headliner
- Thread starter cvicky
- Start date
Ford blue blood
Well-known member
If it's like the 57s you will need to remove the rear window as the headliner wraps over the pinch weld. No way to pull it tight with the window in place.
I put a NEW headliner in my wagon without experience and it turned out decent. Not flawless, but presentable and it's held up (not sagged) after many years. Keep in mind, a wagon headliner is more difficult than a coupe/sedan headliner, so yours should be even more doable. Having said that, I've seen a lot of poorly installed liners.
I honestly don't know how an existing previously installed (and old, to boot) headliner will hold up. Are there wrinkles or flaws in your existing unit? If so, I would seriously consider getting a new replacement liner, since you're doing all that work anyway.
If you do get a new one, follow the instructions included. Mine was vinyl using the typical bow system of suspension, so I was able to use a hair dryer to heat up the liner as I installed it. Warning - the dryer heat does NOT shrink the material after installation (like a flying model airplane skin), it loosens it just prior to installation, then it shrinks back to normal size as it cools (after installation.)
I'm going to attempt to paint the existing headliner in my Thunderbird in the near future, but I'm going to leave the liner installed, since the rest of the interior is gutted out. I'm going to use SEM flexible "paint" (in a spray can) and I've been told by a reputable local car upholstery guy that it will work...We'll see. Again, it needs to be a vinyl liner for the SEM product to work. Might not work on cloth, mohair, etc.
If it's possible to pull out the seats AND the chrome interior trim adjacent to the headliner, you might try painting the headliner while it's installed, covering and protecting the rest of the interior and windows as best you can.
I honestly don't know how an existing previously installed (and old, to boot) headliner will hold up. Are there wrinkles or flaws in your existing unit? If so, I would seriously consider getting a new replacement liner, since you're doing all that work anyway.
If you do get a new one, follow the instructions included. Mine was vinyl using the typical bow system of suspension, so I was able to use a hair dryer to heat up the liner as I installed it. Warning - the dryer heat does NOT shrink the material after installation (like a flying model airplane skin), it loosens it just prior to installation, then it shrinks back to normal size as it cools (after installation.)
I'm going to attempt to paint the existing headliner in my Thunderbird in the near future, but I'm going to leave the liner installed, since the rest of the interior is gutted out. I'm going to use SEM flexible "paint" (in a spray can) and I've been told by a reputable local car upholstery guy that it will work...We'll see. Again, it needs to be a vinyl liner for the SEM product to work. Might not work on cloth, mohair, etc.
If it's possible to pull out the seats AND the chrome interior trim adjacent to the headliner, you might try painting the headliner while it's installed, covering and protecting the rest of the interior and windows as best you can.
Daves55Sedan
Well-known member
I would not recommend wasting your time trying to salvage an old headliner. The material itself may be weakened by years of extreme heat and cold, which will make tearing it easier.
I have done all upholstery work in in '55 and '56 sedans, wagons and hardtops and they all turned out very nice.
In order to remove an old headliner, it is easier to cut it out around the perimeter so you can access the lead fasteners that hold the retainer strips. Turn each fastener 90 degrees to release. Remove the top windshield garnish moulding and the rear window glass and gasket. Now push up on the headliner bows, pull one end toward the rear and let the bow fall. Start at the front and work toward the back. Watch out for the two wire clips at the rear most bow that stabilize the rear bow to the rear window top framework. Pull those out and keep for reinstallation.
Tools: Get a good set of upholstery scissors. It may be necessary to cut some material around the perimeter of the new headliner before installation. Do a dry installation only using headliner bows and cut off bunches of excess material. You don't need to stuff the retainer strips with tons of folded up material. That will cause bulging and put lots of excessive pressure on the fasteners.
Probably the best tool for removing the lead fasteners that hold the retainer strips would be an adjustable wrench. Reason being, you don't want to close the jaws of the wrench tightly around the fastener head as it will want to expand a little bit as you are turning it. Give it a little bit of room to open. These fasteners can be successfully re-used instead of throwing them away and substituting for new holes drilled and a bucket load of pan-head screws.
Also, the pro's use a special tool for stuffing the new headliner into the retainers after they have been installed. It's like a specially shaped putty knife. I never had one of those and forget what I used when I did mine. But the professional tool is available everywhere.
You can get upholstery adhesive in both spray cans or brush on. I used the brush on. No need for cleanup of overspray using brush on.
Get about a dozen really stout binder clips from some place that sells office equipment.
Use those to hold the back of the headliner to the window channel. You will need to work fast when doing this portion of the work as you don't want the glue to dry before you can get the headliner pulled back tight and clamped to the window channel.
If you end up with a wrinkle, try to iron it out with a hot damp terry cloth. That may help to shrink the area a little bit and tighten up the wrinkle.
I have done all upholstery work in in '55 and '56 sedans, wagons and hardtops and they all turned out very nice.
In order to remove an old headliner, it is easier to cut it out around the perimeter so you can access the lead fasteners that hold the retainer strips. Turn each fastener 90 degrees to release. Remove the top windshield garnish moulding and the rear window glass and gasket. Now push up on the headliner bows, pull one end toward the rear and let the bow fall. Start at the front and work toward the back. Watch out for the two wire clips at the rear most bow that stabilize the rear bow to the rear window top framework. Pull those out and keep for reinstallation.
Tools: Get a good set of upholstery scissors. It may be necessary to cut some material around the perimeter of the new headliner before installation. Do a dry installation only using headliner bows and cut off bunches of excess material. You don't need to stuff the retainer strips with tons of folded up material. That will cause bulging and put lots of excessive pressure on the fasteners.
Probably the best tool for removing the lead fasteners that hold the retainer strips would be an adjustable wrench. Reason being, you don't want to close the jaws of the wrench tightly around the fastener head as it will want to expand a little bit as you are turning it. Give it a little bit of room to open. These fasteners can be successfully re-used instead of throwing them away and substituting for new holes drilled and a bucket load of pan-head screws.
Also, the pro's use a special tool for stuffing the new headliner into the retainers after they have been installed. It's like a specially shaped putty knife. I never had one of those and forget what I used when I did mine. But the professional tool is available everywhere.
You can get upholstery adhesive in both spray cans or brush on. I used the brush on. No need for cleanup of overspray using brush on.
Get about a dozen really stout binder clips from some place that sells office equipment.
Use those to hold the back of the headliner to the window channel. You will need to work fast when doing this portion of the work as you don't want the glue to dry before you can get the headliner pulled back tight and clamped to the window channel.
If you end up with a wrinkle, try to iron it out with a hot damp terry cloth. That may help to shrink the area a little bit and tighten up the wrinkle.
Hot Rod Reverend
Well-known member
a big ditto on what has been said about installing a new headliner... I did that myself as well.
www.hotrodreverend.com/blog
www.hotrodreverend.com/blog
fordor41
Well-known member
We installed our headliner in our '41 Fordor. It took 12 hrs but came out great. no wrinkles, etc. Was a J.C. Whitney $90 headliner but fit like a glove. We removed the original, took pics so we knew exactly how it went back . Hardest part was tack strip around the package tray and correct length upholstery tack length