Headlining Fabric - A7 Saloons

[Chris KC]

Does anyone have reliable info on what fabric, and in what colour(s), was originally used for A7 saloon headlining?

Up to this point I've been dismissing the tatty remnants in the roof of my RP as "modern" replacement, but upon inspecting fragments from another (reportedly 'untouched') roof they are the same - it's quite a thin fabric, brushed soft only on the face side, with a distinct weave on the reverse, and the colour - with due allowance for grot and fading - is perhaps best described as "cream". It's miles away from the opulent stuff modern trim suppliers offer.

Rummaging through the books and catalogues I have has turned up no info at all - I only found an online resource which says headlinings were "grey", but without citing any source.

Thoughts welcomed... I shall more than likely choose something (a) available and (b) I like - but it's always good to start from a position of knowledge.

[Mike Costigan]

It probably depends on what year you are studying. The original lining on my RK was definitely not grey; by the late 1960s it was a beige shade, though after forty years it may well have started life as cream! The lining on my coupe built within a couple of months of the RK was grey, though. Whilst the lining on my ARQ Ruby was a similar beige to the RK...

[Chris KC]

I'm specifically interested in 1934 (RP) Mike, though I have no objections should a broader discussion arise.

"Beige" is a quite reasonable description of what I have, but the parts which are better preserved (e.g. folded under edges, which have neither been exposed to light nor handling) are somewhat lighter than the "beige" swatches I have from suppliers. The latter resemble the aged and dirty state quite well, but it obviously wasn't that dark from the factory.

FWIW a flame test (Google it) suggests the fabric is brushed cotton rather than wool.

Of course it's entirely possible - likely even - that different colours were used to complement different upholstery and paintwork colours.

p.s. In an attempt to illustrate the matter - not intended to disparage any supplier or anyone's choice of headlining! - the picture below may help. The "original" (???) sample is at bottom centre.

  Colour Comparison s.jpg (Size: 605.64 KB / Downloads: 180)

[Malcolm Parker]

I did the Pytchley with a cream wool blanket that I picked up at a charity shop for 50p.   I don't think you can go far wrong with a cream or beige head-lining, to my mind they look more original than other colours.  The photo below taken with a flash makes the head-lining look to have a bluish tint, it is actually cream!    

[Chris KC]

I did the Pytchley with a cream wool blanket that I picked up at a charity shop for 50p.   

This sort of thing makes me happy Malcolm! Some of those fabrics are nearly £100/metre...

[Peter Sweeney]

When I relined my 1938 Big 7 I bought beige woollen material which matched the colour. When I stripped the original out I found to my horror it was grey. 30 plus years of smokers had evenly stained it.        

[Howard Wright]

Hi Chris

Like you I baulked at the cost of pukka headlining material when I did the RK.  From memory (it was 2016) I used cream brushed cotton from an eBay vendor.  When it arrived it was nearly see through. I think they call it Voile. However it was cheap enough that I bought enough to use it double thickness.

Slight thread drift….but I inherited my first real car (a 100E Ford Prefect) from my Grandfather in 1969.  He used various tar rich compounds in his pipe which was rarely out of his mouth. The headlining was dark brown.  It took many coats of cream emulsion to cover it and even then the car still reeked of tobacco! 

Cheers

Howard

[Chris KC]

I don't so much mind the spend when it's "the right stuff", but I hesitate when it's not necessarily correct for the car.
Tempting as it is to buy "nothing but the best", one can easily end up in the over-restored corner. 

I suspect you had a bit of bad luck with your eBay buy Howard; a decent quality Winceyette (the stuff they used to make winter jimjams out of, in the days when you could actually buy jimjams) might be somewhere near the mark. IF (big if) that is, my "original" sample is indeed the right stuff...

[bystander]

I believe light fawn union cloth is as close as you will get, and still available from various sources

[Parazine]

I've discussed this at length with coachtrimmers and the general consensus is that the soft fluffy material that was used on "ordinary" 1930's cars is unobtanium. 

The headlining materials available today would suit up-market vehicles of the 1930's, hence the cost. 

My 1929 RK had been retrimmed in the 1950's and retained the soft, fluffy material, which was clearly still around then; in fact, the family Ford E493A Prefect, built in 1952 used it. It probably went off the market with the demise of the Ford 103E Popular or shortly after.