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Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Sun May 06, 2018 8:37 pm
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:

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 10:19 am
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

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 10:32 am
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?

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 10:42 am
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.

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 10:48 am
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.

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 11:06 am
by Jonathan Schneiderman
Thanks for the photos. It looks like brown or tan/beige might be the way to go rather than grey.

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 11:19 am
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

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 12:58 pm
by Jonathan Schneiderman
Maybe one of these would be a better option considering my car is Turkish Red with Tan interior.

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 5:28 am
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

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 9:58 am
by James Davies
Vincent, could you post a photo or two of your engine compartment material when you get a chance?

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 2:58 pm
by Tom Kaiser
Here is one original material from a 55

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:26 pm
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.

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:22 pm
by John Lindstrom
Looks like a clean installation, very nice.

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 2:22 am
by Ross Copeland
From what month/year did the factory introduce Engine Bay lining?

Re: Engine Compartment Material

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 10:46 am
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.