MTFCA Forum

The interior door panel on my 1923 runabout is falling apart from use. As most of you know it’s a dense black cardstock base covered with a thin textured outer paper skin very much like that used in musical instrument cases, camera bodies etc. There is a oval cutout relief near the lock assembly that is trimmed with a thin steel edge. My question is … was there a similar steel edge on the oval hole for the release? Does anyone have a complete panel in good condition as a reference?

Mark: When I restored my 21 Touring back in 1970, the kits had the same carboard door pannels that I knew would not last. I made my own using some heavy cardboard poster board. I first covered in a thin foam (3/16") using a spray on upholstery glue. I then covered the foam with black vinyl material, wrapping it around the edges and again using the spray on glue and a more permanent glue where it wrapped around to te back. I tacked it on using a vinyl upholstery trim. For the part that goes around the edge of the latch, I continued with the same trim, using short round head paper fasteners, painting the head black. I just cut a slit for the latch handle, no trim. This has held up quite well over the years. This car is used a lot and many kids have climbed through these doors. this is a picture of how it looks today. Hopefully this will give you an idea for your car.

Ok … I just saw tat the steel trim pieces are available though Langs.

Mark, these are pictures of the original door panel on my 1924 runabout. There are two metal trim pieces.

As far as the spacing distance between the panel tacks are concerned it’s close to the distance as what’s shown in the two original panel posts on this thread. I have a 21 Touring and I checked other cars from the same era and none are exactly alike. Eventually I made the distance around 1 1/4”.

Pictures on this discussion support those shown:
https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/5 ... 1433642698

I have a NOS cardboard door panel, as I recall it's for a late touring. What I see happening is most likely the new grained cardboard available is thicker than the originals. About ten years ago, I restored a 1925 roadster with all the proper reproduction hardware. It has all since come off just driving on a few tours. I believe what needs to be done to correct this problem is to correctly put bigger tabs on the backside of the two pieces so they will stay on.

Here is another photo of an original. Not the best photo but it shows what was there.

The cardboard has a nice texture like colonial grain top material. It is embossed in the cardboard itself. I wish someone reproduced it.

Unless the press rollers with that grain already exists (or you find a set of the ones Ford used), it would cost a bundle to do the set up for those. It's like repopping the authentic top material with the Ford Script "F" in it... If someone had more money than brains, then heck yes!
Still, I'd try other groups like camera collectors or luggage collectors, as they use a similar colonial-style grained cardboard andmay have ideas...

They made similar textured cardboard for late Fords and trucks. Some might be similar enough. Worth looking into.
Rich