Upholstery windlace ends

asapguy

asapguy

Senior Member
As many of you know when intalling upholstery kits. The windlace comes in a roll & must be cut to fit various locations. A fordor has a lot of windlace to install, about three pieces per door & that a lot of ends to deal with. In the L-B instructions they say to cut the rubber & pull the fabric back over the rubber tube & push the fabric into the end of the tube. It doesn't always want to stay. I found by getting a small nail (about 2" long) with a head that just fits into the end of the rubber works perfect. You pock the fabric into the rubber tube with a small screw driver or awl then insert the nail point 1st & push it into the rubber about 1/4" which holds the fabric in place for good. This makes a nice looking end with the fabric held tightly with the nail head which can't be seen. I was talking with an L-B installer & mentioned this idea, he was going to try it. It worked great for me.
 
I used brown large headed upholstery tacks on the ends of the windlace in the delivery. They matched the brown/black interior material perfectly and were invisible.I use a hot glue gun to shoot a little glue in there to seal it nice and hold the tack.
 
On my original installation the vertical windlace was terminated against the horizontal that ran across both doors by cutting back the inner tube of the vertical piece about 2" and flattening the remaining fabric and laying it over the horizontal lace. The horizontal lace also had the inner tube removed so it could be flattened under the vertical. The upholstered panel strip covered both laces. See the attached photos. Bill G
 

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Bill at the top of the doors I didn't insert the nail I cut the rubber back so the fabric was flat If you don't you have the rubber on top of each other. I wasn't crazy about the windlace L-B supplied, I thought it was too light but they said that's what they offer.
 
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asapguy said:
Bill at the top of the doors I didn't insert the nail I cut the rubber back so the fabric was flat If you don't you have the rubber on top of each other. I wasn't crazy about the windlace L-B supplied, I thought it was too light but they said that's what they offer.
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I think all the suppliers are using a synthetic core tubing or soft rod which takes on a wavey effect when installed. I have wondered about changing it out for a stiffer rubber tube like the original - some auto fuel line hose or something a little stiffer. Bill G
 
Bill Goddard said:
I think all the suppliers are using a synthetic core tubing or soft rod which takes on a wavey effect when installed. I have wondered about changing it out for a stiffer rubber tube like the original - some auto fuel line hose or something a little stiffer. Bill G
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The original was not that stiff as it was a thin wall tubing and not yet aged. :) It certainly wasn't the spongy foam core like most shops use today.
 
What L-B supplies is a hollow tube & not a spongy foam. When I mentioned using the nail I pushed the fabric inside the hollow tube then inserted the nail using a small punch to push the nail into the end of the rubber. This holds the fabric tightly inplace.
 
Just my 2 cents here, Bill Goddard has it right, as far as I know. Windlace rubber tube was cut out a bit and fabric flattened, one overlapped the other then hidden by upholstery panel. This is the way I found it to be done originally by Ford in my early '31 S/W Town sedan when I found it. The pick ups were different since they didn't have all the upholstery panels to hide the windlace ends.
 
I did not use a nail at the top of the doors but cut the rubber back & flattened the material under the other corresponding piece. I only used the nail at the bottoms of the doors where the windlace is trimmed to meet the bead along the skid plates. The ends at the top of the doors where flattened & tacked to the wood under the fabric covered cardboard. I had pictures of a low miles car with orig. interior that I went by.
 
4 years late. I just did mine by heating a hunting knife with a MAP touch and slicing easily. Really seals the ends good with a nice square cut. For a concave end heat a round diameter rod the correct size and touch the end after the above cutting procedure.

John
 
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I used 1/2" plastic hole plugs from Ace Hardware. Glue one to the the end of the tubing, fold the fabric end over and glue that to the outside of the plug. Clamp it until it dries. Looks slick.
 

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