Not wanting to hi-jack the other panel truck and sedan delivery thread, I'm starting this to see pix of interiors. Clarence got a total mechanical makeover in 2016 and this year is getting a significant makeover on the body and interior. Sherry and I differ on our notions of how to do the floor/walls/ceiling aesthetics in Clarence. I'm hoping that with pix of other cars that we can see something that neither of us has thought of that we can agree on. Or even a twist on something we already are aware of. We haven't even decided on the floor. It's getting new steel floors fire wall to rear doors and we're debating on whether to leave them painted steel or installing carpet. Or carpet in the front and painted in the back. We still want the utility of being useable as a truck. None-the-less, we want it to look good. What we don't want to do is to get into the foo foo "don't touch me 'cause you might scratch me" mode. This thing will never be show quality and we still intend to drive the wheels off of it. The one thing we do agree on is that we want really good thermal insulation in it. I/we have driven that thing in the heat for 45 years and sweated hundreds of gallons. It's getting A/C installed and we want it to be effective. I've had several friends install A/C over the years that were disappointed in the results; primarily because they didn't do anything to keep the heat out. With all of the skin area soaking up the heat and all of the cubic feet of interior space I believe that insulation is of the utmost importance. Insulation needs to be covered up so that's where our quandary comes in. What to use or how to do it. It's getting the largest Vintage Air unit but the outside will be Washington Blue. Gotta max out on the insulation. We've seen cloth headliner/smooth painted walls. Smooth painted walls and ceiling. Upholstery on the walls and ceiling. Carpet everywhere. Etc., etc., etc. Show us some good interior pix. If I had even an ounce of creativity in my pea brain I would not need to ask for your help. But it is what it is. B-T-W; the craftsmen that are doing the body work and paint don't do shoddy work. Everything that they have done that I have seen is show quality. They are both as good as anyone in the business. I told them to do "driver quality" work, but driver quality to them is Ridley Award runner up instead of winning the award type of work. I bet that they will knock my socks off when I see it again. We will be having the interior done when we get it back, thus my questions. I know that I could have done this post in just one sentence asking for pix, without the explanations. But you guys have seen my posts. I have to write a book when I post. My mouth diarrhea kicks in every time. Sorry for being long-winded (again).
why not put a wood floor in back? Chevy used plywood floors in them for years. definitely needs lots of insulation to keep the heat and noise down.
Having had a 57 panel with no insulation I'd agree 100% on the seriously insulate the insides thing. I'd say on th interior you can still make it damned nice and presentable but usable. I doubt you will be hauling greasy engines or transmissions in it but an inexpensive rug that you could roll out or a furniture pad that you could unfold and lay out might protect the interior if you happen on a piece of furniture or haul a couple of 2x4s home from Lowes. Hell I have hauled 8 ft sticks of steel tubing home in my Cad Deville by opening the "ski" passage in the back seat and throwing a towel on the console.
Clarence had the original Ford plywood rear floor in it from original manufacture 'til yesterday. It was structurally sound, but had 70 years of dirt/grease/oil/etc. absorbed into it. Thus, it had to go. It was making the whole interior smell bad and I don't think covering it with carpet would have eliminated the odor and paint definitely would not stick to it. The metal man who is doing the work can fab steel floors easier, quicker, and for less money than replacing the wood. I thought long and hard about saving the original wood, but in the end it just wasn't practical. Sherry is partial to wood floor so we're considering a piece of stained and varnished oak veneer plywood cut so that it will lay over and cover the new steel floor. When I bought Clarence in 1973 it was my only utility vehicle, so it's hauled everything you can think of in it. Engines, transmissions, motorcycles, a half ton of sand, hay bales, even a disassembled '27 Chevy roadster body. We now have two pickups and a trailer so there should never be a need to use it to haul anything that is actually dirty again. That is, unless we are far from home on a trip and find an antique or something that we just can't live without and want to bring home. In that case a trip to the local Wally World for a plastic tarp and cheap rug will suffice. Thanx to both of you for your responses.
I've got a '52 Chevy panel that's a few years away from getting an interior. But that's not to say I haven't put lots of thought and daydreams into it. I've saved some photos from online searches that interest me but most of those I find are way too sano for my tastes (like these examples)........ I want something that's a throwback to an earlier time, not a fast forward to modern times, so I also search early transportation images, ie: "cargo hold", "cockpit", "railcar interiors", etc., for inspiration. I've looked at airplanes, blimps, fantasy movie sets, submarines and trains; if it moves, and it's from back-in-the-day, I've looked at it. My truck came with a unique jump seat arrangement that will work well with my theme and help set the general tone. It has 2 sections, a single and a bench. Both foldaway. (Ignore the minivan window. That may get corrected.) I giving a lot of serious thought to filling the interior shell, between the ribs and partly in the doors, with foam and make the "box" one, big Igloo cooler. The cosmetic trim will/would cover all that. Here in Texas, A/C is almost mandatory for most of the year. The A/C can't keep up with what amounts to a giant solar collecter/heatsink, otherwise.
