wire on wind lace WHERE TO BUY?

I am looking for some of the wire on welting/windlace that is originally used on a 1928 Studebaker interior, where the headlining meets the sides of the car (in the very top corner) The original although complete, has rusted and so is broken, I would like to replace with something similar. Worst case I can dye a light coloured piece but would prefer a dark burgundy if possible. Any help appreciated.

Wayne

Can you post a picture of what you're looking for? I'm familiar with "wire on" but something about your description makes me wonder if that's what it might be....

Here are some pictures of what I am looking for. As I am in the UK we may use a different term for it, what do you call it in the USA, so I can do some research on google.

Any help appreciated

Wayne

Yes, that's wire-on, you tack it while open then close, the wire loops hold it closed and the outer half-oval fabric covered piece hides the tacks.

Wire-on itself is easily available, but with a fabric covering like shown (a whipcord appearing material) I'm not sure where you could get it. One possibility is to get the core and get matching material, and make it yourself. Enfield Auto Restoration in Enfield, Ct. makes leather wire-on using the owner's leather pieces, so they have a core, they might be able to sell you some or tell you where to get it. Then it's a matter of sewing the material along the small bead, and gluing the material to the inner piece of the half oval. I've done this before, and the only trick is not to get the material too tight around the outside, or there'll be too much tension and it won't stay closed.

The photos look very much like the cloth covered wire on used to trim the top sides of my '33 Plymouth at the headliner. I got a bunch in the kit the lady supplied for my interior but I don't know where she got it from.

I'd have thought that all of the well known antique car interior kit and material suppliers would carry it but I don't see it on the web sites for Le Baron Bonny nor for SMS Fabrics. Le Barron Bonny has an instructional video for installing wire on (leather shown in the video) so I guess they must carry it. Probably worth giving them a call to see if they have whipcord type wire on. http://www.lebaronbonney.com/instructions.htm

The photos look very much like the cloth covered wire on used to trim the top sides of my '33 Plymouth at the headliner. I got a bunch in the kit the lady supplied for my interior but I don't know where she got it from.

I'd have thought that all of the well known antique car interior kit and material suppliers would carry it but I don't see it on the web sites for Le Baron Bonny nor for SMS Fabrics. Le Barron Bonny has an instructional video for installing wire on (leather shown in the video) so I guess they must carry it. Probably worth giving them a call to see if they have whipcord type wire on. http://www.lebaronbonney.com/instructions.htm

Who supplied the kit you mention? Maybe I could contact them, or was it Lebaron bonney?

Regards

Wayne

Yes, that's wire-on, you tack it while open then close, the wire loops hold it closed and the outer half-oval fabric covered piece hides the tacks.

Wire-on itself is easily available, but with a fabric covering like shown (a whipcord appearing material) I'm not sure where you could get it. One possibility is to get the core and get matching material, and make it yourself. Enfield Auto Restoration in Enfield, Ct. makes leather wire-on using the owner's leather pieces, so they have a core, they might be able to sell you some or tell you where to get it. Then it's a matter of sewing the material along the small bead, and gluing the material to the inner piece of the half oval. I've done this before, and the only trick is not to get the material too tight around the outside, or there'll be too much tension and it won't stay closed.

Thanks, I did find Enfields website. Maybe I will give them a call to see what they say. I could reuse the original material as it will match the rest of the original interior. The only problem with the original is that the wire inside has rusted through and so is falling apart.

Wayne

Who supplied the kit you mention? Maybe I could contact them, or was it Lebaron bonney?

Regards

Wayne

It was Kathy Schrack, a lady out of Pennsylvania who does kits for 1930s Plymouths. Its been a few years and she did have some health issues, so I don't know her current situation. For contact information see: http://www.ply33.com/Parts/vendor#41

LeBaron Bonney

As yet no luck finding some wire-on wind lace. Anyone have any other ideas?

Wayne

LeBaron Bonney

As yet no luck finding some wire-on wind lace. Anyone have any other ideas?

Wayne

The LeBaron Bonney website does not seem to allow you to find this but they have instructional video on how to install which implies to me that the have it. http://www.lebaronbonney.com/instructions.htm

You might want to give them a call.

Lebaron Benney offers about a dozen different colors of cloth covered wire-on windlace. It's in their "commercial" catalog. Give them a call.

I have just spoken with a very helpful lady at Lebaron Bonney and she is sending me a sample of the burgundy and the brown wire on that they do.

If anyone else has come across this page as they are searching for a similar thing then go to http://www.lebaronbonney.com/webcatalogs/fabric/index.html where there is a catalog of products that they supply. I couldn't find this on their website but the lady directed me to it.

Fingers crossed that the colour is a good match.

Thanks to those above who replied!!

Wayne

As a follow up to my request for the wire on wind lace, I never had any luck. Lebaron Bonney were the only people I could find who listed burgundy or brown and after speaking with someone there they said that they were going to send me some samples of the burgundy and brown that they offer, however it never arrived.

My 1928 Studebaker which I wanted the wind lace for, has a very original interior. I had to remove the headlining etc as I have just had the ash top frame replaced. I wanted to keep as much of the original interior as possible, and after washing and pressing the original headliner this has been fitted back into the car.

The wind lace is something that here in the UK we have never used on English cars which results in it being only obtainable by buying form the USA, however most suppliers only have a beige type.

As I was having no luck finding something that would go well with the original headliner etc I decided that I would have a go at reproducing the wire zigzag using the original material to cover it with.

This is how I went about it.

I took a piece of hardboard and nailed several nails, through it, to create a frame to wrap the wire around. Initially I tried using 0.6mm mig wire for the job but this was thicker the original and resulted in not being able to bend it back on itself easily when fitting. The original wire measured 0.5mm or 0.020" so I ordered some off of ebay and tried agin.

After a couple of hours zigzagging the wire and glueing it into the original material I now had a length of wind lace which was ready to fit. I pre-bent the wind lace so as to create a crease that after fitting, it would assist folding the wind lace back on itself. I have attached a couple of pics of how I made the wire zigzag and also of the wind lace now it is installed.

This has worked out well and resulted in me keeping the original interior as it left the factory in 1928.

I love a challenge and am glad that this worked as well as it did. I hope that this may give inspiration to anyone else that has a problem sourcing an item to keep their car original

Wayne Smith

Wow. I'm very impressed. Doing trim work myself, I never even contemplated making my own wire on, but you found a great method and it worked! Simple as it is, making zig zag wire that will bend....yowza....Well done, and will go into my list of "tricks" ..... should I ever need it....

WLS Headliners sells cloth wire on windlace in four colors  http://wlsheadliners.com/wire-on-windlace-for-classic-and-antique-cars.html

Restoration Specialties in PA carries some wire-on but it has been a diminishing item in the past few years as much of this kind of thing is fast being obsoleted. They do ship internationally and their phone number is 814-467-9842 or you can access them on the web at restorationspecialties.com. Good hunting!