original, both directions got curb, but also got some bow "stretchmarks", and make difficulty of sewing bow -pockets when not making stitches across of the middle section pleats.Here bow-pockets needs sewed only to the pleat backing.


Making templates of the old headlinerparts. Problematic because lost parts, every is made with extra material.
All offwhite parts of the headliner cutted.
The pleated green vinyl is waitin to assembly.
My headliner is using the original bow´s , and to bow- pockets i used vinyl for the strenght.
To not cross stitch the pleats, pockets are handsewn only in the clothlayer back of foam.
Assembled with bows in the pockets, clear for mounting.

All seams against the pleats are glued. ( 3M  # 08090 )
Mid headliner section glued /tacked.
Puhhh! Terrible thoughts about how it fit. . .  will it be wrinkels, wrong curbs, pocket sewn wrong,etc.
How easyer it have been without the pleats in middle...		 After lot of adjust/check for symmetri, and strech,pinning, YES, the pattern was right!
Left front halve come up with a little help from the heatgun, wrinklefree, perfect against roofopening!

Done before, sidepanels are formed with an egde from underside of dash, to meet the rear seat pillow.  Here the upper part got the pleated Tuck n Roll treatment in green. Lower part in offwhite.
Panels are of masonite, extra treated against moisture with epoxyprimer.


                                                    Formal plan of doorsides  >>


First is to glue some backing cloth, so the tread dont rip into the foam.
Or, here is som chimney insulation with strong enough backing, to stop rippin´. Good to use on flat surfaces, its stiffer than regular foam.
Measuring the pleats, marking the foam, to make the V shaped cuts in foam.
Vinyl is pressed down and glued in the V- cut.
The foam is stretched back, so its flat, and vinyl is into the V

After some time for glue to set the foam > vinyl, its sewn straight in the V pressing.
Then repeat the gluing process, and sew the next one.
Here are all pleated parts to door- & side panel finished.
  Ready for adjusting cuts, and mount.


Rear sidepanel nearly finished.
Missing only the "chromed" and green pipeline between the two colors.		 All rear sideplates are finished without the chromebelt between colors, doorplates and front sideplates are also done!

INTERIOR is Done ,
next chapter, SEATS! >>