36 Ford interior kits

[1936 cv sedan]

I am looking for a supplier for my 36 conv sedan. I cannot find out who bought the patters from Lebaron Bonney . Any help would be great. Thanks.

[ssffnomad]

Good Luck Sir

[Model51]

As you know, Lebaron Bonney ceased operations a while back. So did Cartouche, another interior kit supplier. If I get the lineage right, Mac's bought out Cartouche then Mac's was bought out by Ecklers and they got bought out by yet another firm. The last sale killed the Mac's-Cartouche business. Maybe Cartouche bought out the patterns from Lebaron Bonney, but I don't know for sure. Regardless, I don't think there is anyone left making Ford interior's on a commercial basis and who knows what happened to the patterns and information.
I suggest you call ThirdGen in McMinnville, TN and speak with Michael. If anyone knows where you might get an interior kit for your car, he's the guy.

[Seth Swoboda]

I'll save you the dime call to McMinnville. There are no patterns that survived. There is no one making an interior kit for early V8 Fords. I have had hours of discussion about this with Michael. You'll have to get an upholsterer to make the kit from scratch. I recently had the seat in my '37 tudor upholstered as close to correct as possible. The cost was $1800.

[Kube]

Seth is correct. Sadly, all of the patterns had been destroyed.

[ford38v8]

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I don't know if possible, but it seems to me that if an upholsterer were asked to create a set of reproducible patterns while doing a single car, then that pattern could be lent, rented, or sold back and forth for future needs. The additional cost, if any, could be turned to profit in a reasonable period of time if, say, word got around through the Fordbarn and the EFV8CA. With modern digital technology, it may even be possible to transfer patterns by email. I may be talking through my hat, but what say others on the possibilty? I'm thinking Tubman would have some educated thoughts on this? Maybe Michael?

[Willit Stop]

Here's a company that makes headliners and MAYBE more. I've not used them but it would be worth a phone call.

https://newstalgiaparts.com/p/48073/...dard-headliner

[Seth Swoboda]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

I don't know if possible, but it seems to me that if an upholsterer were asked to create a set of reproducible patterns while doing a single car, then that pattern could be lent, rented, or sold back and forth for future needs. The additional cost, if any, could be turned to profit in a reasonable period of time if, say, word got around through the Fordbarn and the EFV8CA. With modern digital technology, it may even be possible to transfer patterns by email. I may be talking through my hat, but what say others on the possibilty? I'm thinking Tubman would have some educated thoughts on this? Maybe Michael?

The upholstery guy I used took my old seat cover off carefully. Although it was the original, it was very fragile. He used it as a pattern for the new seat cover. Yes, it can be done. You will need to salvage your old uphosltery for patterns. The biggest challenge is sourcing the correct material, IF that matters to you. I settled for a synthetic mohair. It's a driver car and I had folks tell me it would wear better. Jury is out. Was it exactly like mohair, no.

[Pete/Ct.]

Saw a guy setup in the Chocolate field at Hershey called Classtique Upholstery, 30350 Akerson St. Lindstrom, MN 55045 651 484 9022 www.ClasstiqueUpholstery.com His samples looked like quality work, I have no personal experience with them, but I grabbed his card since most of the upholstery guys have gone

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Pete/Ct.

Saw a guy setup in the Chocolate field at Hershey called Classtique Upholstery, 30350 Akerson St. Lindstrom, MN 55045 651 484 9022 www.ClasstiqueUpholstery.com His samples looked like quality work, I have no personal experience with them, but I grabbed his card since most of the upholstery guys have gone

Yes, right now he only does T and A From what I understand, he’s booked months out in advance, some due to the demand and some due to the difficulty finding skilled labor. He’s learning from the best and reproducing some of the special trim pieces for tops and upholstery.

Hopefully he can get to the V8’s, but I don’t know. He posts on the A side occasionally, his name is Mike.

[nelsb01]

I found him a couple of years ago at Hershey. What caught my attention was that he had the best available material. And someone from MN -- where I live and close by also.
Had him make some windlace for my 1936 Ford pickup. When I showed it to a fellow V-8er, he order the windlace also. The guy has found the right source for the material with as close to the style grain as you can find.

Glad that he is busy as he does great work.

[Ford Freak]

I was not aware that Ecklers was sold. Do you know by whom? Are they still located in Florida?

[Seth Swoboda]

Originally Posted by Ford Freak

I was not aware that Ecklers was sold. Do you know by whom? Are they still located in Florida?

