70 RR Headliner...looks tuff!

[woodwiz]

Anybody replace their headliner themselves and run out of cuss words? Do it yourself or cave and get a pro to do it,cost avg.too??

 

[cosgig]

I did mine last spring, with some help from my buddy. We had it done in about 2 hours, and it went in without a fight. It’s pretty easy if you take your time and follow a few simple steps.

 

[woodwiz]

Looks damn fine! Did you have to remove any glass aka back window?

 

[Russ69Runner]

Did mine by my self. Start at the back. Make sure you have the bow attaching wire's at the back. Lots of clothes pin's and some of those tent clamps I call them form Harbor freight. Might want to let it hang a day once you get it to the front and pulled the sides. Do have to cut at the curved edges in the back window. Their is some U tube video's on the net for b bodies. Don't get frustrated walk away and come back. Use a heat gun or hair dryer to get the wrinkles out or sag's if you have any. Don't get it too hot keep moving the gun or dryer.

 

[cosgig]

Looks damn fine! Did you have to remove any glass aka back window?

Nope, all the glass was in the car. I wrote up a post of the steps I took to do the job, and kind of like Russ, I used some old welting pieces to hold the edges while I worked my way around and got all the wrinkles out.

 

[Plybeep68]

When I did mine I drank a few beers to keep the aggravation level down ! My 68 didnt have the sail panels to deal with either

 

[Russ69Runner]

A few Tranquilizers is always a big help for sure where in a can or in a pill. Their is so much about building these cars that just might make you go off the deep end. But it will all work out take a deep breath and go with it. How do I know word is back window. LOL

 

[Rumrunner]

I've got my liner on order now. I looked at one utube video from some guy's who own a shop and they made it look pretty hard. I called five auto interior shops local and only one would do headliners. They want $650 and two days to complete. After reading this post and seeing the great pics I think I'll try it myself. Two guys - two hours sounds more like it.

 

[Russ69Runner]

Dont for get the six pack of beer. Also get plenty of glue. Those 6 ounce can's don't go to far. Got mine form JC pony. Had to order two more can's.

 

[Rumrunner]

I don't even know what kind of glue?
But I'm ready!

 

[cosgig]

I don't even know what kind of glue?
But I'm ready!
View attachment 33640

Here’s the adhesive I use, and the welting pieces I clip over the edges of the lip to hold the headliner in place while I work the job. If you’d like a step by step of what I did, I’d be glad to post it. I didn’t take pictures along the way because I was doing the job, but I can chronicle the procedure for you if you like.

 

[Rumrunner]

I would appreciate all the advice you could give me.
What you have posted on this so far is a big confidence boost.

 

[cosgig]

I would appreciate all the advice you could give me.
What you have posted on this so far is a big confidence boost.

So, first thing I did was insulate the roof of the car with foil backed “fanfold” 1/4” thick insulation that I got from Home Depot. I pre-cut the pieces to fit between the braces of the roof, and used the spray adhesive I pictured above on the foil side, and some on the roof, then fit the pieces into place. They tack right away, and it doesn’t take long to get this done. Now, onto the headliner...

First thing I did was lay out my new headliner on a flat surface, upside down so the back was facing up. I folded it in 1/2 and marked the center on the front and back with a sharpie. Then opened it up and laid it flat again, and took my old headliner and laid it on top of it with the back also facing up, and lightly marked the perimeter of the old one onto the new one. This helps when you’re pre-spraying the adhesive onto the new headliner to have a guide as to where it should go. If you don’t have your old headliner, it’s not the end of the world. Next I took the bows out of my old headliner and put them into the new headliner one by one, making sure they go back in the exact same order. You will notice that the sleeve that the bow goes in is tight on the bow at each end, so you need to snip back the sleeve about 1 1/2” on each end, so the headliner doesn’t follow the bow down into the socket that the bow goes into.

Next, I turned to the car and made sure that all of the edges were clean where the headliner is going to attach on the tooth strips, and I used some plastic to cover the front and rear window to limit the overspray of the adhesive. I also made sure that the tensioning hooks were on location, but not in their holes yet. I also put in all of the screws that hold the sun visors, rear view mirror, coat hooks, dome light, and shoulder strap hooks (if your car has shoulder belts), and measured where the seatbelt holes were for the shoulder belts. I also marked the center of the rear window, and the front window as well, to give reference to the center marks I made on the new headliner. When you are satisfied that everything is clean and marked you are ready to spray the adhesive. The adhesive has a 15 minute tack time, which gives you time to work with the headliner, and it isn’t so tacky that you can’t peel the headliner off and and work with it in case you need to shift things a little. I spray both the back of the headliner around the perimeter, and also the outer lip and the teeth. Don’t go crazy, you don’t need a bunch, and some people don’t use any at all. I used a piece of cardboard as an additional shield when spraying the lip and teeth of the car.

