The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Panel truck interior cargo panels?

My ’47 originally had cardboard panels on the interior sides of the cargo area, similar to the cab headliner material. Where can I get some thick cardboard? I saw some suburban headliner available that might work. I’ve tried to search for a local source, but so far I don’t know what kind of store would sell this product.

Might try your local lumber yard, most of our area carry “Thermo-Ply” structural sheathing which is really a thin dense cardboard, we mostly use as a floor protection product, takes a licking, you could paint to your color of choice᠁
Why not consider a thin plywood? It is available thin & in dense forms ie: dont use luan grade.

I used a product called simply "doorskin" which is the thin mahogany plywood used to manufacture cheap hollow core doors. As Hanks custodian mentioned, paint it however you want.

Whatever product you use: if it is not impervious to water/moisture make sure is will not absorb water/moisture.

Seal the back (moisture-side and edges) with an appropriate epoxy/urethane primer/sealer.

If you would like to use material that is similar to the headliner cardboard, I would recommend calling Classic Parts. They carry a headliner kit for the Suburban. I ordered a kit from them and in the process discovered that one of the pieces had been cut wrongly. I called them and they were able to send me an uncut piece from their supplier--they may be able to obtain pieces of this material uncut, which you could then trim to fit your panel accordingly. It might be worth a try.

Good luck!

I located one lumber yard that lists Thermo-Ply. It turns out they haven’t sold Thermo-ply in 30 years, something about shear factor for building materials. I’m not finding it available anywhere. I got creative with some web searches and called up a couple Automotive Upholstery shops. I found Automotive Interiors out of Belchertown, Ma. sells Cowlboard Waterproof Cardboard Door Panel Board 32”x48”, 1/8” thick Natural color. https://www.automotiveinteriors.com/waterproof-cardboard-door-panel-board-cowlboard-p/cowl-dp.htm I would need 7 sheets of that.
Royal out of Spokane Wa. Sells Water Repellant Panel Board Black 39”x65” https://royaluph.com/product/39-x-65-water-repellant-panel-board-black/ I would need 4 sheets of that.
I went to a local shop and spoke with the Upholsterer, He was interested in my Panel truck project and gave me a sample of door panel board. He had Two kinds of panel board. A Black door panel board that is 1/8” thick, and a hat tray board that is Tan and painted Black on the side with a light rhino skin texture that is 1/16” thick. He’s seen both warp due to moisture. The original panel board is Black to the core and painted Grey on the side with a rhino skin texture, measures about 1/16” thick. I tried the sample in my truck and it does fit in the channel at the bottom of the cargo wall.
I like the idea of going to a place like Royal. I could spend hours digging through bolts of fabric and looking at bits and pieces for various projects. I tried to find a local store like that, but only came up with a wholesale distributor. I might get the suburban headliner, I noticed Jim Carter lists uncut panels with a patern drawn on that you trim. Shipping would add to the cost. My original cargo panels had a rhino skin texture. Jmmmn37, Did the panels you got from Classic Parts have any texture, or are they smooth? If they have the rhino skin texture I could spring for the shipping, otherwise I’ll go to a local auto upholsterer for the panels.

Surprised on the thermo ply, we use it literally all the time in the SFBay area for flooring protection, to protect door trim etc on construction sites, put it down before demo and pull it out for the painters to detail it out᠁᠁
My Local Home Depot shows 127 in stock, model #3102005, 13.88 p/sheet

We used that stuff also when doing demo/ remodels for Contra Costa County. Nice to work with and we'd reuse it later down the road.