Fabrics between wood frame and body

[jjohn]

Hi
What are the reason of the fabrics and padding between the wood frame and steel body
Can I replace it with something else?

[ski]

Looks like its just there to keep the door skin from vibrating against the wood. Here's what mine looks like.

[jjohn]

Yes i was thinking that to it's very rusty under the fabrics look like they have painted afterward.

[chetbrz]

My two cents,

I believe the fabric may be used for a number of reasons:

• Noise suppression.  If your car is wood framed with metal skins the wood has a tendency to expand and contract with climate.  This might create vibration noise while driving.
• Buffer between dissimilar materials.
• The weaker wood frames of the 28/29 and the poor road conditions allow the wood frame to move slightly against the more rigid metal skin.
• Wood has a tendency to absorb water and this has a tendency to rust the metal.  I think the material might act as a moisture barrier.

I think if you park your car in a garage and protect it from the weather the material may be much less important.  Of course this is all speculation, but I think that the material allows the wood to move freely and quietly against the rigid metal skins.  When I redid the wood in my car I didn't pay much attention to replacing this material.  Time will tell how important it might be.