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If you need them, Motor City Packardsmotorcitypackards.org reproduces the special fender skirt bolts in brass or stainless.

The previous owner was nice enough to leave the fender skirt bolts in place, so I do have both of them.

Dealing with the holes will be another matter. I'm still figuring out the best way to mark where I need to drill.

-Kevin

SMS came through with a new sample for the blue vinyl. This one is much closer and is likely what I'll go with. Comparing the color to the blue under the trim pieces it looks fairly close. Against the original cloth for the seats it looks dead on.

Now the question is how much do I order to have enough to do all the door panels. 2 yards?

-Kevin

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Kevin

I was quickly educated by my wife on fabric measurement. In her world the material was 54 inches wide, and the product would be sold by length . . . and they used the units of yards when referring to length. When my lizard brain heard the word ‘yard’ I quickly switched incorrectly into the area mode. In her world the bolt of fabric, that would also include vinyl, would be brought to the cutting table and cut to length, not width. Pricing was stated ‘per yard’, but the actual length was whatever the customer wanted. They used POS calculators to do the arithmetic. The questions you need to ask are, what is the width of the product, and is the product priced by the length? The bolt width is not necessarily a single value from one industry/supplier to another . . . 45, 54, and 60 inches are typical, but you better ask.

Ultimately, she brought home a partial bolt of green vinyl that matched the interior of our ’54 quite well . . . it was ‘on-sale’ and she had a coupon, plus an employee discount. We were both happy.

dp

Thanks David. I checked with today and it's 54" wide. I ordered 2 yards each of the blue and the ivory. Not cheap, but I haven't found anything else that is close. Not even for the ivory. I've tried all the local fabric stores and a couple upholstery places...nothing they have will work.

So I bit the bullet and paid way too much for this vinyl. I *think* I can get all the panels done with the two yards, plus the scraps I have from the headliner. But we'll see. Now I need to gather the rest of the supplies like foam, glue, and the panel boards.

I'll definitely have to practice sewing the pleats on some scraps. I'll have one chance when it comes to the final product.

-Kevin

No progress on the Panama this week. Had to turn over my free time to fixing the Audi. Alternator is going out and trying to fix some other items while I'm in there. It's a nightmare.

Need to replace the alternator? Remove the front of the car. Need to replace the belt or any of the countless hoses? Remove the front of the car. Need to replace the A/C compressor? Weep and gnash teeth, then remove the front of the car.

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.... need to change a headlight...

Now that the Audi is "fixed" I can turn my attention back to the Panama. German cars are the worst.

My driver's window has been cracked since I bought the car. Not a huge deal, since I drive with the windows down nearly 100% of the time. But the window run channels are completely shot, so the glass rattles around quite a bit.

I pulled the glass out and decided it would be best if a pro replaced the glass. I'm not even sure where to begin on it.

The rear window run channel and the front are different dimensions. I think the rear is just pressed into the metal guide. Steele has it (https://www.steelerubber.com/rigid-run-channel-30-0302-57) but I can probably find something the right size from Restoration Specialties. I'm not sure on the front. I know people have replaced the run channels on their cars, and was hoping they had the part number they ordered from Restoration Specialties. If it worked for others it will work for me.

Lastly, I scraped off all the old sound deadener from the inside of the door. It came right off. I will clean up the metal as best I can, then likely go through the POR-15 regimen (since I have some sitting unopened) to prevent further rust, then put the same sound deadening mats in there that I used for the rest of the car.

-Kevin

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Quote:

Don't you mean "wurst"? Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I just called a glass shop this morning to get a quote on replacing the delaminated quarter windows and the cracked door windows in the 37.

The door windows in the '54 were pretty easy as they are only held in at the bottom. But these "framed" windows, to me, are better left to the experts as I don't want to destroy the frames.

I got a lead on a replacement bumper for the Panama. It was 3.5 hours away, but one does not turn down a bumper for $100.

Made the drive and met a nice family. The guy has a '54 Panama also. This was had a Continental kit added to it, non-original paint, but fully original interior in good shape. A solid driver.

The bumper is in much better shape than my original, though definitely not perfect. My old bumper had all the chrome peeled off the lower half, and the lower edge was all sorts of bent from jacks in the past.

The new one had some bad pitting on one of the guards. I replaced it with a good one from my old bumper. I polished out the other defects the best I could. I cleaned all the rust off the inside, converted the remainder with Ospho, then painted it black. The overall finish is much better than my old one but still not perfect. For $100 I'll take it though.

-Kevin

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  Bumper installed 2.jpg (122.64 KB)