Imperial Journey

With the shop and materials for upholstery work coming together I ran out of room for stalling on what material to use. Time to make some decisions and place an order.

The first big question was leather or vinyl? Leather is the leader for luxury – and is by far the most expensive option. Vinyl is good, widely used, and can be relatively inexpensive. The deciding factor was that I’m going to be making mistakes. I expect to make and re-make things several times while learning how to do this upholstery thing. It would drive me nuts to destroy or waste several hundreds of dollars of leather! So, vinyl it is.

I couldn’t find a local place stocking automotive fabrics, so it was on to the Internet to find out what was available online. Searching quickly turned up several suppliers. Your Auto Trim Store seemed to have what I was looking for, so I ordered several sample kits for different types and colors of automotive vinyl fabric as well as samples of foam backing.

With a sample kit you can see and feel the actual fabric you will be using. Going through the sample kits I decided that I liked the texture and feel of SoftSeat brand automotive vinyl. SoftSeat is available in both solid and perforated, allowing you to build more comfortable seats. Softseat also had a good match for the factory interior color.

I (of course) had trouble deciding what color to choose. A black car with black interior is classic. A black car with white interior is really sharp – and a stain magnet. Red? Kind of dramatic, but works with black. Rose is a bit more subtle but could look really rich. Gray? I like gray, so this could work. Hmm, some shades of blue work well with black; maybe teal or turquoise? Or maybe go with something really dramatic, like screaming banana yellow!

After enjoying prolonged indecision I finally decided to go with the factory color – a sort of cream. The existing seats had been re-upholstered at some point were a completely different color, but the door cards were still the factory color. Well, a dirty 60 year old version of the factory color… Further, the headliner was close to the factory color. Also, the dash is brown. Changing the color of the dash and the plastic dash pad would be a major project.

With the SoftSeat sample ring in the car I determined that SoftSeat Light Cashmere was a good match for the factory color. The plan was to use solid for most of the seats with perforated inserts where you will be sitting. I find that having contrasting inserts in seats provides a richer appearance, so I decided to also order SoftSeat Medium Prairie Tan for the inserts.

With colors chosen the next question was quantity. Automotive Vinyl is typically around 54″ wide and is ordered by the yard. I did a rough calculation of how much material each part of the seats, door panels, and trim would require, allowed plenty of allowance for cutting the pieces out of the roll of fabric, and then added another 25% for safety and mistakes.

To give myself flexibility I planned on getting enough Light Cashmere to do everything plus enough Medium Prairie Tan to do the inserts.

At this point She Who Must Be Obeyed pointed out the importance of getting everything you need at the same time. If you don’t have enough fabric and have to order more, there is a good chance the new order will be from a different dye batch and the colors won’t match. OK, add another 25% or so to the order. Realistically I probably have enough vinyl to do two complete cars.

It turns out that ordering automotive vinyl online is much cheaper than I expected. The SoftSeat vinyl is under $14 a yard for solid and under $19 a yard for perforated! The initial order I put together was under $600; going in I expected materials to cost over $2,000! Hmm, at this price might as well add another yard or two of each vinyl…

In addition to the vinyl I also needed foam: 1/4″ fabric backed foam for most of the trim work, 1/4″ or 1/2″ fabric backed foam for seat backing, and 1″ or 2″ high density foam for seat cushions. The same online store carried foam so I went ahead and ordered everything I needed.

Even after adding more vinyl and adding the foam the order was under $800. The order was placed and the materials have arrived. I’m now committed!

Since upholstery work is completely new the workshop needs to be reconfigured a bit to support it. The main features are a work table and an industrial sewing machine. I don’t have a sewing machine yet, but I have tracked down a source and hopefully will have one in a few weeks. In the meantime I can start work on some trim panels that don’t require sewing. Step one is a round of Shop Tetris to free up space around the welding table and empty a location for the sewing machine when it arrives.

While the welding table is great, a steel surface isn’t ideal for upholstery. Some scrap plywood and a chunk of outdoor carpet dropped on top of the welding table converted it to a very sturdy work table. To make the table more productive I added a triple air outlet (to simplify the use of multiple air tools) as well as an electrical outlet.

