Engine Compartment Material

For Pre A discussions and questions
Message
Author
User avatar
Jonathan Schneiderman
356 Fan
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 3:41 pm

Engine Compartment Material

#1 Post by Jonathan Schneiderman »

I am in communication with Autos International regarding the engine bay liner materials and color. My car is a ‘55 coupe. I would like to do grey, but I am unsure about the texture of the material? This is the sample they sent me:
Attachments
67B6AB17-D3BD-4838-8B57-944B4D8E85BB.jpeg
67B6AB17-D3BD-4838-8B57-944B4D8E85BB.jpeg (26.41 KiB) Viewed 4542 times
 1953 Coupe 1500 ‘America’

User avatar
Tom Coughlin
356 Fan
Posts: 1183
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:32 am
Tag: Go Gators
Location: SW Boston

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#2 Post by Tom Coughlin »

That's what I've got in my '55. Check the Stoddard listing which has a picture you can look at.
http://www.stoddard.com/64455198100-nla.html
Look in the "more views" for a square piece. Tom
 KTF, member #15

User avatar
Jonathan Schneiderman
356 Fan
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 3:41 pm

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#3 Post by Jonathan Schneiderman »

I just checked. The Stoddard material appears more ‘pebbled’ to me while the Autos Internstional material has a definite grain. Is your liner original or did you get it from Stoddard?
 1953 Coupe 1500 ‘America’

User avatar
James Davies
356Talk Moderator
Posts: 2951
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:15 am
Location: Heidelberg, DE

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#4 Post by James Davies »

Most of the original, unrestored '54-55 cars I've seen which have their original padding have either a beige or brown material in the rear. Though I have seen one light grey one. It is vinyl with sewn-in horse hair padding. Here's some photos of original ones.
Attachments
DSC02657.JPG
1017576.jpg
coupe52073_engine_compartment.jpg
cab60679_engine_compartment.JPG
20170407_110628 copy.jpg
20170407_110358 copy.jpg

User avatar
James Davies
356Talk Moderator
Posts: 2951
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:15 am
Location: Heidelberg, DE

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#5 Post by James Davies »

Steve Harrison also had the original padding from his '55 coupe. You can see it here

viewtopic.php?p=204778#p204778

Looks like it was originally dark brown like those above, but was colored black or dark grey.

User avatar
Jonathan Schneiderman
356 Fan
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 3:41 pm

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#6 Post by Jonathan Schneiderman »

Thanks for the photos. It looks like brown or tan/beige might be the way to go rather than grey.
 1953 Coupe 1500 ‘America’

Vincent Gillespie
356 Fan
Posts: 439
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:33 am
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#7 Post by Vincent Gillespie »

Hello, what was left of my original engine quilts in my '55 is grey, to match the interior upholstery, but the quality was about 1/2 that of the interior, really thin and the stitching was somewhat haphazard to say the least. I was able to borrow a set from another '55, to make patterns, this was also grey matching the interior and the stitching on these was also really hit & miss, Steve also mentions this feature.

I went to a local upholstery supplier to get the best match I could from their sample books, they told me it wasn't possible to get such 'crappy' quality today, but the grain is a pretty good match. I have the patterns and due to minimum purchase amount I'm sure I have enough spare in storage for you to make what you need. I'm up to my eyeballs until mid/end June so I won't be able to do anything until July but if you are not in any hurry and it's grey you need I'm happy to post it to you.

V
V. Gillespie

User avatar
Jonathan Schneiderman
356 Fan
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 3:41 pm

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#8 Post by Jonathan Schneiderman »

Maybe one of these would be a better option considering my car is Turkish Red with Tan interior.
Attachments
7746FA04-1451-4A72-A11B-9DBCA5C4C1A8.jpeg
 1953 Coupe 1500 ‘America’

Vincent Gillespie
356 Fan
Posts: 439
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:33 am
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#9 Post by Vincent Gillespie »

Hello Jonathan, just a back up message in case my email reply via 'who knows where' didn't get to you I'll be in touch mid June and we can see if stuff I have is of any use to you.
V
V. Gillespie

User avatar
James Davies
356Talk Moderator
Posts: 2951
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:15 am
Location: Heidelberg, DE

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#10 Post by James Davies »

Vincent, could you post a photo or two of your engine compartment material when you get a chance?

Tom Kaiser
356 Fan
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 10:32 am

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#11 Post by Tom Kaiser »

Here is one original material from a 55
Attachments
2F7831DC-FE9E-4AE0-B746-AC2A4100990D.jpeg

User avatar
Jonathan Schneiderman
356 Fan
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 3:41 pm

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#12 Post by Jonathan Schneiderman »

Thank you for all the advice. Here is the finished product. I went with the ‘Saddle’ material from Autos International. They did a very good job making the liner as well.
Attachments
4A670096-6A9A-4046-A506-CF9ED95F9F24.jpeg
6979C840-9911-4237-898C-58E7A6AE3DCA.jpeg
 1953 Coupe 1500 ‘America’

User avatar
John Lindstrom
356 Fan
Posts: 336
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:51 am
Location: Stanford, Ca. USA

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#13 Post by John Lindstrom »

Looks like a clean installation, very nice.

Ross Copeland
356 Fan
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2008 1:55 am
Location: AUSTRALIA

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#14 Post by Ross Copeland »

From what month/year did the factory introduce Engine Bay lining?

User avatar
James Davies
356Talk Moderator
Posts: 2951
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:15 am
Location: Heidelberg, DE

Re: Engine Compartment Material

#15 Post by James Davies »

The early split-window cars had engine bay lining. The bent-window cars did not from ~April 1952 through May 1954. Reutter then brought it back for the rest of 1954 and 1955.

The 1952 and 1953 model year cars just had sprayed on undercoating, just like in Charlie White's photos.

Post Reply