Home made burb headliner
 

Well, I have finished most of the hard work on my head liner board project.
I still want to replace one panel, since it is just barely working. I need to cut out a new one that is about 1/2" wider length wise, but I think it will hang in there for the up coming Brothers truck show.

What do you think?

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Looks great. What did you use to hold the panels up on the metal cross bows? Are those the stock plastic/chrome pieces painted white or something else?

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

I had to ditch the OEM metal cross bows... They just made everything much more difficult.
With the material I used, there is quite a bit of tension to hold everything together.
I really tried to go all out using the original bows, and even spent a wad of cash on good original plastic retention strips. But in the end it just didn't work out.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

what material did you use? it looks great and I need to try something with mine.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Cutting the boards to fit snug is the key, once you get the board cut right and fitted. All you have to do is use the original center anchor screw, that will keep the board secure. Then use the white plastic strip to secure the next board butted up against each other.

This sheet board was pretty good to work with, flexible enough to work with and gives a little with warm temps.

When I did mine, I laid out the 4x8 sheets on my driveway in the sun. After that, they were "easier" to work with, but I was by myself so if you have a helper you will be so much better off!

I made a lot of mistakes/damage just because of the floppy-ness of these things, and being on my own trying to get things to fit right.

If only I had two or three other arms!

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Nice work as usual! Thanxs for the pics.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Glad the template was somewhat helpful.... and you put up the same kind of FRP material that I had in mind. Looks good. Gives me inspiration. Thanks for sharing! aka "Mr. Meyers."

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

thanks for the info. I have got to do something eventually.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

subscribing so I can remember this

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Turned out real nice, has a clean look. Good job!

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Wow, that came out looking real good.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Not bad, looks real nice!
Thats the very same material I used back in 2001 on BIG ORANGE
However I had to go with the original OEM bow's!
The rig got 3 best interior awards in 2yrs!
I also put insulation board behind the headliner for sound deadning!

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Thanks!

It will be a long time before I get any kind of award for best interior on my burb... Doing 3 bench seats is pretty expensive, and on top of that no one is making OEM style covers for a 68 burb yet. So I am rockin the horse blanket cover in the front, and dirty original covers on the back two for who knows how long.

I got the head liner issue squared away for the most part, and all the side panels done in OEM color and pattern. Plus my carpet, though nice is the wrong color. One of the pitfalls of buying stuff for a burb, before what you actually need is made like they are now a days.

I learned a lot about what actually people are impressed with at truck show's at the last Brothers show, and mostly stock K20 burbs are not one of them.
Maybe it was the show, and what was being promoted.

Though I built my baby for me, so who cares! :lol:

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

hi, I am in the middle of trying to fix my headliner in my 86 K20 too...thankfull I found this thread. I am Dutch, so can anybody please explain to me what this FRP material is? and how exactly did you attach the panels to the roof?

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

That's an excellent job!

I plan on adding a second headliner lamp in the back of mine.

In fact I may duplicate what you have done on your headliner and it looks very slick!

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

The panels are a vinyl product, and is most often used in bathrooms. Since it is moisture resistant, and is flexible to form on walls.

For your 86, I don't think it may be a good solution. Since on the earlier models like my 68 or the 67 model year, the original headliner was a thin card board like material and it was secured mainly by sitting in a channel along the inner wall of the body. Then there was a single screw in the roof section, that screw helped keep the board bowed up against the ceiling.

The 86 models I THINK used a thicker material, and had foam rubber backed material glued to the board. If there is a channel that the original board fit into along the sides, you may be able to make something like what I did work for your truck.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

he thanks man!
here's a picture from when we just got it. still a big mess in the back.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...0/P1120417.JPG

and here is a pic where you can see how the trim pieces (top right tan colored) hold the headliner in place. So I do think your solution might work for me. Just need to look into this material here in the netherlands.

was it expensive these frp panels?

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O...0/P1120417.JPG


hahahaha, and now I understand my own misunderstandig. I read 86 in your sig, while it is 68...but still,great writeup, should be made sticky for more people.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

I got everything from Lowe's.
Just need a jig saw, measure tape, and a measuring square.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Creative, good job.

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Great looking headliner! :metal:

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Awesome work! I'm going to save this one for when i do mine.

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That is a very nice job on the headliner. So little original stuff is out there that original is rarely an alternative.

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I would think that someone could repop an original headliner at a reasonable price. That is if there is a demand.

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I sure would like to have a original new repopped headliner.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Some great info here I will use very soon on my 68.
Big Thanks for posting this!

