Anyone know what the finish should be? Do I just pain this really rough surface?
On my 67, the package tray was covered with vinyl but it was looking quite old and “alligatored”. I used the old package shelf tray and made a new one using thin backerboard I bought from an upholstery shop. I traced out the old tray onto the backerboard and cut it using a pair of scissors. I purchased vinyl with the color and grain pattern that matched as close as I could find. Cut the vinyl approx 3 inches longer than the package tray. Spray a fine mist of upholstery adhesive to the back side of the vinyl and the top side of the backerboard, don’t over do the adhesive, too much and the vinyl will slide around instead of stick (Learn from my mistake!). Let the adhesive set for 3 to 5 minutes then place the vinyl on to the backerboard. Work from the center to the edges to remove any pockets. Pull the vinyl around the edges and tuck them under the backerboard and clamp the edges down until the adhesive sets.
However, I have seen other cougars that do not have vinyl, rather the package shelf is painted with the rough side up (as shown in the picture you posted).
Coach Jack
The answer is yes, paint to match interior.
I am working on a 68 Mustang , and this has rough side down not painted, smooth side up painted
I have two Cougars with rough side up painted!!
No vinyl covering originally, just the naked fiber board like you have pictured. Mine was black, and I’m unsure if they were all black, or if they color matched them to the interior.
Thanks folks for the answer to such a minor question. just seemed odd of the finish. the other side (smooth) has something engraved in it and figured it cant be the top side. I bet there was even confusion on the line back in 67. lol . THANK YOU AGAIN.
For the '67 and '68 cars, the rough (cross-hatched) side goes up and they were color coordinated with all interiors, except white. On cars with white/parchment interiors, the package tray was the color of the “appointments”, i.e., dash pad, carpet and rear package tray/lower back window molding. On my '67 standard with trim code UA (parchment with black appointments), it was black, of course. If your interior trim code was, say, UD (parchment with red appointments), the dash/carpet/package tray would red.
Something to note: on the '67 and '68 XR-7s, there was only one trim code for a white interior, 6U. All of said cars would have had black appointments.
