MTFCA Forum

The interior cardboard like material in a touring car is called cowboard to my knowledge.
Im interested in where you can buy a similar material today
My car does not have any.
What have you used? Where did you get it?
Thanks!

Try Classtique upholstery. They have a material similar enough to be acceptable for restoration, but it is thinner and of a different composition than the stuff used a century ago.

It's called cowlboard.
My dad did upholstery for 50 years. He upholstered cars, furniture, and boats, he even upholstered a private plane one time.
He always called it panel board, but apparently, by doing an internet search, it's now called Cowl Board. Get your Google on and do a search for "Cowl board," and you'll find several sources of what you're in the market for.

Is cowl board similar to the backing they put behind dressers and other furniture today that is a very heavy paperboard?

Picture framing mat board is an option I have used.

I have never used it. here is a link.
https://www.automotiveinteriors.com/wat ... owl-dp.htm

If there is an automotive upholstery supply or shop in your general area, you should be able to purchase panel board locally.

My father re-did the door panels on his 1917 touring a few years ago.

He did not use a kit but he did purchase black panel board and thin black leatherette from Classtique. (The black panel board is not pictured or listed in the hardware/yardgoods section of the catalog but in the enclosed car kit portion of the catalog it is mentioned that it can be purchased upon special request.)

We're in Minneapolis so we live close enough to Lindstrom, MN to drive to Classtique and purchase what we need in person.

Were the door and cowl panels even covered on open cars or were they just edge trimmed?

RE: covered door and cowl panels - tourings and roadsters

It depends on when the car left the factory.

Originally, the panel boards were covered with leatherette fabric.

Sometime during production, the panel boards had a finished side which dispensed for the need to cover them with leatherette fabric.

I don't know when the transition occurred but I believe it wasn't until the 1920s. There are Model T roadsters and tourings that still have their original, later style panel boards. Over the years, I have also seen NOS examples of the later style panel boards.