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While FRP is a great product for the headliners, its not the only game in town. I work with some cool plastics at work that come in different textures and colors.

One of those products is ABS plastic sheet. Many automotive parts are made from this, and it comes in several colors. The texture isn't as "thick" as the FRP, and its easily molded to shape with a heat gun.

Another one is "Sintra" (aka; expanded PVC). This also comes in many colors, but is much smoother than ABS or FRP. Its also easily molded with a heat gun.

We get both of these products from a company called Interstate Plastics, which is a national company.

I plan to use ABS for my Burb when I get around to making things pretty.

As for insulation, I'll be using R-Max from Home Depot. Lowes carries a similar product. Its basically rigid foam that comes in different thicknesses. The half inch should be perfect.

My plan is to coat the roof with some POR-15 (to get rid of the surface rust and yet leave some tooth for adhesive to grab), glue up the R-Max, and put up the ABS like others have done with the FRP.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

This is one for my library...

One question tho, does any one know if the '70 Burban roof pattern is the same as the '70 panel truck? I have a headliner for a Burban (in kind of rough shape) I can use as a template.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

I don't have enough back ground on the panel trucks to give a detailed response to your question, though I can say that the channels are not perfect in the Suburban. I have noticed variances in other Suburbans I have looked at, while comparing to my 1968 headliner board channel placement along the ceiling.

I think no matter what, every Suburban or Panel will require some custom fitment of the headliner boards.

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Chris - My apologies of bringing up an old thread, but how many sheets of the FRP did you use? I'm going to try and accomplish this task this weekend. Thanks for the help.

Rob

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Hey Rob,
I used about 6 sheets, only because I messed up a couple times.
I tried to duplicate the number of panels that were used originally, and looking back, I think one could do the FRP route with larger panels instead smaller.

The front panel for me was the hardest, since it has a curve to it that is hard to duplicate on a flat sheet. I know I ruined one panel at least on that section, and one of the middle sections I cut too small.

So, if your store to buy these panels is far away. I would buy a couple extra just in case, and you can always return them if you don't use them.

Chris

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

Thanks for the quick reply Chris! Fortunately, I'm only a few miles away from HD and Lowes, :). Any suggestions on how you would have reduced the number of panels, ie which ones would you combine? Also, did you work your way from back to front or front to back when installing them?

Re: Home made burb headliner
 

I worked from the rear to the front.
For me, the rear curve was easy and I was able to make that panel on the first try.
In the middle, there are two smaller panels like the original design. I think those two could be combined into one panel of FRP.

For me, it was a struggle since it was a very hot summer day and I was by myself. If you have a helper, this project will go much smoother. Since the panels get all floppy on you when trying to install them, so it's a challenge to get them into the slot when by yourself since your arms aren't long enough lol.

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Thanks. Now that you have had it finished for a while, are you happy with the texture pattern? Do you have any close-up pictures of the of the trim next to the slot on the side?

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Hmm, happy? Well, it sure looks better than nothing lol.
But if I wanted to be critical of it, I would say it's a bit shiny, and texture is a little aggressive?

In a perfect world, I would've preferred something like the original. Which was smooth, matte painted, and perforated. But as we all know, those OE boards are impossible to restore and no one is making them. So, we make do...

There was another member here that is local to me, and did the FRP route as well but instead of white he used black. His burb was painted a bright blue with white roof, and his carpet/upholstery was black. So it kind of popped.

Not sure I understand the "Trim next to the slot on the side" question.
But the slot or gutter that the panel sits in on the sides, I didn't do anything with as far as trimming it out.
The trim I used for the butt joint of each panel is that plastic H trim that is found in the same isle as the FRP.

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I thought about black, but I'm not sure how well that would look with my black carpet,black and white houndstooth seat covers, and black door panels....I need someone to photoshop the second picture I found with the white headliner and make it black. Maybe that will help me decide.

I found a picture of what I was talking about, it's where the divider piece intersects the gutter.

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Mine looks just like that.
That picture of the headliner done looks perfect. Mine, the panels aren't as flat and uniform as that one. Makes mine look bad lol..

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I think they both look good! Thanks for answering all of my questions, :metal:.

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Chris - did you put any insulation on your roof? I put a layer of Fatmat but was thinking about putting a layer of close celled foam (CCF). Do you think it would be worth it or just a waste of $$$?

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I used Reflectix under my headliner. And I also left the factory foam pieces in place.

It's not summer yet but I'm optimistic it'll help with the radiant heat from the sun.

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There was a foam piece on the portion of the roof over the driver/passengers head, but not from there back.