Trim panels make extensive use of staples. A special type of staple – ones only 1/4″ long which don’t penetrate completely through the thin cardboard or hardboard used in these panels. Since you will be using literally thousands of these staples an air stapler is definitely the way to go. After a bit of research I ordered a Meite pneumatic stapler and a box of 10,000 staples.

The next item needed was fabric to build the test parts – specifically some fabric backed vinyl material. She Who Must Be Obeyed took me to JoAnn Fabrics where we found some vinyl on sale at 1/2 off and bought 6 yards. This was the first time I had been in JoAnn Fabrics as a willing participant. One thing to know is that they have a central station where they cut fabric to length and give you a slip of paper with the information you need to check out and pay. While standing in line at the register the cashier called out to me “excuse me sir – do you have the slip for that fabric?” I was able to answer “yes; I’m here with someone who knows what she is doing”. Apparently most guys don’t know how the store works…

We also picked up a couple of yards of 1/4″ thick fabric backed foam which is used on trim panels to give them a more luxurious feel.

I had enough scraps of 1/8″ hardboard left over from other projects to make the test panels and the first trim panels I wanted to do. Add in a can of spray contact adhesive and I was ready to get started! These first test pieces were just that – test pieces to be discarded after creation.

Getting started of course means reading the books on automotive upholstery I had previously purchased and spending many hours studying You Tube videos. I finally screwed my courage up to the sticking point, grabbed a cup of coffee, and started making a mess.

The process for making trim panels is basically cutting the backing to size, stretching the foam and vinyl over it, and stapling it on the back. With no bubbles, bulges, puckers, or wrinkles. Most trim panels have curved edges, making this a bit tricky.

“Mistakes were made”. The first test pieces had significant room for improvement. No surprise; that was why I was starting out with throw-away pieces. As She Who Must Be Obeyed has observed several times “it isn’t as easy as they make it look on You Tube.” I’m aware, I’m aware…

Go back to You Tube, study details that I missed the first time around, and head back to the workshop.

The next test pieces were better. Still not perfect, but considerably better. Hmmm, almost like this is a learning process…

The original plan was to restore the Imperial in three stages: mechanical, paint and body, and interior. The original plan was also to accomplish each stage in a year, with three years for the total restoration. I’m now nine years into the project…

The first two stages are largely done. Some work remains, like HVAC and a new sound system, but the drive train, paint, and chrome are done and the car is on the road. It is now time to move to the third stage of the restoration: The interior.

When the Imperial arrived, the interior was the worst part. Start with bare floorboards with no trace of carpet to be found. The front door trim panels were in decent shape, but were tired. Someone had started to replace the rear door trim panels, and had cut and fitted hardboard panels to replace the factory cardboard. There was no covering on these panels – they were just bare hardboard. They weren’t even on the doors – they were in the trunk. Some smaller trim panels were missing completely and need to be made from scratch.

The seats had been re-upholstered at some point many years ago. Unfortunately they used a cheap vinyl that didn’t match the rest of the car. This vinyl is old, cracking, starting to tear, and dirty. Actually, it was filthy when I got the car – one of my first projects was a good cleaning of the interior!

The seats also have some structural problems: the drivers seat is very soft with little support. I don’t know if this is a problem with the foam, weak springs in this area, broken spring supports, or something else entirely. While fine for short drives, this is not comfortable for longer drives. The rear seat has some springs actually poking through the cover – certainly not comfortable! When I took the rear seat out there were chunks of old degraded foam all over the floor.

The one bit of good news is that the headliner has been replaced. The new headliner is high quality, extremely well fitted, and looks great. Since it is difficult to do a good job installing these old style headliners I have been very careful not to disturb it! This has had some downsides – I wasn’t able to install any sound deadening material or insulation in the roof when I was doing the rest of the car, and I wasn’t able to install mounting points for a shoulder harness so only seatbelts have been installed.

Special skills and equipment are needed to do upholstery and interior work, so I tracked down a good interior shop and got a quote.

$15,000.00. Plus materials – leather would probably add another $3,000-$5,000. And over a year before they could start on it.

Not happening.

Anyone who has been following this little saga will have realized that I have very little sense of self preservation. After a bit of research my thoughts ended up at “well, I learned how to do bodywork and welding, so I should be able to learn upholstery and sewing.”

If I plan up front to start with practice pieces to learn on, take my time, and stay willing to start over and re-do things until I get it right I should be able to get acceptable results. Right?