The Miller Duplex Lasalle that we're working on in another thread, has a permanent partition behind the seat. Should make it nice and comfy, when a future owner installs AC.
Here's a few photos of my 34 Dodge delivery. I Sleep in it. I put a plastic HVAC drain pan in it, when I'm hauling stuff. I just used junkyard parts. EDSEL side trim, 59 Chevy fender spears and steering wheel. Headlight buckets, a perfume bottle for a traffic light finder. So just do whatever you like. and have fun. Sent from my SM-G920P using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Mike...I don't have any photos of the interior of my old 50 chevy delivery but here's what I did. I stripped everything out of the interior except windshield and back glass and masked them off....cleaned, sanded and painted everything in there with Hammerite silver mixed 50/50 with Hammerite black. Put in a pair of buckets and used 3/4th inch plywood behind the seats all the way to the back door. I made doors in the plywood to stash all my road stuff during road trips and I made many trips in that car. I used flush fit locking latches after my buddy routed a recess for them...they were level with the floor. I never got around to insulation when I owned it but the cardboard side panels were in perfect shape! I painted them light gray for illumination and stained the wood with light stain and semi gloss clear coat. I never got door panels or a headliner in the car but all of it was freshly painted.
Hey A, On my first high school 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, it was total bare bones in the back. It was a daily driver, beach/surf cruiser wagon, and camp out vehicle on other days. Nothing inside except for two sports car bucket seats. The back was a hollow chamber with the support in the walls showing and metal floors. Jump up 10 years past high school and we bought another 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. This one had everything to my wife’s liking. (The A/C being number one.) The seats, headliner, doors, rear compartment and rear door all got the light brown/tan upholstery. The walls had some sort of insulation as was told to us by the seller, we never investigated it. On hot days, that large area behind the driver’s seat was nice to sit in the shade and look out of the open back door near the beach. In the winter, it was warm in there, because of the insulation and the nice upholstery on the walls, rear door, roof, as well as the carpeting on the floor. It was a nice place for a nap. A tarp was used if dirty household jobs (planting, mulch, rocks, paint, etc.) were called for in the back of the delivery. But, it was always clean. Jnaki In my first 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, we were in high school. So, it was “pay no attention” to the bare bones walls and lack of warmth in the back. We had a rear window covering with sewn in magnets and a front sliding curtain to block off the driving cab area, for privacy. Yes, early in the morning during a sleep over at the beach, there was dew on the inside of the walls, but no one could see inside. It was cold enough to want to use a sleeping bag and blanket. But, it was the destination, so a little cold did not bother us “He-Men.” If I had thought about the empty back compartment, I would have installed carpeting, and put in some kind of fold down seating that made into a temporary bed, but still allowed me to use the back as an empty shell for whatever. It was usually two up front and no one in the back (no seats). So, in order to take my other friends, fold down benches on either side would have made it more fun. Today’s choices of sound proofing and insulation make it a no-brainer. Something is necessary behind the upholstery and those blank bare metal walls. But, as we were teenagers, no one really cared what was in the back, the sedan delivery did its job of getting us to the surf spots, cruising to surf movies, dances, and parties with the "coolness" factor already built in place.
Clarence is about out of painter's jail so will be going for upholstery in the next couple of months. Anyone got anything else for me to look at?
No pictures but you might want to go to a pickup bed wood supplier and see if that would work for you. Nice shiny wood with metal "shovel" strips. I'm assuming you've ruled out orange shag carpet?
Finished a 49 panel truck for a guy. Made the front plush and left the rear close to stock. Put a divider with a door out of a cargo van to divide the two different areas. Blends in quite well.
I've had both panels with full interior and stock....I prefer stock as it's a utility truck. That said IF your going to go with full interior I would suggest either pleats top to bottom (same with seats) or pleats on seats and painted metal panels in the rear (with a rolled beaded edge). Kinda like the back panel on this A p/u: or this spidievan:
Yeah; pretty much. And the porthole bubbles in the rear sides. And just in case any of you have seen Kill Bill lately you can rest assured that I won't be having a license plate that reads "Psy Wgn." For everyone: Sherry wants to let the rear compartment look like a panel truck, very utilitarian. I'm wanting a tad more finished, but not "Oh my gosh, it might get scratched if I put something in there" finished. The original wood floor has been replaced with steel. The entire inside has been sprayed with Lizard Skin (sp???), except for the dash and door panels, which will be painted Washington Blue; same as outside. The front floor will get carpet. The rear floor will get a wood overlay. Perhaps wood-look luxury vinyl house flooring. Or perhaps engineered hardwood house flooring. Or perhaps oak veneer plywood. We haven't decided yet whether to make upholstered door panels or leave the doors blue. I'm thinking that if we decide to NOT install a headliner or upholster the sides that they need to be sprayed blue along with the rest of the blue. I plan to remove the wooden strip at each shelf before painting and I'll strip/stain/varnish them before reinstalling.
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