55 Coupe project

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Leo Hudson
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Re: 55 Coupe project/ quarter window

#181 Post by Leo Hudson »

Justin Rios website has excellent description of assembling rear quarter window http://www.abcgt.com/blog/item/17-abcgt ... art-3.html

Check it out
Leo

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Steve Harrison
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#182 Post by Steve Harrison »

Got the engine in the other day. Sometimes it's a snap, and other times it's a bear. This one was a bear. Don't know if it was a tight pilot bearing, or the clutch disc just so ever out of line, but it just wouldn't slide that last little bit up and seat itself. Laying on my back and pushing with my feet on the heads/valve cover ends, I rubbed my back raw. What I needed was a solid push point to give the extra umph. (I didn't want to bend the bumper or bumper guards pulling on them.) The nearest point was the boat trailer tire about 15 feet away. It was midnight. What I did was lay down a stepladder, a squirrel cage fan on it's side, a stepstool, a toolbox, and some boards,..all to "transfer" the push point forward enough to be useful. The picture tells the story, haha.
That did it. Another long late night session with the ole beast.
Hightailin' it.
Hightailin' it.
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Crazy set up,..but it worked!
Crazy set up,..but it worked!

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Steve Harrison
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#183 Post by Steve Harrison »

Here is what I believe is a date code on the turn signal switch. I didn't know they were marked.
Anybody know for sure what the date is here? It's an SWF unit with the lighted blinker in the end of the stalk.
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GEDC3696.JPG

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Steve Harrison
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#184 Post by Steve Harrison »

Yesterday I took the biggest leap of faith so far,...starting the headliner install.
Man,..when you're standing there looking at nearly $500 worth of wool headliner holding a can of spray contact cement, it's a little unnerving. The local upholstery guy didn't want any part of it, and I don't have time (or money) to "send it out" so it came to Yours Truly having to do it. Truth be told, it was something I kinda figured on doing all along, but it's still a little scary. I got some tips from Auto's Int, who made the headliner for me, and also some info from the local upholsterer. The hardest part is starting.

But I did a few test sprays on some scraps to get the flow rate down, and after dry fitting and punching the hole for the interior light,...I made the leap. It went better than I expected and I am seeing no problems. It's more a psychological thing really,..once I got it sprayed and started on laying it in, it wasn't that big of a deal. The odd looking things wedged into there between the roof inner frame and the roof are laminated cardstock, folded over on itself and taped along the edges. Just the right shape to put just the right tension on the wool as it turns and disappears around the edge of the inner frame. I was casting about wondering how best to do this, and it just came to me to use these. They're actualy wiring diagrams for an MG,...doing double duty at this point, haha

This is the starting point,...the inner front frame where the sun visors, mirror, and light mount. The rest is one big sewn together piece and has the wire loops etc. Once this small piece went in so well, I figured I'd keep going but when I looked at my wire stays I saw they needed painting, so I fell back and did that. Tomorrow the rest of the liner will go in,...hope it goes in as cooperatively as this starting piece did. We'll see, ..haha.
Here I'm about half way done trimming off the excess with a razor blade. Decided to take a picture.
Here I'm about half way done trimming off the excess with a razor blade. Decided to take a picture.
GEDC3699.JPG

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Phil Planck
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#185 Post by Phil Planck »

Steve
You are really on a roll, and doing things that you only get to do once and must do it right the first time. Looking good. ECH or bust, right.

Phil
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James Davies
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#186 Post by James Davies »

Steve Harrison wrote:Here is what I believe is a date code on the turn signal switch. I didn't know they were marked.
Anybody know for sure what the date is here? It's an SWF unit with the lighted blinker in the end of the stalk.
Via the date code page, that's May 1955. Cool, another date code!

I would like to date code more of those SWF turn signal stalks and find out when in '53 they switched from ivory/beige to black housings.
Last edited by James Davies on Sat May 31, 2014 7:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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James Davies
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#187 Post by James Davies »

Your headliner is looking great so far Steve. Hope you have more binder clips!

Is that jute padding for a sound deadener on the roof?
Last edited by James Davies on Sat May 31, 2014 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Spencer Harris
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#188 Post by Spencer Harris »

Steve,
Don't forget to mark the holes for your mirror, interior light and sun visors. Straight pins work well and don't damage the headliner material!
(You gave me the visor spacing a few years ago after I "lost" the inner holes).
Visor%20Screw%20Holes.jpg
Spencer Harris
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Aaron W. Holstrom
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#189 Post by Aaron W. Holstrom »

Steve, I really am enjoying watching your build up! Everything is looking great! Also, good information on the date stamping on the parts. That's cool stuff.
Aaron

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Steve Harrison
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#190 Post by Steve Harrison »

Today was a great day.
The headliner was the last thing I had in my "completely unknown territory" box of things to do. I really had no idea of how to put one of these things in other than the few pictures I could find, and a few short phone conversations. The really only way to do it was to do it. I figured if I went slow, took no sudden moves, and dry fitted everything first, it would be ok. Turns out it was.

Yes Phil,..it's ECH or bust! I think I'll make it now,...I always figured I would, but now I'm really on the downhill side of things, with a few months to go yet. I'd like to get the thing finished and get at least a few hundred miles on before heading out.
The list of things to do has shortened to one page, some of them small, some bigger,...but all doable.

