Re: 1955 Caribbean top material

Posted by Leeedy On 2021/2/1 23:56:04
Quote:

Joe Santana wrote:
Your upholstery shop should have a swatch book of available material for the inner ply so you can specify for E-Z Top the color you want. You can't buy from E-Z direct, but your shop can. I believe E-Z makes up the tops to order from the patterns they have. They can also make it unfinished on the edges so your shop can cut and fit the finished top precisely to your car. I choose special material for the inner ply and ordered the top rough so the shop could finish it to the Duchess. I have photos of what that looks like.


It just doesn't work that way. "Inner ply" (which I presume you mean inner facing of the top fabric) is not orderable from anyone separately. Not unless they are making some kind of headliner–which would be disastrous on a Caribbean. And even moreso for 1955.

Convertible top fabric has at least three layers... all calendared together as one piece at the time of manufacture. Nobody sells "inner plys" separately– unless there has been some radical new development in the industry (one that I have not heard of). And fabric suppliers are not going to make a run that would be long enough to be doable and yet short enough to be affordable too. Especially not in today's environment. Cost to do custom-made fabric (the right type) in the right inner and outer shade would be astrobucks. In the end the top would be so expensive and consume so much time and labor, it could only done with very deep pockets and a lot of time.

I used to get these things made back in the 1970s when I had part interest in a trim shop. But most of the sources for fabric and people to make it and accomplish the coloring are all gone now. A mini-nightmare to do these days. I know and I've vowed never to do another.


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