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What was the correct finish on the Series 80 closed cars? I have seen painted, wood grain, and a combination of these with what appears to be wood graining on each side of an otherwise painted panel. Also is the dash panel easily removable so it can be refinished?
Randy,
About what part of the car do you ask, interior trim pieces, exterior areas?
Are you asking about a Series 80 Coach or a Series 80 DeLuxe?
It makes a difference.
Also, it is not THAT difficult to remove the dash, just tedious work for a bit.
Peter
Hi, it’s the dash panel where the instruments are mounted, Series 80 coach.
I don’t completely know the difference between a Coach and a De Luxe; please elaborate.
Randy,
The easies way to distinguish between a Coach and a DeLuxe is as follows.
The Series 80 Coach has faux wood window trim and a squared tailing edge of the rear-most window and top (among other things).
The Series 80 DeLuxe has mahogany window trim and a rounded tailing edge of the rear-most window and top, (among other things).
The attached photo shows my Series 80 DeLuxe 7-passenger sedan.
Note the tailing edge of the rear window and the top.
Peter
And the DeLuxe has a 2-piece windshield vs. one-piece for the Coach Series
Clarification required: All Coach Series cars are enclosed cars
Randy,
George mentioned the “other things!””
Thank you George.
Peter”
Thank you for the education once again.
Does the Dash look different on either one?
I know mine is a Deluxe but I had no idea that there
was difference when I bought until Peter told me when I joined the
club.
Thanks,
Ken
Ken,
I have seen Series 80 Coach cars with dashboards painted black rather than faux wood dashes and with the top cover of the dash just cover in upholstery material rather than faux woodgrain (rounded piece of aluminum above the dash / below the windshield), but who knows what was standard.
I have also seen Series 80 Runabouts with the dashboard painted black or other colors, and they were all the “DeLuxe” model.
A few years ago, I removed that rounded piece above the dash to have it refinished.
I found that beneath it was a pristine piece of upholstery material.
By pristine, I mean 90-years of never having seen the sunshine.
It was immaculate and with no apparent degradation.
Again, who knows what was standard and what was altered over the years.
Who knows what were “standard” details on a Pierce-Arrow Series 80 Coach, versus a Series 80 deLuxe, save for what people recently articulated.
Peter
I saw one that had the flat area where the instruments are located, covered in a fine-grained black leatherette material. It looked old but I have no idea if it was original of course. A lot has been done to most cars this age.
My ’27 Series 80 5 Pax Coach has the “faux woodgrain”” as Dr. Peter describes above. I will post a photo when I get home.
James”
Anyone used the hydro-applied woodgraining to refinish the parts which were originally faux grained?
It’s a good process if you can get the colors and pattern right. Would like to see a sample dash done this way. Ed.
By the way: there is an excellent illustration of the difference between the Coach and Deluxe versions of the Series 80. Look in the photos of the 2012 Annual Meet and there are photos of the two versions literally back to back.
Alas! no photos of the dash panels and other interior trim.
My apologies for taking so long to post these photos of my series 80 coach dashboard. Seems life got in the way…again. I hope this helps. James
Passenger side.
James,
No offense but your dash seems, err, unusual.
What is surrounding each of your gauge clusters?
My nickel bezels are flush to the dashboard with no surround.
How tall is that piece that sits above the gauges, the one that wraps around from the dash to the bottom of the windshield frame?
I will post pics today.
Peter
Dr. Peter,
Piece measures approximately 4 inches above the gauges. Follows contour of window very closely and wraps underneath to enclose area above underneath dash. Graining also close to the graining on the instrument panel. It could have been added at some point over the years as I am no expert but it fits very nicely in the space.
There are a few 2 door coaches for sale on hemming’s that don’t have that style, but the gauges look very similar to mine. ???
James
James,
Now your dash top cover makes sense to me. It appears to be one type of faux woodgrain on the bottom, a second in the middle and back to the first on top.
Does your car have a 1-inch strip that runs across the top of that dash cover adjacent to the window frame?
See photos of mine.
Peter
James,
Another photo.
Peter
