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headliner time

Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 1:52 pm
by Faulkner
I hope to get Faulkner back from Bill in a week or so -- then, I'm going to work on getting the headliner fixed. I bought this vinyl material:

http://www.wlsheadliners.com/off-white- ... 89300cb83e

I have Caravan headliner strips to hold the panels in place:

http://59plymouth.net/59forum/viewtopic ... ht=caravan

And I got some very nice strip ends from Tom Fox. Hmm... Maybe I'll get my painted side rails (from John Fowlie) chromed... I wonder if I can pull this off before Carlisle? I guess I can always fall back on using Roger's forks... :roll:

Dan

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:54 am
by rogerh
So how is that gonna work...do you plan to glue the vinyl to the existing hardboard?
If you are abandoning the panelboard, be prepared for a massive test of your patience..trying to install headliner so that it looks good is better left to professionals, IMO! If I needed the job done, I'd get the rails chromed, then I'd take it all to an upholstery shop!

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:26 am
by Nighthawk
I agree, its a thankless job if you dont know how to do it, and its also my understanding that on Plymouths you have to remove the rear window glass to change the headliner.......

Bob

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:58 am
by Ron Keij
Nighthawk wrote:I agree, its a thankless job if you dont know how to do it, and its also my understanding that on Plymouths you have to remove the rear window glass to change the headliner.......

Bob
My guess is that we will need forks again this year :) How about putting the medallions on the fins this year Dan?

Ron

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:06 pm
by Faulkner
rogerh wrote:So how is that gonna work...do you plan to glue the vinyl to the existing hardboard?
If you are abandoning the panelboard, be prepared for a massive test of your patience..trying to install headliner so that it looks good is better left to professionals, IMO! If I needed the job done, I'd get the rails chromed, then I'd take it all to an upholstery shop!
Actually, the (replacement) panelboard seems to be in good shape -- just needs to be trimmed, methinks. I was planning on reusing it.

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:08 pm
by Faulkner
Nighthawk wrote:I agree, its a thankless job if you dont know how to do it, and its also my understanding that on Plymouths you have to remove the rear window glass to change the headliner.......

Bob
Huh? I think the panels are tucked under the rear trim. No?

Dunno! Faulkner ain't here for me to run take a look at!

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:09 pm
by Faulkner
Ron Keij wrote:My guess is that we will need forks again this year :) How about putting the medallions on the fins this year Dan?

Ron
That's on Matthew's "laundry list"! Wait until he finds out what else I have planned for him...

Dan

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:48 pm
by rogerh
sorry to be dense, but what is the perforated vinyl for, if you have replacement panelboards (don't tell me you paid Mopar Mel's price!)
I havent had a hardtop for some time, but I do recall the sedans had only rubber on the rearw windows, so you had to deal with some fit challenges.
Do I remember correctly that with the Sport Fury hardtop, there is an actual chromed garnish molding at the ceiling-to-back window intersection? Perhps my parts book would show...

Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 6:31 am
by Faulkner
I'm pretty sure there's a chrome upper rear window garnish, Roger -- because I recall what a bad fit the upholsterer did. But someone else will have to weigh in, or I'll have to wait for Faulkner to come home to know for sure.

My original panels are gone; the upholsterer made some decent replacements, they just need to be trimmed a bit, I think. I don't like the material that's on there. 'sides, there's some spaghetti sauce on it -- now, who got the raviolis-to-go with a plastic fork at the quickie-mart?! :lol: (kidding!)

Dan

Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:03 am
by sportfury1959
Some pics to share?

1. nacked roof

2. there was some kind of wool between the headliner and the roof. As the wool began to fall apart I put a foam plate in and glued it with a glue that can stand up to 95 ºC, without falling off.

3. Press it on and let it dry for a couple of hours.

Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:08 am
by sportfury1959
Next I took the headliner and put some duck tape on the back to protect the surface

On the duck tape I put a velcro tape from 3M (holds up to 80 ºC, just in case.

The same procedure o the foam plate

Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:15 am
by sportfury1959
Of course I placed the velcro tape on the spots that usually fall of easily.

Put some anti sound pads to support hollow places and to avoid wrapping.



Oh yes, I forgot: To be absolutely sure I removed the rear and front window!

Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 11:24 am
by savvy59
Wow Stefan - what a complete description of replacing a headliner in a hardtop car. My headliner is original and still intact (although a little dry to the touch). I have not attempted to have it replaced as I have a sedan that requires the rear window to be removed and the headliner tucked under the larger rear window rubber moulding.

I always think that I have done a lot of work to my car until I read these posts and I am put to shame. I have been lucky with my car because it was a low miles car and in pretty solid shape when I bought it 17 years ago!

Now if I can just get this 600CFM Edelbrock installed and the car cleaned up before Carlisle!

Thanks again for the headliner lesson.

Curt

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:01 am
by sportfury1959
If anybody has to be ashamed than it's me! It's kind of crazyness to do so much work.

I hope we meet next year, in Carlisle!

Stefan

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 1:09 am
by Fins59
I replaced my center piece in 2004. I read quickly thru above posts so don't know if this was covered but I did not remove any glass. It was a simple procedure. Removed old center piece by removing the 2 strips and removing the chrome trim pieces at rear window and windshield. Cut new panel board to correct size. (make sure front and rear will fit under chrome trim) Ensure fit, then glue the perforated vinyl to panel board. Glued/attached to ceiling sheet metal, by factory, was/is a few, what looked to be rubber pads. These pads are what your new piece will be glued to. With the help of a helper, glue new center piece to these pads, then attach new strips (I used my old ones) and reattach front and rear chrome trim by the glass and you're done. My side panels were a little "flaky" so I lightly sanded them with steel wool or fine sandpaper (can't remember, maybe both) and then sprayed them with a white craft spray paint. Turned out pretty good, imho. I think I noticed your new vinyl was padded. I don't think the original was and my new vinyl is not padded. Don't know if this would make a difference. I think I required 2 yards. When you glue vinyl to panel board be sure to have a generous amount on top of panel board. As a side note, just before I did my headliner I had my sun visors redone by a local guy for $90. They required padded vinyl.