54 Ford Interior Considerations

[54FordYBlockGuy]

OK; I put several posts online and truly appreciate the replies, and guidance.

Here's where I am now.

Picked up the "Old Restoration" 54 Customliner and she truly needs a good going over, refreshing....been sitting in a barn for some time.

The interior at one time was redone but sitting and age have done their job;

Carpeting: stained,
Seats (cloth) stained.

Now I'm not going to show this car or look for any trophies; I'd just like to make it a little more "presentable"; ok that's just a nice way to say I'm "cheap". But just want her a "driver".

I pulled the carpeting today, and took out the seat; the floor is solid. Here's what I'm thinking:

Floor: Clean, skuff up, and put a good coat of "Paint Over Rust" paint on it (POR), I live about 3 miles from TIPS; so can just pick it up - OR - paint the floor with a good "Rubber Coating" paint I have. I"ve done either or both on several cars - What ya think?

Carpetting: I know I can get a "Carpet Kit" for the 54 online for about $2-300 bucks, but (cheap) I'm thinking of simply getting a nice piece of the basement, or indoor-outdoor carpeting from Home Depo, cut and glew - What ya think?

Door Panels: They are solid but the cloth portion is badly stained. Paint (dye) the cloth portion, or pull and re-do. The pulling isn't a problem but that small, thin chrome piece on the panel, I'm afraid I'll bend it attempting to remove - What ya think?

OK, enough "What-ya-think".

Look forward to some replies, suggestions, and what others have done.

JPL/OH

[paul2748]

You may not like my comments, but here they are:

Metal floor - the POR stuff is good . Also, Rustoleum may be just as good. Use the brush on type after a good cleaning and light sanding..

Carpeting - go for the good looking carpeting. You will thank yourself later that you went this way (or kick yourself if you didn't).

Door Panels - no recommendation on these. I don't really know how the trim strips are fastened so I don't know how easy they are to remove. Looking at the backside of the panel should tell you.

[Daves55Sedan]

SEATS: You ain't cheaper than me. I bought el-cheapo vinyl seat covers (custom fit for the application) from J.C. Whiney & co. Removed the seats myself and tore the old seat covers off. I repaired/replaced the stuffing on the bench part of the seat where it had worn off.
The burlap under the stuffing will be in shambles at this age, so I removed it off the seat springs and hog-ringed a sheet of perforated vinyl to fit seat spring. You can cut to fit with scissors. Then just hog-ring your seat covers on.
You can get custom fit seat covers from the repro part suppliers but they will be very expensive. You can get your local auto upholsterer to make them for you way cheaper than the repro guys sell em for.
BTW, if you go for having a local upholsterer do your seat covers, they offer a wide range of material types and colors to choose from so you can get the comfort and style you want.
DOOR PANELS: When you remove your inside door handles and window cranks, don't forget the two screws at bottom and two screws at window garnish moulding that hold the panel in place, the rest of the way you just pop the clips loose. On the back side you will notice clips holding your stainless trim strip on the masonite are bent over to hold it on. Take a mini screwdriver and un-bend those clips to allow the strip to come off. Door panel upholstery is glued on, but you can pull it off from the backside. Try not to damage the original upholstery panel so you can use it as a pattern for your new ones. Get you upholstery supplier to match your new seat-covers as best you can with their selection. They may be able to special order material for you too. Once you get the material, you can cut and punch holes using the original as a pattern. You'll need a punch set to make the holes for the push-in clips. Cut the larger holes for the handles using a jigsaw. Get spray on upholstery adhesive from any chain auto parts store. If you don't want to do this yourself, ask how much your local auto upholster if he can do it for you. I've never had a masonite backer board last more than 20 years, but my car door gaskets leak and cause rain to buckle the masonite. If your backer boards are bad, your local auto upholster can supply them too. I bought only the supplies from upholsterers and did all the work myself.
FLOOR: I used a sanding disk in a drill to remove rust from the floor before doing anything else, then vacuum out the floor before using POR. I sprayed my floor with acid etch instead, then primered and painted the floor with the same exterior base enamel used on the car body. That was in the '80's and it still looks like new now.
Get a roll of roofing felt (tar paper) and cut it to fit your floor and lay it. Most people now are using a layer of jute on top of that or a layer of sound deadener (available from most repro suppliers). If you are going to go with carpeting on the floor covering, I would not use most household carpets, but the indoor/outdoor carpets would probably be best and last longest. You'll need to unbolt the gas pedal and all the door sill aluminum plates to tuck the carpet under the inner lip. Cut the hole for the gas-pedal actuator rod and poke the carpet through. I elected to go with full-coverage rubber floor mats when I did mine because of the water leakage. And it is easier to keep clean. I get a free washout every time it rains, hehe.

