Rear bulkhead trim

[NPC59D]

Dear all,

I'm about to get my Street 427 painted, which means I also need to trim the rear bulkhead behind the seats, as it's currently in bare alloy.

I'm given to understand that I need to source some black grained vinyl, such as Naugahyde for the upper main section and then trim the lower 'step' in Karvel type black carpet; is that right?

Finding photo's of Cobra rear bulkheads on period correct cars seems to be a challenge - can anyone point me in the right direction please?

Best regards

Lee

[LMH]

Just a guess as Cobra 427's aren't my thing but I'd say in terms of originality, the carpet would be wool. Karvel is a modern carpet weaved to look like Wilton wool but it's a modern synthetic. Probably a lot cheaper than wool though, so if cost is an issue, it may be an alternative.
The rear bulkhead covering sounds correct but it may have been real leather. I'm not sure but street cars got more attention to their interiors than did comp or S/C versions.
Larry

[NPC59D]

Thanks Larry - I'll do some more digging - there's no rush as I'm still deciding what colour to paint the car!

lee

[CSX 4133]

For what it's worth the bulkhead on mine is carpeted in the same material as the center console/floorboards.

[Jim Maxwell]

The rear bulkhead in original 427 street cars was a black vinyl with a grain. I have not found an exact replacement in 17 years of looking but I have found a fairly close replacement. I'll dig out the details.

[Bill D]

Jim
On the 289 cars, was the vinyl on the rear bulkhead from the floor to the top? Or just partway?

Thanks

[NPC59D]

Originally Posted by Jim Maxwell

The rear bulkhead in original 427 street cars was a black vinyl with a grain. I have not found an exact replacement in 17 years of looking but I have found a fairly close replacement. I'll dig out the details.

Jim, that would be much appreciated. I've found a potential material, but I want to make sure that it's as period-correct as it can be.

Bill - I am led to believe that the 'step' at floor level is carpeted, but the rest of the bulkhead is trimmed in a grained vinyl, similar to Naughahyde. There is a pocket attached for the storage of your side screens too.

Lee

[DanEC]

Here is a little earlier discussion on this subject from a few years ago. It confirms that the lower step should be carpeted.

Vinyl behind the seats ?

[LMH]

Originally Posted by Bill D

Jim
On the 289 cars, was the vinyl on the rear bulkhead from the floor to the top? Or just partway?

Thanks

This is the best answer to your question Bill:

Originally Posted by rsk289
I'd also really appreciate any photos of this area if possible. I've trawled through the CSX info gallery for the 2000 series cars, and there are only a couple of shots of this area which are hard to make out. It seems this is not a popular subject for a photo when snapping Cobras!

I'm assuming the vinyl panel holding the sidescreens was flexible, with an elastic top edge?
Yes, Elastic sewn in with about a 1/2" stretch. Lift-a-dot to Lift-a-dot across the top is 40 1/2"

Was the rear bulkhead carpet or vinyl?
Vinyl

Looks like the wheelarch bulges at the sides were vinyl
The bulges covered in leather (glued)

- but the lower step going across?
"Step" is carpeted

Was carpet only on the floor?
Carpet on trans/bellhousing tunnel, kick panels, along sides below doors and on doors and glove box

Larry

[LMH]

Don’t forget the ash tray! It should be fitted before the carpet goes in.
Larry

[rsk289]

Yes Larry, that was my research from a few years back, for which I also received a lot of very helpful notes and photos from DC.

As far as I know, for a leafspring 289 (specifically a COB car, but I doubt it makes a lot of difference):

The inner wheelarches were finished in black skived leather, of a coarse grain that hasn't been available for some time (apparently the Hurlocks had fallen out with Conolly, and refused to use their leather). On a stepped bulkhead, the top and front of the step have Karvel carpet glued on, with no binding at the edges. Karvel was the 'standard' level carpet fitted to millions of cars in the sixties. As Larry notes, the current version is not the same as the original but Woolies' offering is very close (and they're not far from you, Lee). In service Karvel used to look tatty pretty quickly, but hey, if it's correct... think of it as instant patina.
The upper panel of the rear bulkhead was covered with a coarse grain vinyl - again, Woolies is your best bet as the older types of material are not reproduced. This could have been Rexine originally (think of the Morris Minor trim panels of your youth), but I tend to think it was more likely a thinner leathercloth. Then there was the elasticated 'curtain' to retain the sidescreens, of which I have photos if you need them along with fastener specs, courtesy of DC.
Dan has also given me a lot of extremely useful guidance on the way the carpets were trimmed. The biggest mistake seen these days on replicas and restored originals is the overabundant used of edge binding. Original cars had very little of this from the factory - there should be none on the trans tunnel carpet and just a strip edging the door shut and another section at the rear section only of the footwell carpet. That's pretty much it, although I believe 427s had the aluminium strip around the doorshut to stop the binding being damaged easily, something many 289 owners later copied.
I suspect Dan will give the authorised version of this sometime soon!
Roger

Forgot to mention - on COB cars at least, the ashtray was an option, and the position seems to have varied. COB6029 has its original transmission tunnel and there is no ashtray - I don't think Asshelton Cross's car had one either. If you do want to fit one (why would you? In a Cobra, the whole world is your ashtray), they are readily available from all the usual Healey outlets - e.g. AHSpares MSC101

[NPC59D]

Thank you Roger - I know you previously replied on a well known social media site, but this forum lends itself better to a more comprehensive answer!

