We have reported on the many exterior modifications made to the Road Tour 1940 Ford. The outer appearance is very important—it’s what people look at the most. Except one guy—Jerry Dixey, fearless leader of the AMSOIL/STREET RODDER Road Tour, has spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours inside this car. So the interior, in addition to being as good looking as the exterior, had to be comfortable, functional, and equipped with a few amenities. We owed it to Dixey.
Elegance Auto Interiors in Upland, California, has finished the inside of several cars built by Hollywood Hot Rods (HHR). In many cases, this involves reviving a worn-out interior. In this case, Mark Lopez and his crew created a brand-new custom interior for a brand-new street rod.
The floor, wheelwells, transmission...
The floor, wheelwells, transmission tunnel hump, inner doors, and all interior panels were finished with Dynamat to reduce outside heat, noise, and vibration.
An 1/8-inch sheet of lauan...
An 1/8-inch sheet of lauan plywood provides a foundation for the headliner. Multiple overlapping pieces of thin flexible chipboard were glued in place to blend the inner roof with the curved portions of the top. The shingled boards were smoothed with a pneumatic sander.
The plywood and board were...
The plywood and board were covered with a sheet of closed-cell foam, 1/4-inch thick. The foam was carefully pressed into place to provide a tight, smooth surface and trimmed to fit.
Upholstery decking fabric...
Upholstery decking fabric was trimmed to create a pattern for the Ultraleather material that was used for the headliner and the rest of the upholstery.
The Ultraleather headliner...
The Ultraleather headliner was installed and trimmed. Here Mark Lopez used an upholstery tack tool to work the edge of the headliner material into the doorframe.
Custom sunvisors were constructed...
Custom sunvisors were constructed at Elegance. The top-to-bottom dimension was kept short due to the chopped top. Note the copper-colored French stitch in the headliner.
A great way to make your final...
A great way to make your final wiring installation look good and to protect the wiring is by using the Painless PowerBraid harness kit that comes with planty of 1/8-, 1/4-, 1/2-, and 1-inch braid. Also supplied are shrink tubing, cable ties, electrical tape, and stretch and seal tape.
Hollywood Hot Rods was in...
Hollywood Hot Rods was in charge of installing the Painless 18-circuit fuse center and then branching off wiring, which in any hot rod is a serious project but then throw in the requirements of a computer-controlled engine with EFI, an electronic, trans, A/C, and on and on, and you can see there will be lots of wiring.
This below-dash panel was...
This below-dash panel was fabricated at HHR to house the controls and center vents for the Vintage Air A/C system.
Vintage Air supplied the Gen...
Vintage Air supplied the Gen II Compac heat/cold/defrost system all operated by the Vintage Air control panel that's simple and compact enough to be placed just about anywhere you want.
During the mock-up stage the...
During the mock-up stage the refrigerant hoses are cut, fitted, and ready to be removed and crimped prior to final installation.The variable servo heater control valve is in the foreground, and the receiver/dryer is off to the left in the background. Also visible is the four-way bulkhead fitting mounted in the firewall.
The Vintage Air Gen II Compac...
The Vintage Air Gen II Compac heat/cool/defrost system is first test-fit underneath the '40 dash. From here the staff at HHR made the required brackets and fit it all neatly and out of the way.
The Custom Autosound unit...
The Custom Autosound unit provided by Yogi’s was installed by Art of Sound Car Audio in Upland, CA.
The controller is convenient,...
The controller is convenient, but covert behind the glovebox door. A pair of tweeters was hidden behind the grille in the center of the dash.
The steering wheel and tilt...
The steering wheel and tilt column came from Flaming River (the Twisted Machine paddle shifters had not been added yet). The instrument cluster is Dakota Digital’s VHX System for ’40 Fords.
After creating a chipboard...
After creating a chipboard template, Lopez cut a door panel from 1/8-inch lauan and marked out an upholstery design in pencil.
The pattern was transferred...
The pattern was transferred to black Ultraleather with copper French stitching and piping to match the paint. The lower portion of the door was finished with black carpeting to protect it from the wear and tear of Dixey’s tennis shoes.
Here’s the finished product...
Here’s the finished product with the Lokar door handle and power window lever, and the custom armrest built at Elegance.