Yes James, that's a kind of jute headliner material. It's the standard stuff used by upholstery shops these days. 1/2 inch thick and it cuts and glues very well. Great stuff to work with. The original insulation on the roof, (picture in earlier post) didn't cover the entire roof, there was a fair amount of non covered areas. I improved on the situation by covering just about all the roof. Even stuffed that slit of a passageway between the rear quarter panel and the engine compartment. It was amazing how different the car feels and sounds like inside after just putting up the insulation. It's cozy.

I did remember to note the spacing of the visors, etc Spencer. haha. It'll be a fun day when I can put that stuff in because it'll mean the...windshield is in! Which is my last biggest fear of this project. It's the original, and man o man, there is not much space between the dash and the windshield lip through which to pull the mounting string,....it gets really tight in there. It would be loads easier to do with the dash out, but that's not gonna happen.

This is what got done today:
There are little rubber "boots" on each hoop end.
There are little rubber "boots" on each hoop end.
Taped them off to help when threading through the fabric loop
Taped them off to help when threading through the fabric loop
Layed it out.
Layed it out.
Threaded up and ready to start dry fitment.
Threaded up and ready to start dry fitment.

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Steve Harrison
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#191 Post by Steve Harrison »

Then it was on to actual fitment. The front insert is an ingenius thing,...it's a heavy card stock strip that the wool is sewn to. The card stock inserts into the gap between the roof and the inner roof frame. No glue or anyting,...it just catches on the turn lip of the inner roof frame and wedges itself in. This gives you a solid starting point from which to work backward,...pulling tension as you go. I got the hoops in their general position first.
Hoops in the right general place.
Hoops in the right general place.
Then you work rearward, trying to get the seams straight, and the puckers out. Not worrying too much about the edges at this point,...mainly working from the center outward, and from the front to the rear.

Another thing I decided to do, it just came to me when I saw that the hoops could (and were) sliding out of position sometimes....was to use a hot glue gun to anchor them in place after I got the tension and layout the way I wanted it. Don't know if this is "how it's done" but it's how it got done today, haha.
GEDC3710.JPG
Then it's a matter of working the material here and there to get the best fit, and eliminate puckers and sags.
Here it's still just dry fitted, held with copious clips. I went and bought four boxes of 12 each,...they're cheap, and it's really nice to not have to ration them.
GEDC3713.JPG
Now I'm into the glue stage. I "painted" on the contact cement on the lip of the car body with a chip brush. Then sorta eyeball lined up where the edge of the wool will hit the lip,...and give it a light sweeping spray of contact cement. I used a backer board to keep overspray down, and covered everything else up with towels. It helped that I could still see a slight 'crease' in the wool from where it was clamped in dry fitting. Wait a minute or two, get inside the car, pull a slight tension on the wool and stick it. It's repositionable, but not much,...working the wool too much stretches it and you end up with more problems.
GEDC3714.JPG
This is where I stopped today. The lower edges around the 1/4 window aren't glued yet, but I've got it on the run now. Barring some unseen disaster tomorrow, it should be done, and I can go on to the upholstery. I have absolutely zero idea if the way I put this thing in is the way people who know what they're doing do it....I mostly made it up as I went along,...and man am I happy to have this basicaly behind me now. Hoowaah!!.
GEDC3715.JPG

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Aaron W. Holstrom
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#192 Post by Aaron W. Holstrom »

So, is it just the edges that are glued, with the bows that support it in between?
Aaron

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Steve Harrison
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#193 Post by Steve Harrison »

Yup, that's the way it goes in. The edges, just the very edges are all that's glued. The headliner hardly really ever touches the car,...it's sort of 'suspended' in the car, haha. I have to hand it to Auto's International as the liner fit up pretty well. When you are trying to fit fabric to the underside of a concave surface it's just not that easy of a task from a physics point of view. The only thing I found was a little off was the front 'flaps' that are supposed to go forward in the front corners and attach across the A pillars and end up dying into the windshield lip. The attachment point to the cardstock, by attachment point, I mean where it's sewn to the cardstock, was a little bit too far inboard. This meant when I went to stretch the fabric forward, the 'pull point' was to far inboard and it wouldn't lay flat on the pillar. Hard to describe, but the way around it was to slightly alter how I finished these corners. I just took them downward and finished the ends on the rear of the A pillar, leaving the front covered by the first (separate) piece I put in. Doesn't look bad, and doubt anyone would notice much when the vinyl is in on the pillar and the sunvisors are in. It was really the only choice I could make and maybe that's how it was intended by Autos for it to be done. Dunno, but it's slightly different from the pictures I have of a finished car.

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Phil Planck
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#194 Post by Phil Planck »

Great documentation Steve. Might spur me to replace the black Naugahyde headliner in my 55 some day. It really makes the interior hot on sunny warm days. Nice in the winter though.
Phil Planck

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Spencer Harris
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Re: 55 Coupe project

#195 Post by Spencer Harris »

Terrific work Steve and excellent photos and documentation. I sewed and installed a headliner once about 35-years ago and would rather take a baseball bat to the knees than do another. You've done lots of work to be very proud of for years to come!
Spencer Harris
San Joaquin Valley, CA.

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