[slim_adi]

Enjoying seeing these. There’s some lovely work there

 

[Cat]

Lovely.

My dad could drive a sewing machine, and had a large industrial one for repairing tents and suchlike, but it's something that I've never attempted. I found the machine in one of my brother-in-law's storage sheds a few years ago, but thirty odd years in a damp corner had sadly left it fit only for scrap.

that's a shame some of the old machines are the best.

 

[Cat]

Enjoying seeing these. There's some lovely work there

thank you :hug:

 

[GlenAnderson]

that's a shame some of the old machines are the best.

I was, possibly illogically, really quite upset at finding it like that. I had thought it long since sold, which didn't bother me at all, but for it to have been ruined by benign neglect was awful.

 

[Cat]

I was, possibly illogically, really quite upset at finding it like that. I had thought it long since sold, which didn't bother me at all, but for it to have been ruined by benign neglect was awful.

these things happen. :hug:

but if you do see a cylinder arm sewing machine give us a shout, they cost a bloomin fortune! i'd like one, just can't justify paying the money :lol:

 

[Cat]

In 2018 whilst still holding down a full time office job, I started work on my sister’s friends 1934 Austin A10/4 door.
It was a learning curve for everyone. It had been in the family since new and been off the road for a very very long time. Over the course of about a year, my evenings and weekends were spent working on the interior.
I was lucky enough to see the car on the road last year and I still can’t quite believe that I did everything from seats, leather restoration, trim pieces, carpet edging and headliner and sliding roof! It’s not till you see everything together that you realise how much time goes into it, but it makes me feel proud that I did it.

 

[Cat]

on the front seats there were a few springs that were broken, so i learnt how to replace the broken springs and lash them back together

 

[Cat]

the tuck n roll was made in the old fashioned way with real sheep wool wadding and backed with calico.
nowadays its easier (and cheaper) to use scrim which is a foam that comes in different thicknesses.

there is something to be said for working in the old materials though, it just feels nice to work with, also my cats loved having a load of fluffy sheep wool at home to squish :lol:

 

[Cat]

on the back of the seats is a carpet kick panel. this is where i learnt the skill of edging carpet.

i always think it's such a cool thing, as you stitch it in such a way that you can't actually see the stitching in the carpet (it's the little things like this that i love, but maybe that's just me) :lol:

the lighter green is the old one

 

[Cat]

before

 

[Cat]

after.

new hessian was used on the springs, along with new horse hair matting before the seats were put back together.

fun fact for you, when you cut horse hair matting in your home, you end up with bits of horse hair everywhere for ages :lol:

 

[Cat]

the back seat was pretty rank to work on. a mouse had moved in at some point and there were dead fleas everywhere, so i stripped this one outside

 

[Cat]

working on tuck n roll for the back seat on a saturday while Steve was at the farm working on the cars.

i'm so glad i have my own workshop these days

 

[Cat]

around about the time i was finishing the back seat, my mate had finished spraying the car

 

[Cat]

the inside before stuff started going back in.

we left the old headlining sections in for as long as possible, that way when it came to putting in the new headlining we had a better of idea of how it went together

 

[Cat]

at this point my workshop had been built, which meant it was a lot easier to work

 

[Cat]

working on the sunroof. hessian, wool wadding and then the special vinyl

 

[Cat]

these old style headlinings are held in with tacks, so you spend a long time with a face full of cloth and your arms above your head banging in tacks, while trying not to swear everytime you drop a tack because you can't really see with a face full of cloth :lol:

 

[Cat]

starting to come together

 

[Cat]

the door cards had to be cut out of ply. you can't buy them off the shelf like VW ones.

i restored the leather on the door pockets so that the car still kept some of it's original features.

the lining of the pockets looked like manky jam rags :lol: so i changed it for some nice cherries