Hi
Am just refinishing a sunroof and have managed to locate some suitable material for the outside a black everflex material, but now want to know whether anyone’s had to source material for the upholstery for a P3, it’s a green coloured fabric material (the Rover is all green) and a headlining material – which was also green I believe and is a wool weave material. Any help appreciated.
Regards
Adrian Brown
Rover upholstery materials
Re: Rover upholstery materials
Examine the Woolies catalog : http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/. They had been very helpful to me.
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dhbuchanan
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:01 pm
Re: Rover upholstery materials
Woolies stock light green Union headlining, but now have Bedford cord- the seating material you are looking for- in beige and grey only, This fabric is a heavy, moquette-like woolcloth with a distinct vertical rib, named after the 15th. century Duke of Bedford who clothed his troops in it.Googling "Bedford cord car upholstery material" produces a great deal, but apparently only one supplier who actually stocks any in green: SMS Auto Fabrics in the USA. BW 18 and 41 on their online colour card are both greens. I'm not aware of any current UK stockist, but maybe someone out there knows differently.
As I understand it, Bedford cord was used in postwar P2 production on account of a national shortage of leather- a vital wartime munition. Some postwar cars did, however, have leather seat upholstery fitted in production, so maybe there was some choice in the matter with, perhaps, a premium payable for leather. It would therefore be consistent with originality, 60-odd years later, to substitute readily available green leather for cord as it appears to have been an option available at the time.
Another way round the difficulty in sourcing green cord is to dye beige cord to the required shade. Easier said than done,though: it's one thing to dye narrow strips of beige coach lacing to cover piping and draught excluders, but quite another to change the colour of several metres of an expensive heavy woolcloth 60" wide. I once had a batch done in navy blue by Sketchley's, the high street dry cleaners, at enormous cost, but they say they will no longer undertake such work, citing the difficulty of controlling the final colour. Professional dyeworks, needless to add, are interested only in doing hundreds of metres at a time.
As I understand it, Bedford cord was used in postwar P2 production on account of a national shortage of leather- a vital wartime munition. Some postwar cars did, however, have leather seat upholstery fitted in production, so maybe there was some choice in the matter with, perhaps, a premium payable for leather. It would therefore be consistent with originality, 60-odd years later, to substitute readily available green leather for cord as it appears to have been an option available at the time.
Another way round the difficulty in sourcing green cord is to dye beige cord to the required shade. Easier said than done,though: it's one thing to dye narrow strips of beige coach lacing to cover piping and draught excluders, but quite another to change the colour of several metres of an expensive heavy woolcloth 60" wide. I once had a batch done in navy blue by Sketchley's, the high street dry cleaners, at enormous cost, but they say they will no longer undertake such work, citing the difficulty of controlling the final colour. Professional dyeworks, needless to add, are interested only in doing hundreds of metres at a time.
1939 20 H.P. Salmons Tickford D.H.C.
Re: Rover upholstery materials
thanks for that help, the woollies reference to the headlining is great, but the material that I'm looking for that is green is different to the Bedford Cord, its a woven backing and has a sort of semi gloss finish of colour on it. I think it is the same thing that trims the inside of the doors as well?
Cheers and thanks
Cheers and thanks
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dhbuchanan
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:01 pm
Re: Rover upholstery materials
What you appear to be describing in your latest posting, SA103, is vinyl leathercloth used to cover door cards and miscellaneous trim panels. You will find a selection in green in the leathercloths section of Woolies' catalogue. They will willingly send samples on request.
Known variously as Vynide and non-stretch leathercloth, this material started off life before the war as Rexine, ICI's brand name for a cloth with a semi-glossy grain-printed cellulose finish on a woven cotton backing., There were panel and seat qualities available, the latter having some stretch. A heavy-duty waterproof version was used for sunroofs. After the war, newly-developed PVC (polyvinyl chloride) was substituted for highly inflammable cellulose, though the appearance of the cloth remained much the same. In time, super-stretch versions were developed by ICI and others under brand names like Ambla, and eventually became the default seating and trim material for most cars. In the 70s, this was the rubbery stuff that burned your back and backside if you forgot to put a towel on the seat on a hot day. It's known in the trimming trade as "knitback", is cheap and cheerful, and should not be used in classic Rovers.
Known variously as Vynide and non-stretch leathercloth, this material started off life before the war as Rexine, ICI's brand name for a cloth with a semi-glossy grain-printed cellulose finish on a woven cotton backing., There were panel and seat qualities available, the latter having some stretch. A heavy-duty waterproof version was used for sunroofs. After the war, newly-developed PVC (polyvinyl chloride) was substituted for highly inflammable cellulose, though the appearance of the cloth remained much the same. In time, super-stretch versions were developed by ICI and others under brand names like Ambla, and eventually became the default seating and trim material for most cars. In the 70s, this was the rubbery stuff that burned your back and backside if you forgot to put a towel on the seat on a hot day. It's known in the trimming trade as "knitback", is cheap and cheerful, and should not be used in classic Rovers.
1939 20 H.P. Salmons Tickford D.H.C.