1952 Hornet interior material

Lee ODell

Is there a supplier for original seat material for 52 Hornet. Nylon,3-dimentional weave blue gray with blue stripes and the plastic Dura-fab trim in leather-grain finish.

Does anyone know how much material would be needed for the seats and seperatly for the door panels. It would be good to know the price too if possible.

The suppliers contact information please. All information will be appreciated.

Lee O'Dell

Unknown

Lee, get a hold of Pomona Auto Upholstery. They did all of Bill As cars. They suhe originalpplied some grey striped fabric for the 49 Super 8 Bill did and it was very close to the original fabric that was in the car.

[Deleted User]

Hello Lee,
In restoring my '52, I found that there were two different types of interior fabrics used. The earlier ones used a striped material which I believe was left over from the 1951 model year. You can find some pretty close matches to this type. SMS comes to mind. The other type of material, used in my Hornet (manufactured in April), is an intricate three dimensional weave with a subtle checkerboard-like background in alternating stripes. I have NEVER found a supplier of this fabric although I believe that someone on the forum looked into having it re-produced. I finally resorted to buying some fabric off a guy who was parting out a '52 on ebay to fill in the worn panels in my car. Anyway, I think it would probably be "period correct" to use the earlier pattern and would be a whole lot easier to find. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

Browniepetersen

Lee, Contact http://www.Customsandclassics.com


Chris and Kelley are in the process of restoring a 1952 Sedan and are members of the HET. They should be able to answer all your questions. I know that they are in the process of having material made and they should know what is the best to do.

By the way, the brown vynal material is available at almost all of the suppliers and is economical. Also, I found out when I did my 52 that you could have the all vynal as an option. Unless you are doing a "Big Buck" project you might consider that?

Brownie

Lee ODell

In the stash of literature that came with the car I found a 52 Hudson show room brochure showing seat material styles.
Hornet Sedan - 2 styles
Hornet Club Coupe & Hollywood - 2 different styles
Commadore Eight - Same as Hornet Club Coupe & Hollywood

All the other models had their own styles on fabric
Commadore Six - 3 styles
Hudson Wasp - 3 styles
Pacemaker - 2 styles

Most of the styles had brown stripes. It seems only the Hornet Sedan & all Commadore Eight's could be ordered with blue stripes.

The Nylon option must have become available after printing of brochure.

Don - What is SMS and their contact information. You got me to checking my vin # for date of maufacture. Thanks to Alex's book I found it. My 52 Hornet Sedan was manufactured in the last 1/3rd of Aug 1952, the last month of the 52 production. My upholstery has a series of dark blue stripes and light blue stripes seperated by light gray stripes. I would like to see a 1951 Hudson brochure to compare styles.

Steve - I'll give them a call. I didn't know where Bill A had his upholstery done.

Brownie - I'm not going for the big buck redo but we like the original design. Would like to get it if possible. We have had both nylon and cloth. We just prefer cloth. Less persperation on long trips.
I called Chris. Very nice and helpful. He had ordered the material 2 yrs ago, but it was a different color than mine. (He thought it was brown). Anyway, He recommended calling the one, he orders his material through. Jim Sharpe 440-322-1954. I'll give Jim a call.

From the 52 brochure pictures, I can see why the style on my car would be easier to duplicate than Don's pattern. His upholstery has very intricate styling.

Thank you everyone for your imput. That helps.

Lee O'Dell

[Deleted User]

SMS contact info;

SMS Auto Fabrics
350 S. Redwood St.
Canby, OR

Phone is 503-263-3535

Upon reques they will send fabric smaples.

Hope this helps,
Doug
54 Hornet Special

Lee ODell

Thanks you Doug.

Lee O'Dell

7XPacemaker

I bought the striped material from SMS a few years back. The price was around 100 per yard. I bought around 12 yards to do my '51 sedan. I have some left over from the upholstery job. How much do you need? That all depends on how good your upholsterer is. If you do order from SMS and they have to make more- be careful. I paid in advance and they didn't send me the fabric for about a year. I was a little upset about them holding my money fro such an extended period of time.

[Deleted User]

Hi Lee,

SMS has the exact match for your 52. I had called Pomona upolstery and they told me to get 14 yards just to be safe. I got the order from SMS in less than two weeks. I still have the material as the car doesn't go to the upolsterer till Dec or so. I think it was $11 a yard if I remember correctly. Expensive, but this brown /gold stripe material is an EXACT duplication, not just a "close too". If you want to come over and look at the material just let me know. You are welcome any time. Niels

7XPacemaker

Oh, sorry. I thought that he wanted the blue/ gray striped material.

Walt-LA

If you can find a swatch from an original interior, it would be the best approach for establishing the pattern. The brocuhures, sometimes run a bit to the artist's fancy - at least they did on the '51s. SMS has, or had, a close match on the '51 stripe in brown. The had fabric woven a year or so ago - but waitng on same took some time.

I think I have a couple of good photo's of the blue striped fabric from '51. Send me an email by PM and I'll return with same.

Walt-LA

Walt-LA

Niels,

If you put a swatch of the original brown stripe next to that which SMS had a year or so ago, you'll see that it is not an exact match, though very close. Certainly not worth quibbling over. I waited about a year and a half for mine in brown- with two runs to get it to where it is/was. Goes to the upholsterer next week!

Walt-LA

[Deleted User]

Walt-LA wrote:

Niels,

If you put a swatch of the original brown stripe next to that which SMS had a year or so ago, you'll see that it is not an exact match, though very close. Certainly not worth quibbling over. I waited about a year and a half for mine in brown- with two runs to get it to where it is/was. Goes to the upholsterer next week!

Walt-LA

Hi Walt,

Don't know about yours, but the 14 yards I got 6 months or so are an exact match from my orignal unfaded swatch. As you said, not to quible just telling it like it is.

Walt-LA

I've had mine a little longer. Main difference is in width of stripes, which differ by about 1/16 of an inch in some cases. Colors can't tell because of some fading. If I can post, will do so. I need some more fabric, so is of some import to get same.

Walt

Walt-LA

Scan of upholstery... Walt

[Deleted User]

Hi Walt,

You scan is of 51 material. Not sure if there is a difference in the 52 material. Regardless- those look darn close. Hard for anyone to find fault in that pattern. At the age of 52, I still don't need glasses but my 52 matches great.

Walt-LA

Niels,

It is '51, and it's close enough for me. Is the swatch on the right labelled 2005 a '52 pattern? Thought it might be. Walt

Lee ODell

7X Pacemaker - Your thought is correct. I want the blue stripes.

Walt-LA - Sent you a PM. I have the original material, though fadded, I think came off the front seat back. The front seat has a ugly green seat cover on it now. The rear is still original with a small tear.

Thanks for the offer Neils. Will you be at the Laughlin Meet? I'd like to see it if you can bring it. Thanks for letting me know how much material is needed.

Question, What is the price? Is it $100 or $11 per yard?

There is good information here. Thank you all.

Lee O'Dell

7XPacemaker

If you are interested, I will send you a swatch of my leftover upholstery. I can Guarentee that you will get it faster from me than SMS. When I ordered a swatch of it, it took six weeks to receive it. Maybe things have changed though....