Now, onto the installation. Insert the tensioning hooks into their slots on the rear lip, and hook the rear bow around them. Hook the rear bow into the sockets on the sides and pull the headliner forward from the middle, do this same thing one bow at a time, to pull tension on the hooks and the headliner. Don’t be surprised if the bows tip forward, they don’t stand straight up per se, and when you get to the front, line up your center marks and hook the center of the headliner around the teeth. You are only concerned with the center of the headliner at this time. If you need to clip the center in the front to help hold it, by all means do it. You can use clothes pins, those metal “office” clips, or something like the old welting piece I pictured above. Then go to the outside corner of the front and pull the headliner to the corner, making sure there is no wrinkling along the front between the center and the corner you’re working with. This will be the first step to centering the headliner and making sure it is not diagonally putting wrinkles into it. When that corner and the front between the center and that corner looks good, hook it over the teeth and clip it at the corner. Do the other corner the same way. Look at the entire front, and down the center to double check that you are looking good.go along the entire front and tuck the headliner onto the teeth, using something like a plastic bondo spreader or something of the like, with rounded edges and corners so you don’t poke a hole in the headliner.

When you’re satisfied with the front, it’s time to start working your way over the doors towards the back. Starting at the front corner you did first, go about 6” at a time and pull the headliner towards the outside to put tension on it. Don’t pull too hard, just enough to pull the wrinkles out between the bows you are working between. Hook the headliner over the teeth and clip it there, and continue working towards the back doing the same thing, when you get to the back where it turns to the sail panel, go to the other side and do the same, working front to back, once you have both sides done, and there are no wrinkles in the “field”, use the bondo spreader to set the teeth into the headliner. Now go to the back window and do the same thing as the front. Hook the center, clip that, go to the corner where the window turns down, hook and clip that, work between the corner and the center, and then do the other side and do the same. You should see little to no wrinkling in the “field” of the headliner, and if there are small wrinkles, you can work on them with a hair dryer later. Most wrinkles come when doing the sail panels, which are next.

If your car is a 70, you will have fiber board sail panels that clip in over the edge of the headliner, and the headliner will go under the sail panels about an inch or so and clip onto the teeth under the sail panel. The sail panel area is the toughest part of the headliner to get right without wrinkles, but after working on the field and getting a feel for working out wrinkles, some patience and a relaxed approach will pay big dividends in this area. It’s only about 1 square foot of material on each side, and you just did about 30 square feet of headliner, so you are almost done. Again, if there are small wrinkles you just can’t get out, don’t sweat it, you can let them sit and relax for a few days and hit it with the hair dryer and get them to relax.

Now it’s time to start installing some of the items like the sail panels, sunvisors and mirror, dome light, coat hooks and such, and start taking off clips. If you want to wait awhile to take off the clips, that’s ok, but you risk making an indentation there the clip was, because the glue will set up differently under the clip, but again, not a big deal. The more accessories you install, the less you need the clips to keep things in place.

So, there you have it, that’s what I did, and if anybody has anything to add, the more info the better, I’m sure I forgot something! Take your time and don’t get anxious, I know you can do it. It will give you a very big sense of pride doing this, and safe you a bunch of money that you can spend on wine, women and song, or more parts if you like! Good luck brother!

 

[Rumrunner]

Wow! Great instructions. Thanks for the info.
I have a 68 but little will change. I have not received the liner yet and all the windows are out.The car didn't come with a headliner. It does have the bows (that I have de-rusted) and one "cup"they rest in. I need to locate more. I will find a friend smarter than me, get on it and I will get back to you.

 

[cosgig]

Wow! Great instructions. Thanks for the info.
I have a 68 but little will change. I have not received the liner yet and all the windows are out.The car didn't come with a headliner. It does have the bows (that I have de-rusted) and one "cup"they rest in. I need to locate more. I will find a friend smarter than me, get on it and I will get back to you.

If I’m not mistaken, 68/69 have a front trim piece that captures the headliner, so there are clips that go into little square holes along the lip of the front. I’m not sure if the clips stay in and the headliner goes over them or not, it’s been awhile since I’ve owned a 68/9. I think they also have a full sail panel instead of the fiberboard one, so that rubber rear window trim piece may have to come off too.

 

[Rumrunner]

Most of the trim and interior parts were stripped off, damaged and on the floor or in the trunk when I got the car.
The manual is pretty good but doesn't cover everything.
So this is a learn as I go, and, I'm growing more impressed with this site, the openness and knowledge, willing to share the mysteries each time I visit.

 

[cosgig]

Most of the trim and interior parts were stripped off, damaged and on the floor or in the trunk when I got the car.
The manual is pretty good but doesn't cover everything.
So this is a learn as I go, and, I'm growing more impressed with this site, the openness and knowledge, willing to share the mysteries each time I visit.

That’s the fun of owning these cars tho. The more you work on, the more intimate you become with your car. Locating trim helps you identify what you need, and also helps when the next guy needs help and you have the answer. Every time I see someone who just got a car, I always tell them to do the free stuff first, meaning take a couple days and clean it, inspect things and make a list, get to know the car. It’s a fun hobby to be in, and it always gives me motivation to clear out the old funk and get down to where you can start back up the hill. Good luck on your project, bud, it sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[Plybeep68]

Did your bows still have the color codes on them, if memory serves me, they are colored according to where they go

 

[Rumrunner]

If the color was deep, red, rust, then yeah, but they were all the same.
I got them from the trunk where everything was rusted. At first I had no idea what they were,
I had no idea they would come color coded.
I'll probable be able to pre fit before hand.

 

[69hemibeep]

They are or were color coded LOL