[fordor41]

Ditto on Rustoleum. I painted our '41 inside and under the floor with Rustoleum (brush on) and was still like new 25 yrs later and a 200,000 miles! if you have to retouch its a breeze.

[Daves55Sedan]

Originally Posted by fordor41

Ditto on Rustoleum. I painted our '41 inside and under the floor with Rustoleum (brush on) and was still like new 25 yrs later and a 200,000 miles! if you have to retouch its a breeze.

I'm pretty sure the acid etch I mentioned is made by "Duplicolor" and its brand name is called "Rust-Fix" but Rustoleum may sell an equivalent product. Rustoleum is a higher end product and may cost a little more, that's why our chain auto parts stores around here switched to the "Dupicolor" brand. Anyway, everything is just as you mentioned and created a good, long-lasting permanent seal against future rust.
I would fear that rubber-coating the floor would eventually pull off, maybe peeling some of the acid-etch seal with it. I have actually seen where you can leave an acid-etched bare metal panel out in the rain and snow for a year and it still looked as good as the day it was applied, but that doesn't mean it would last 20 or 30 years. Thats why I painted automotive base enamel over mine (due to water leakage).

[54FordYBlockGuy]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Great stuff; appears we are all on the same page. As I mentioned earlier, this 54 is a past, old restoration but has been sitting, not driven for years; so she needs a good going over and some TLC.

FLOOR: I was extremely impressed when I tore out the old, stained, moist (from sitting in a barn) carpeting; the floor is solid, just some surface rust, so the scuffing, coating with POR and then placing the felt and some jute is about all I need to do.

CARPETING: I somewhat agree with Paul2748 with "get the good stuff" (pre-cut) but I just may lay down a piece from the local Big Box (outdoor type) carpet and drive the 54 to see what "mechanical" concerns I run into which may require that $2-300.00 expense instead of the pre-cut carpet....we'll see.

DOOR PANELS: I attempted to "dye" the cloth portion of the panels with a "Spray Dye", but it came out really stiff to the touch; may do the panel removal and go with some new material. Have a place close by called Star Supply; they sell discontinued surplus and have tons of material for covering, used them before and it works out. The chrome strip I was worrying about probably is placed with the small tabs as suggested, so I'll be careful. Any tips on removing those handles; the clips?

SEATS: As noted, past restoration, so the seats are in great shape, vinyl is good, it's just the cloth is badly stained, aged, and discolored. I want to simply dye them but can't find a good dye - sprays seem to come out stiff to the touch; Any suggestions on a good dye for the seat cloth?

Summary: Just want to get the interior presentable so when I start driving, testing want to put the needed money into the mechanics prior to soaking too much in the interior. Always appreciate the discussion, tips.

[56sedandelivery]

On my floor that was slightly pitted. I cleaned up good with ac wire wheel. then put a coat of Ospho on it and lastly shot epoxy primer over it. That is as far as I have gotten so far.

[54FordYBlockGuy]

Sounds good; I'm simply going to do the POR, and when ready the Felt and Jute; I did notice some water on it after a pretty good downpour we had last night, so possibly a leak on the door, window frames; with that being considered, may not move forward with the felt, jute and carpeting before I find and repair that leak.

[Daves55Sedan]

As far as the door handle removal tool, there is a special "plier-type" that you should be able to buy somewhere, but they don't sell it at chain auto-parts stores anymore. They do sell a "push-out" type, but they are not as effective as the plier-type as far as I have experienced (I have both types).
Try looking in the repro parts suppliers catalogs. They may sell the plier type tool.

[Daves55Sedan]

Seat vinyl: Mine are badly faded also, but otherwise in fine shape. Incredibly good quality for such cheap seat covers from J.C. Whitney.
I'm gonna hang on this topic and see if someone has a remedy for us!

[54FordYBlockGuy]

Is JC Whitney still around? I'll have to Google and see.

[54FordYBlockGuy]

Here's what I found:

On August 17, 2010, JCWhitney (along with the rest of Whitney Automotive Group) was acquired by U.S. Auto Parts for $27.5 million. In July 2020, JC Whitney was merged into CarParts.com. JC Whitney will also launch a new line of accessories for Jeep and truck owners on its new website.