She Who Must Be Obeyed has many years of experience sewing and is laughing at me. She points out “you know, it isn’t as easy as it looks on YouTube.” Yeah, I’m aware of that… She also has the sense to stay well away from this project.

I also understand that skill is something you end up with, not something you start with. And this is a chance to get new tools!

So, join me as I get frustrated and annoyed, pound my head against a brick wall, and hopefully able to eventually give the Imperial an interior to be proud of!

The outside mirrors were some of the worst chrome trim on the car. The pot metal was heavily corroded and pitted. After painting the car and getting the rest of the chrome re-plated these were easily the worst part of the car, bringing down overall appearance.

Why weren’t these done with the rest of the trim? Cost. Each mirror would cost $650 to restore, because of the extensive work they needed to correct the pitting.

Good news! I managed to track down new reproduction mirrors for only $175 each. While Imperial specific parts are hard to find, these mirrors were listed for 58-66 Imperial, 58-64 Chrysler, and 58-62 Dodge Plymouth Desoto. This is a large enough market to support making reproduction parts.

I ordered two of the mirrors and was pleasantly surprised by the high quality when they showed up.

Installing them was a bit of a job. Mounting most rear view mirrors is a case of two screws and you are done. Of course it isn’t that easy on an Imperial! The Imperial mirrors are remotely adjustable, so the control cables have to be routed from the front fender to inside the cabin and installed in the dashboard.

As expected, the mirrors are mounted on top of a sealed compartment with no access other than a couple of 1″ holes, making it a bit of a nightmare to route the cables and adjuster… With creative use of a number of tools, patience, and an application of appropriate invective the cables were finally in place.

With the cables run the actual installation of the mirrors was, in fact, two screws and 30 seconds of time.

The new mirrors look great and work well. Another big step forward for the Imperial!

It turns out that the third time is a charm! I ordered an airbrush kit – specifically the Neoeco Airbrush Kit. Next step was going to YouTube to learn how to use an airbrush. Amusingly I found a review of this exact kit. Looks like I made a good choice!

An airbrush is the perfect tool for small touchups. It puts out a narrow band of paint, around 3/8″ to 1/2″ wide with excellent control of where the paint is going and little overspray. The air control in the airbrush lets you easily control the flow of paint, which is perfect for blending the edges of the area being touched up.

Since airbrushes only use a tiny amount of paint I ordered even smaller mixing cups – 1 ounce – and disposable droppers marked in CC. For touchup jobs I’m mixing up 5-10 CC of paint – which is 1-2 teaspoons of paint. And it is still more than needed for most touchup jobs!

Spot repair with the airbrush is easy. If you have a chip, first sand it out smooth and blend the edges. Spray two coats of base color paint, heavy in the center and blending out away from the center. Follow up with 2-3 coats of clearcoat, again heavy at the center and blending out from the center.

I’ve had success sanding the finished spot repair with 3,000 grit sandpaper followed 5,000 grit. With good blending while spraying you can even start with 5,000 grit.

The spot repairs went quit well – better than I really expected with this basecoat/clearcoat system. Applying color over clearcoat is usually obvious, so I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Unfortunately the paint is getting thin around some of the areas where I sanded through. Sanding out the repaired spot tends to sand through the adjacent areas, leading to a chasing your tail situation. I decided to leave well enough alone and accept some (minor) flaws.

With the spot repairs done, the last stage was wax. After reading a bunch of reviews I ended up using Turtle Wax Pro to the Max Graphene wax. The reviews claim it has great gloss and durability. This ended up being an easy job. I applied the wax using the polisher with a Griot’s Garage Waxing Pad. This made short work of applying the wax. After the wax dried a wet towel removed the haze and excess wax and a quick polish with a dry towel finished the job.

The final result is good – good shine, good reflections even with black paint, and good depth. Unfortunately there is a slight haze in the paint, apparently in the clearcoat itself, that can’t be polished out. It looks good, but doesn’t “pop” quite the way I had hoped for.

Note: the dots in the hood aren’t paint defects – they are reflections of an electrical outlet cover plate in the wall behind the car. This final result does have good gloss, depth, and reflectivity. All in all, the body is straight enough to get away with the black paint job. I’m pleased with the final outcome.

Now to start putting the car back together. I couldn’t wait and had to start installing some of the freshly chromed trim. This is going to look fantastic!