An ecommerce company called Turn5 bought them. They have zero interest in any automobile from any decade prior to 1960's. Mustangs, Broncos, F100's, camero, square body chevys are their thing. It's a bunch of computer nerds between the ages of 21-45. Most of whom have never heard of a flathead ford engine. I'm 44 and I dislike these people and they are coloser to my age than most of the folks here. I wouldn't buy a bag of chips from their vending machine if I were starving.

[Karl Wescott]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

I don't know if possible, but it seems to me that if an upholsterer were asked to create a set of reproducible patterns while doing a single car, then that pattern could be lent, rented, or sold back and forth for future needs. The additional cost, if any, could be turned to profit in a reasonable period of time if, say, word got around through the Fordbarn and the EFV8CA. With modern digital technology, it may even be possible to transfer patterns by email. I may be talking through my hat, but what say others on the possibilty? I'm thinking Tubman would have some educated thoughts on this? Maybe Michael?

IMHO, This is an incredibly important idea. I truly doubt that there ever will be enough demand for a serious commercial company to develop, and more importantly warehouse, a comprehensive set of patterns. If an entity (commercial, hobby, or non-profit) were to try to develop an electronic library there are a number of research and technical issues that they would be facing.


First, is a comprehensive reference on automotive upholstery practices, material, and sundries in the Early V8 era. While this could be Ford specific I think there is enough crossover between the automobile manufacturers to not limit to Ford. A key here are technical documentation of the sundries... nails, clips, eyelets, hog-rings... all the little things the upholstery makers kept in bulk and were common items in the day, but are falling out of fashion now.


Second, the technical drawings will need to be in an electronic format that is available and sustainable. The issue here is there is no good 2D "open source" CAD program available and the "de-facto" file interchange format ("AutoCad's" ".dfx") is controlled by a private entity who has not fully documented the format standard and can and does change it at their whim. On the 3D side "Freecad" is doing wonderful things to be an effective opensource. However there is nothing even resembling a file format that will allow interchange between the various commercial and open source 3D CAD programs. This is a great concern because if electronic files were developed and a program were to become un-available the files become useless. This has happened in the publishing and music world.


Third is the immense job of documenting what Ford actually did. Researching the archives... Finding existent examples of truly original upholstery... Resolving any undocumented engineering changes... Making a standard for electronic files... Creating the electronic files that are actually usable to an upholsterer "in the field".


This leads to the rhetorical question of "How do you eat an Elephant?" The answer is of course "One bite at a time!". If you use an original panel or seat cover as a pattern, document and save the documentation (and the panel or seat cover... if it can be saved). If you are one of the ones who can find a engineering drawing in the Archives document and share the part number and drawing location so (hopefully) it can be found again. If the engineering drawing can be copied (YES!) share with someone who can translate into a CAD program (we can worry about migrating between various programs later, but someone needs to keep on top of that).


And last, who is to be the caretaker? And how to sustain the caretaker? A private, for profit entity, or a hobby entity (such as Fordbarn) can easily cease with information lost (LeBaron Bonney, Shelly's Fordbarn). A non-profit can also be lost. Great thoughts for the future.

[tubman]

You bring up a good point. I know just about any sundries needed can usually be sourced from Restoration Specialties & Supply, Inc. The number and variety of items they have is staggering. I believe that a resource such as you describe would only serve to enhance their business.

Now, how do we convince them to do it.

[TJ]

In answering the OP, I suggest you go to a Ford V-8 meet or several meets and take photos of the cars and their upholstery being judged. That will give your upholsterer an idea of what is needed. I'm sure any owner will be very willing to allow you to photograph the interior of their car. Good upholsters are artists and they can copy from a photo. Also take a cloth measuring tape so you can get the size of the pleats, etc.

[ssffnomad]

On our 36’ 3W project, we are very disappointed to not be able to purchase a correct interior.
No where’s ready for a headliner yet.
But because one is still available at this point in time.
A Few months ago purchased a headliner:
“Acme Auto Headlining Co.”.
Bob Westmoreland
1-800-288-6078 . Ext #217.

[Kurt in NJ]

I have a 36 conv sedan,most of the original upholstery and a LB kit —- but no means of digital making of patterns, and there are differences between early and later body numbers in some details,I think the top boot has a bent rod retainer instead of snap posts across the top of the rear seat.
what body number/ production month do you have?

[Jeff/Illinois]

Bill Sturm in Neenah, Wisconsin was the go- to guy for top quality Model A Ford interiors, but now he is retired. He did almost all of the tops and interiors of just about any Award winning Model A Ford.

Last I heard he was over at Mike's at Classtique, on occasion, teaching Mike and his guys some of the techniques he learned and developed.

[ssffnomad]

Original poster is looking for 1936 Ford Interior info.