1953 Rover P4 75

December 2024 - Interior restoration

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I did a limited restoration of the interior to preserve as much as possible that was original including the door panels and carpet even though they have discolored or faded. The headliner was left alone despite the water stains near the rear. The only major upholstery work done on this P4 was replacing the seat vinyl covering. The seats were reupholstered once at some point several decades in the past, but have since dried out and were sun damaged with cracks. Having learned the ropes of vinyl upholstery on the first P4, I had experience with doing upholstery myself. This P4 was significantly easier to handle because it had the original seat frames and vinyl to provide cutting patterns on the new vinyl! It's much easier not having to fabricate all new seat frames and covering out of thin air! Also the seat covering is true to the 1953 original that did not have any fancy stitching patterns.

The wood dash and window trim were lightly sanded and carefully resealed in place with spar urethane. I learned from the first P4 that removing the wood is very tedious, time consuming and not worth the trouble compared to refinishing in place!