[Daves55Sedan]

Sorry, I knew they got bought out, but I still call them J.C. Whitney. They do still offer custom fit seat covers though (or they did last time I checked).

[54FordYBlockGuy]

Just an IMPORTANT UPDATE for this group. As you can see, I am re-doing the interior on my 54 Customline; considering some carpetting options. That led to bringing up the old, often used during my younger days; J.C. Whitney; come on you have to agree; the parts may not have been "High Quality", but they had some, "can't find anywhere else" cool, strange parts; anyway - Found that J.C. was bought out by CarParts.com, so I went to there site. Here's where the "NOTICE" comes in: Found the carpeting I needed, On Sale for $177.00, not bad but I thought I would wait before placing the order; next day I get an email from CarParts (I gave them my email for future sales and items); email said JOHN IT'S YOUR LUCK DAY - NEWARD CARPETING FOR YOU 1954 FORD CUSTOMLINE ON SALE - $133.00. I thought Wow, glad I waited. So, I clicked to "Add To Cart" and the price came up $177.00. Hmmm, did it again, same thing $177.00. I got on their Chat Box, but they told me to call "Customer Support", so I did. I won't go into any description of the "Agent" ? I was talking to them, but when I explained, over and over again, they simply came back with: "Yes, OK, so you want to place an order for the carpeting; great, we'll give you a discount, the price will be $177.00". I got so fed up after multiple emails, and multiple phone calls I gave up. So; If you have, or are considering dealing with CarParts.com, don't believe the Sale Price, make sure you check your cart before paying; a true BAIT-&-SWITCH tactic.

[54FordYBlockGuy]

Hey, I know this is the wrong subject for this specific discussion; forum but if I may:

Whenever I pick up an Old Classic; I try to find out as much as possible for that year, model and make; just part of my Classic Car thing....so in finding out about this 54 Customline I picked up; I found this youtube list of "original" TV Commercials; if you wish you can watch, pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFl_mS0xAJ4

In watching it; I see that the brakes had a "pad cover" on them; Does anybody have any pics or info, or suggestions on keeping or replacing those covers?

Thanks,

JPL/OHIO

[Daves55Sedan]

It's sad that carparts.com has not maintained they great reputation Whitney once had. Probably 80% of the new parts that went into my avatar '55 Ford came from Whiney in the '80's and '90's. They were my main go-to for car parts. Always got great quality, prompt shipping and never had to return a wrong item, not to mention LOW prices.
Another one I used to like was Joblot automotive in Queens NY. Excellent quality and the best customer service in the world. But they got bought out too.
There really is not one repro parts supplier now that can compare to either of them.

[Dobie Gillis]

The guy who bought out Joblot visits this forum pretty regularly and he does have the parts. I've dealt with him once or twice. IIRC his name is Craig. He's not cheap but the quality is there.

[54FordYBlockGuy]

OK group; a few questions: As I noted, I'm getting this 54 back in "Driving-Cruising" condition; keep in mind I'm not doing a complete restoration; just getting her up and running and in respectful condition; that means I'm doing things on the "cheap"; if it works out well, well maybe a complete, sandblast, all new interior, engine rebuild, who knows but for now, just going to make her a weekend "Dairy Queen Cruiser'. Understanding that let me ask:

I pulled out the seats, pulled out the old, stained carpeting, and cleaned the floor. The floor is solid, with obvious surface rust; cleaned it up fairly well and put a good coat of POR 15 over her. Now the Q:

When I lay the carpet; going to lay Jute; would you (I've always done this in the past) lay some sound-deadening material; the aluminum sticky stuff before the Jute?

If so, when laying the Jute over either the floor or deadening material, do you use spray adhesive, tacking the Jute to the deadening or bare floor?

When laying the carpet, do you tack (glue) the carpet to the Jute?

Love to hear your opinions.

JPL/OH

[54FordYBlockGuy]

[Rbeck204]

Larry’s third parts in So Cal has reproduction interior parts for 1955 up full size fords. If 55 door panels fit, he has them.
If you live close enough: I took my 53 door panels that were shot in to them and they made me set of door panels using my patterns. I also got the cards for the inside of the rear interior (car is a sedan delivery aka Courier) and matching material and I made my own rear sides. They are a great company to work with.
Rich