Stude Needs A New Interior – You Vote!

One of the first jobs I did on my 1955 Studebaker was redoing the car’s interior. Even though I didn’t know what I was doing – I had a pretty good sewing background and figured I could handle it. As it turned out, it was a terrific first job for me. I had a lot of fun, met some challenges, and learned along the way. I’ve since had the chance to learn a few secrets and have been looking forward to another car interior restoration.

Well…the time is here. When I picked out the materials to use in my Stude, I knew they weren’t very sturdy but I didn’t really care. A few years of daily wear later, my driver’s seat-back has been torn to shreds.

Before embarking on this next car restoration adventure, I thought I’d ask for your opinion. Car shows are great places to look for what you like and might want to incorporate into your own project. So that’s just what I did. While trying to keep my head on straight while looking at all the amazing customs at the Long Beach Motorama, I grabbed some shots of various car interiors.

headliner is coming!

Reno and Kristin having fun!

After over 50 years, the headliner in the Stude was ready for a replacement. Though this would be no pop-in job here folks – a pre-fab headliner wouldn’t do for me. Being a girl, I’m a sucker for shiny things. So when it came to choosing interior car fabrics my heart was set on glitter vinyl…yep, that stuff your grandmother’s kitchen chairs were upholstered with. Knowing vinyl wouldn’t be so comfortable if it were on the seats (I remember our old family station wagon,) my eyes turned upward to spectacular possibilities with the headliner.

In the Los Angeles library system, I could find only one book that supposedly had headliner information in it (at least for cars of my era). The book was at a library too far away, so I didn’t bother. Turning instead to the internet for how-to articles – I still only found information on popping in a pre-fab. So last Saturday, my new friend Reno and I embarked on new and unknown territory!