Great - this all backs up what I needed to know.

I'll follow up with Woollies Trim on what I need in the coming couple of months. First priority is to get the car painted and I am in touch with Max on that and we're aiming for mid March. I haven't yet shared the news that he'll need to remove what limited brightwork is currently attached to the car and I will factor in that to my budget.

And on that subject, there's a third colour re-entered the fray this week that just won't go away; Black...

Update to follow.

[rsk289]

Black is, of course, the only colour.

I got a hide of skived leather from Martrim. Be aware that it has to be sent away for skiving, and the skiving costs more than the leather, IIRC... you won't get it to go on nicely otherwise, likewise the leather for the dash. Although as 427s came later it is entirely possible that they had vinyl-covered dashes.

[ACHiPo]

Here are pics of original 427 interiors. The rear as others have said was covered in vinyl/leather. The side curtain pouch is vinyl that attaches (I think) with lift-a-dots.

[rsk289]

Great pictures ACHiPo, and yes, it looks very similar to the 289.
The vinyl rear curtain attaches with chromed raised countersunk slotted screws with cup washers, and a single lift-the-dot at the top to allow access. These screw through the trim into the square-section steel frame behind. The top border is elasticated. The cut-outs at the top are to clear the seatbelt mount.

[LMH]

Wow Roger, thanks for all that info! I was under the impression that Karvel was a modern type of weave but it’s a brand of carpet! Thanks for the correction!

Do you know the thickness of the leather once shived?
Larry

[Dan Case]

Originally Posted by LMH

Do you know the thickness of the leather once shived?
Larry

Not Roger here but the original samples in my collection are in BLACK

1) typical 0.05 to 0.06 inch thick:
- scuttle hoop cover in glove box
- scuttle hoop supports at transmission
- both design versions of cockpit door latch pull straps
- cockpit door stay covers
- top bow storage strap
- rear inner wheel houses in cockpit
- black carpet and side window pouch bindings (Note: The original RED carpet I have from CSX2122 is bound in red textured vinyl.)
- instrument panel
- exterior of glove box door

2) typical 0.04 to 0.05 inch thick
- glove box door stay

Dan

[rsk289]

Obviously, I concur with Dan's remarks - as I have gained pretty much all of my information from him! CSX2310 and COB6029 are fantastic resources, being (I think) pretty much the closest things to an unrestored Cobra available to us.
From what I've seen on COB6029, not all the leather is skived, some is full thickness - for example that used in the various straps and stays etc. Dash and rear wheelarches certainly are, basically I think anything that had to fit around a complex curve. As Dan has noted, original Cobra leather is not the same as used these days, but has a much 'coarser' crease pattern, and seems to be slightly glossier. I don't like it as much, but as it's not available anyway (or at least not in the UK) that's academic.

[Dan Case]

Originally Posted by rsk289

Obviously, I concur with Dan's remarks - as I have gained pretty much all of my information from him! CSX2310 and COB6029 are fantastic resources, being (I think) pretty much the closest things to an unrestored Cobra available to us.
From what I've seen on COB6029, not all the leather is skived, some is full thickness - for example that used in the various straps and stays etc. Dash and rear wheelarches certainly are, basically I think anything that had to fit around a complex curve. As Dan has noted, original Cobra leather is not the same as used these days, but has a much 'coarser' crease pattern, and seems to be slightly glossier. I don't like it as much, but as it's not available anyway (or at least not in the UK) that's academic.

It is not just leathers, but the vinyls, heel pads, and carpets are long obsolete commercially.

The leather grain was created, per family friends of the Hurlock brothers who owned AC Cars, to be unique to AC Cars vehicles. When the original Thames Ditton works stopped making ACE and Cobra type vehicles that pretty much ended that supply chain.

The carpets in black and red were not rare in the 1960s but the automobile industry moved on to more durable designs and materials. The last commercially available stock in black that I know of was bought out by one high end restorer circa 2005-2006. Subsequent trips to England failed to find anymore and the manufacturer declined making anymore just like AC Cars used so that supply chain seems dead.

Ditto rubber heel pad material. A restorer traveled to England and bought up everything he could find at major supply houses. (It is said that the English businesses hardly ever discard anything new, obsolete or not, as long as there is any chance someone might come in and buy it. Roger does that sound about right?)

How about the vinyls, I know owners and restorers that have hunted new stock since the mid 1980s and never found anything close enough to call a great match.

Today it you want to get an excellent match to these materials AC cars used you have to find a manufacturer and have them made. That is not a cheap or fast process but it is being done especially for cars intended for events like Pebble Beach.

[rsk289]

Yes Dan, that's pretty much the case regarding UK suppliers - that's how I was lucky enough to find that the original manufacturer of the brass 1/4W size 3 wing nuts still exists (just) in Birmingham, and still had a dusty old boxful dating back to AC Cars original order from the 1920s.
It's interesting how sometimes this stuff does get remade. I have an early Land Rover (well, a '67) which used a particular heavy-duty vinyl in grey with a black grain pattern, known as 'elephant hide'. A specialist trimmer in the UK has started making a new version of this, which is a very good match. Unfortunately it's not cheap (he eventually sold me a roll of 5m for £250), and he's very reluctant to sell it loose at he makes complete trim panels to sell himself. I guess if the market's big enough...