December 2002 - I'm freezing, and so is my Buick

 

I had some 2 weeks vacation around Xmas, and had planned so much time with the Buick. But then we had -25C (-13F) outside for those 2 weeks, and inside my new "garage" it was just barely above freezing point.

So I decided to start working on the upholstery. I originally thought I will give the whole work to a professional stitcher. I only know two automotive upholsterers here in the Helsinki area, that I would trust enough to let do the work. Unfortunately, both seemed too busy to be interested in this job. So what the heck, I'll do it myself. These were done by man, so why couldn't I learn the trade myself with some practise and patience (which I don't have if you ask my wife).   If you have been following my saga for any length of time, you have noticed that I tend to avoid the obligatory custom tricks, which is the case here as well. While the traditional tuck & roll (roll & pleat) interior looks great and timeless, it's like bellybutton - everyone's got one. The original 1946 Buick features fairly modest interior theme with 10" x 10" squares with a button in the junction. I've always liked the the early 60's upscale GM cars with the topstitched rectangle vinyl upholstery, with a chrome button in the junction of adjoining rectangles. The early 60's Thurderbirds and Lincolns had similar patterns, too.  But more specifically I have the first gen Riviera interior in mind.

I started with making new bases for the panels out of hardboard. The old ones were so badly smashed they weren't any good for a template. For the lower edge of the panel, I copied the factory Z-shaped catch hook out of stainless, and it runs the entire length of the panel. Some time ago, my friend and I bought an old German made Pfaff sewing machine to perform this kind of work. It's a commercial, not industrial machine, but it is a very heavy duty machine anyway. So during the holidays, whenever our family was not eating, I put the sewing machine on our dinner table and sew.  For upholstery materials, I chose white vinyl with a slight pearl effect. That was ordered from the States. Then I glued a piece of vinyl to a piece of cloth-backed 10 mm thick polyfoam, and started laying out the pattern.  What I did was to copy the original pattern but split the original 10" x 10" squares into 5" x 10" rectangles, then topstitched the pattern. The trick with vinyl and commercial (household) machines is to lay out the pattern on the backside and stitch with the backside on top, since the vinyl doesn't run well against the presser foot. An industrial machine with a walking needle, walking foot, or both, would solve all problems, but they are rather expensive.  The bottom portion features dark maroon loop-pile carpeting, just like the original. It's just so contrasting to the white vinyl that it looks black.  Still missing here is the stainless molding that separates the carpeting and vinyl. The armrest/handles have been done here as well, using the same white vinyl. Some of the sponge that creates the form, had worn off, but I replaced the missing portions with Black RTV Silicone Sealant. The whole house smelled of contact cement when I made these!

I just realized I never showed the assembled dash, although it was finished a year ago! So here it is. From the original Sonomatic radio, I only kept the visible controls, but painted them pearl white. On the speaker grille, you see those 3 horizontal bars? They are solid bars and belong to the whole single die cast chromed part. What I did was to saw off the bars with a fret-saw. Then I fastened the bars on the speaker grille with screws, and spot-welded a hinge on the lower edge of the grille, and now I have a nice concealed compartment for a modern stereo and whatever accessories I might think of!