Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

As I strip out all the tar, undercoating off the surfaces of my trunk area on my 42 convertible, I was wondering what was actually on the trunk floor and walls when they let the factory.

Curious what all of you use when you restore your cars inside the trunk area.

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I believe starting with the 17th series and thru 54 all trunks came at a minimum with rayon flocking on the sides and over the wheelhousings. The colors were mostly in brown to grayish shades.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SL-VOL12NO21.pdf

The junior models had a simple rubber mat over the center of the floor. We don't have a 42 fact book on site but the 41 book you can download from the literature section has that same treatment thru the 160. On the lower models it was described as flock but the 160 description has the flocking as a luxurious suede like material. In more expensive models a carpet type mat covered the floor and in the 180 the sides were in a "patterned insulating material". On postwar at least, carpet mats were usually very thin hogshair or the like and very rough. I suspect that may have been the 42 treatment as well. It doesn't seem like Packard spent a lot of money on the trunk finishes.

The modern flocking is a much finer fiber than the course fiber material used by Packard. A reasonable job can be done with the slightly larger nylon fiber rather than using the modern rayon but modern is a much softer look than the original.

Great information, I really appreciate it

Somewhere I got the idea that goat hair was used a flocking. I did a pretty good job of vacuuming my ’54 and saving a sample for posterity . . . less the dirt and sand. It is very much multi-colored, but when taken in total was a light tan with a bit of gray mixed it. When view at 9X you can see white, black, brown, straw, translucent, and tan individual fibers. Each fiber was 1/8 to 1/4 inch long. I wonder if rayon was a strategic material and WWII forced a rethink on the trunk covering material that lasted well after the war. If a natural material was used I suspect quite a bit of color variation occurred . . . not so much if the material was man-made. Now I have to figure-out where did I get the idea about goat hair as the trunk material. When I was thinking of re-flocking my trunk I could not find a product in-line quite like the sample I had in my hand.

I still have what I think are an original set of 'ropes' for a '54 tucked away out of harms way.

dp

I've also heard it called "goat hair" but don't know if that is literally what it is. It is indeed very common to see Packard trunks over-finished compared to original.

Once the rust was cut out of mine and new trunk pan welded in, I coated everything with a high solids black paint like POR-15. Then my trunk was over finished bu the upholstery shop that did the seats and top. I decided not to cover the oak boot box. It was a masterpiece by Gary Martin, with 4-in dove tails in 10 sections and interesting to younger generations because it’s wood in a car instead of plastic. We gave it a coat of marine varnish and left the trunk side exposed. The interior is covered with fiber board and leather.

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Gosh, that's beautiful, Joe. As the Caddy guy says, THAT's a convertible!!! They don't make 'em like that anymore. Chris.

I believe the undercoating is correct. Then carpet would go on top of it.

Good Afternoon all...When we received Miss Prudence...The inside of her trunk looked like the south end of a north bound horse! No serious rust, just on the surface and lots of stains...some left ove bits on the wheel wells...Lots of sandpaper...a tiny bit of scraping and three good coats of Gloss Black Paint and she looks pretty acceptable...if not stock...Now there is only one box with a quart of oil, a gallon of coolent and an axle jack...Ernie in Arizona