I started with bare rails.

To the best of my knowledge my client bought a rail kit from Moss Motors www.mossmotors.com. I could not find a kit on the site myself so I can’t confirm it exists, but I was brought a kit with all the frame rails, a couple pieces of leather, and a couple pieces of vinyl. That is where the mystery started. It became apparent very quickly there was some hardware missing. If you find yourself in this position do yourself a favor and order the ”HARDWARE KIT for all cockpit rails” part number 321-810. Things will look a lot clearer when you receive the hardware kit.

After you sort through the nuts and bolts you will need to start assembling all the parts. When you have the kits in front of you assembly is not hard to figure out. You can also look on the Moss Motors site and get some hints from their exploded diagrams.

Line up the door top rails and door corner rails. I prefer to center them as much as possible. You will need to use some filler later, and centering minimizes the amount of filler on one side or the other.

Mix up your filler of choice and start covering anything that isnt smooth. If you neglect to do this eventually you will see every crack and screw head recess through your covering. Also every edge is a point for potential wear.

Your rails look terrible. Sand them smooth.

I don’t have any pictures showing the application of the upholstery. My advice is: Use short staples on the aluminum parts and longer staples on the wooden parts. If you have a steamer it will help you get the leather on the corner sections smooth. If you have a heat gun it will help you with they vinyl. Don’t burn yourself. Practice if you can.

This is what it looks like when assembled.

The door rail.

The rear corner rail.

So far I have found the two best sources for parts and information on the internet to be Moss Motors www.mossmotors.com and Victoria British www.victoriabritish.com

after a series of sewing, marking, sewing, marking, repeat, I ended up with this. I figured out how harley probably used this seat pan before they moved to a molded cover. The seams may be a little different but the end product is likely very close.

This is the final product. I think the additional seam and topstitch make it a little more interesting.

The cabinets were getting kind of tight. It was getting difficult to find the spice I was looking for while I was cooking. Something needed to be done.

I decided to build an open front cabinet.

I kept the front open so the cabinet wouldn’t make the room seem smaller. Originally I was going to match the cabinet to the knotty pine walls of the house. Though I like the kitsch of the walls I decided to go in a different direction. I thought I would still use pine but instead of staining the cabinet to match the other walls I used clear shellac. I went with the natural color of pine to keep the kitchen light. I also went with clear pine because I prefer the straight grain. I painted the interior a cool grey to contrast the color of the exterior.

I recently finished and installed rear upholstered panels for a 1968 Plymouth Fury VIP. I was able to order the original fabric to match the interior. I was also able to reuse the original metal buttons. The owner should be very proud of this rare beauty.

My latest project is a decorative arch. When I received it I was a little worried about whether or not it could be repaired. It was broken, warped, and many pieces were missing. I have since been able to take the bends out of it, and made all the replacement parts. After a few more hours of work it will be stained and finished.