In a message dated 8/26/2003 6:15:36 AM Eastern Standard Time, DODGEROYAL58@xxxxxxx writes:
i had a 58 hardtop a few years back that came from California, the headliner had been damp at some time and lost its shape causing it to bow down from the roof, the strips were missing but the chrome ends were still there, so i removed the cardboard and sprayed them with water to soften them again, then placed them on newspaper and placed a board across the top weighed down to keep them flat until they dried out, they were a bit tatty so i painted them with normal house emulsion, the strips i found at my local diy superstore, i used curtain rail it was plain white, and the rear has a grove in it that slides onto the original steel retainer it is a bit wider than original so i had to narrow it down at the ends to get the chrome bits on, if i remember the make was SWISH.
A Man after my own heart! Of course, it's not a concours idea, but sounds practical and perfectly serviceable. I think that we should remember that the original designers were working within the constraints of cost, mass-production feasibility, etc. The vast majority of us don't need to do that.
My wife made the headliner for my 1957 Chrysler sedan, using modern cloth-faced foam material, and I put it in. It looks just fine, and the cost was less than $50.
Interior door panels are ridiculously easy to make, using 1/8" thick fiberboard from Home Depot, a layer of the above-mentioned foam-backed headliner material for "substance", a layer of the main color vinyl, and inlays within the original chrome trim (Which was carefully R&R'd.) made of a contrasting color. Recent posts about $800/set door panels bewilder me. One of the comments we made at Chrysler Engineering at the time was: "At 90 miles an hour you'll never notice the difference".
OF COURSE, I appreciate and admire a truly original restoration even more every day. It's just not my cup of tea.
Just my two cents worth..
Joe Savard
Lake Orion, Michigan
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