Packard Forum Index » General

What would you guys suggest I do to clean this orig headliner? Is the seat cover tear reapairable? Do they make this cloth anymore so I can repair the arm rests?

Attach file:

---

  (29.25 KB)


  (41.03 KB)


  (37.42 KB)


  (51.44 KB)

What did you think of the responses to your Original Post?

Holy crap! Sorry. I posted that in so many forums and got no reply, I never saw the responses here when I checked back in. You guys are the best!

Would suggest you sew up the seat and armrest and replace the seat covers.

They never dreamed the original upholstery would last this long. But being covered by seat covers will preserve it.

The armrests can be recovered too. I don't know if you can get the original material but some blue gray velour would look authentic, like the old mohair, and wears like iron.

A good upholsterer or tailor can do invisible reweaving and you will never see the tears. But you will need to cover the seats and armrests or they will wear thru again.

As far as the "lasting power" of good wool upholstery, lots of examples of it still looking very good and still serving well after 75 or more years without being covered with seat covers. But I guess it had to have had a lucky life, no moths, cuts, tears, food-fights, water leaks, etc. I redid the front seat cushions in my 34 Eight after 75,000 miles and 40 years or so because of a cut, but the material didn't show much wear and was still strong and the rest of the interior except front carpeting is still original.

As far as finding some houndstooth material to repair your arm rest, I think you have a good chance of finding something quite close if not the same. Hirsch, SMS, and LeBaron-Bonney come to mind. A friend here in NJ had his 47 Super Clipper redone a few years back and found a synthetic houndstooth in gray/blue that was virtually indistinguishable from the original material. This was just modern material not made specifically for the car hobby, so shopping around may yield better results than you might suppose.

I recently got a sample from SMS trying to match the blue stripped broad cloth pattern on my 54. Then sent me a sample in grey where they had that matched the pattern perfectly, but was grey instead of blue. In the letter they sent with the sample they said they do a custom run in which ever color I wanted. So SMS has the resources if one is willing to pay for them.

I found that SMS has the perfect match for the upholstery in my 47 Super Clipper which I believed was the same as in the junior models although somewhat different than the cloth on the armrest of your car. It was quite expensive and I opted to reupholster in a modern fabric which was much less expensive. If you send them a swatch of cloth which has been protected from sunlight they will probably have exactly what you want.