Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Early V8 (1932-53)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-12-2021, 04:28 PM   #1
highbeams
Senior Member
 
highbeams's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: California
Posts: 792
Default Is that leather?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_leather.

I've read that Ford used "leatherette" for their V8 rumble seats for weather durability, as opposed to leather which was continuously problematic throughout the car's years of use.
highbeams is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2021, 04:55 PM   #2
ford38v8
Senior Member
 
ford38v8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 6,616
Default Re: Is that leather?

Leatherette was used on seat side and back panels on those cars having leather seats, as well as on rumbleseats, and were not restricted to V8s. Door panels were a matching cardboard. I’m not aware of any official explanations given by Ford on any subject.
__________________
Alan
ford38v8 is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 10-12-2021, 06:17 PM   #3
DavidG
Senior Member
 
DavidG's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: southeastern Michigan
Posts: 10,069
Default Re: Is that leather?

The name of the material that Ford used for those purposes was, in Ford terminology, pyroxylin cloth which is still in use today on the covers of some hard bound books. In fact, when Roy Nacewicz (RIP) offered reproductions of the '32-'34 and '37 versions, he sourced it to a company serving the book binding trade. Lucky were those restorers who obtained it from Roy while it was offered as it was (and remains) a perfect match for the original material used in those applications.
DavidG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2021, 07:53 AM   #4
rotorwrench
Senior Member
 
rotorwrench's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 16,367
Default Re: Is that leather?

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
As David mentions, the pyroxylin or lacquer coated cloth was a standard of the industry at the time. Vinyl upholstery fabric wasn't really in the picture much until after the war. Vinyls are thicker and heavier so it can sometimes not be a very good replacement for the early type leatherette materials where the thickness and grain pattern differences are obvious. A lot depends on how original a person wants to get on a restoration.
rotorwrench is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:24 AM.