Upholstering the 1926 coupe package tray.
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:40 pm
Over the last half century, some moth damage was done to my package tray, necessitating reupholstering. When I bought the Coupe in 1970, it had some remnants of upholstery and I used reverse engineering to upholster it in the same way it was originally upholstered at Ford. The package tray consists of five pieces: 1. The curved steel back piece, 2. The shelf, 3. The shelf stiffener the seat hangs from and the two blocks on each side of the stiffener. Most of the procedure will be told in pictures backing up the explanation below:
Make sure you have very clean surface to work on. I have lots of clean cardboard sheeting that I spread out on my work table. This is necessary to be sure nothing gets on the upholstery to ruin your work.
1. I found some material that matched the color of the upholstery and bought one yard.
2. I did the stiffener first, cutting the material to size, ironing out the wrinkles and, using contact adhesive, brush on the edge of the fabric and on the unseen wooden side of the stiffener, being careful not to coat it so that it is visible, because the contact adhesive will darken the material. Let dry for 20 minutes and join the fabric and the wood together on the underside. Apply contact adhesive to the other edge of the fabric and on the wooden underside and let dry for 20 minutes. Pull it as tight as you can and join. When pulling, also pull to the side so it is tight in all directions with no wrinkles. Do not join until all wrinkles are out.
3. Mark the stiffener blocks so you won’t mount them on the wrong end and upholster the blocks in the same way. It was easier to use upholstery tacks for these. Connect them to each end of the stiffener with counter sunk wood screws.
4. Now the package tray shelf. Cut the fabric with 2” extra on all sides so the edges can be wrapped around and glued on the backside with contact adhesive. Before attaching, iron out the wrinkles. Apply contact adhesive to the edge of the fabric going across the front and apply cement on the underside of the front side of the wooden shelf. Let dry for 20 minutes then attach the fabric to the wooden underside. Apply cement to the edge of fabric going across the back of the wooden shelf and apply cement to the underside of the shelf across the back. Wrap the fabric over the top of the shelf and pull tight in all directions and join them together. Do not join until there are no wrinkles. Where the wooden shelf curves, I found it easier stretch each edge tight and secure with upholstery tacks. As soon as all the wrinkles are out, join fabric to wood.
5. Secure the stiffener to the shelf with counter sunk wood screws.
6. Lastly, do the curved steel back piece of the package tray. Cut the fabric to size and iron out the wrinkles. Apply contact cement to the edge of the fabric going across the front side then apply cement to the flat, straight flange across the front. Let dry for 20 minutes and join together. Apply to the underside of the back of the curved steel piece. Let dry for 20 minutes then pull very tight in all directions and join the fabric to the steel when all wrinkles are out. Do the same to the curved right and left sides. Apply contact adhesive to the back of both sides and to the edges of the fabric. Let dry, pull tight and join together.
7. Secure the curved steel back piece to the shelf.
8. Install the completed assembly in the car and close it up.
Jim Patrick
Photos of stiffener:
Make sure you have very clean surface to work on. I have lots of clean cardboard sheeting that I spread out on my work table. This is necessary to be sure nothing gets on the upholstery to ruin your work.
1. I found some material that matched the color of the upholstery and bought one yard.
2. I did the stiffener first, cutting the material to size, ironing out the wrinkles and, using contact adhesive, brush on the edge of the fabric and on the unseen wooden side of the stiffener, being careful not to coat it so that it is visible, because the contact adhesive will darken the material. Let dry for 20 minutes and join the fabric and the wood together on the underside. Apply contact adhesive to the other edge of the fabric and on the wooden underside and let dry for 20 minutes. Pull it as tight as you can and join. When pulling, also pull to the side so it is tight in all directions with no wrinkles. Do not join until all wrinkles are out.
3. Mark the stiffener blocks so you won’t mount them on the wrong end and upholster the blocks in the same way. It was easier to use upholstery tacks for these. Connect them to each end of the stiffener with counter sunk wood screws.
4. Now the package tray shelf. Cut the fabric with 2” extra on all sides so the edges can be wrapped around and glued on the backside with contact adhesive. Before attaching, iron out the wrinkles. Apply contact adhesive to the edge of the fabric going across the front and apply cement on the underside of the front side of the wooden shelf. Let dry for 20 minutes then attach the fabric to the wooden underside. Apply cement to the edge of fabric going across the back of the wooden shelf and apply cement to the underside of the shelf across the back. Wrap the fabric over the top of the shelf and pull tight in all directions and join them together. Do not join until there are no wrinkles. Where the wooden shelf curves, I found it easier stretch each edge tight and secure with upholstery tacks. As soon as all the wrinkles are out, join fabric to wood.
5. Secure the stiffener to the shelf with counter sunk wood screws.
6. Lastly, do the curved steel back piece of the package tray. Cut the fabric to size and iron out the wrinkles. Apply contact cement to the edge of the fabric going across the front side then apply cement to the flat, straight flange across the front. Let dry for 20 minutes and join together. Apply to the underside of the back of the curved steel piece. Let dry for 20 minutes then pull very tight in all directions and join the fabric to the steel when all wrinkles are out. Do the same to the curved right and left sides. Apply contact adhesive to the back of both sides and to the edges of the fabric. Let dry, pull tight and join together.
7. Secure the curved steel back piece to the shelf.
8. Install the completed assembly in the car and close it up.
Jim Patrick
Photos of stiffener:
- 44B866C0-9B1F-49C2-B22C-1C3374CD87FD.jpeg (86.92 KiB) Viewed 2256 times