Headliner Progress

[Beach-Burban]

After getting news about an upcoming show, I got renewed motivation to make progress with my headliner project. Although not 100% completed yet, I was able to reassemble the interior enough to feel good about entering the show (In-Progress Category, of course). I had carefully removed the original headliner and bows a few years ago, but still needed to scrub the interior metal with isopropyl alcohol so that the butyl would adhere well. This meant removing the center and rear benches to concentrate on the back four sections, and left the front bench in for driving purposes. I know a local vendor that sells the Butyl/Aluminum sound deadening sheets as well as Butyl/Felt type mats for heat insulation, so I picked up what I needed from him. With everything clean and dry, I used contact cement to fix a small spot of the factory sound deadener that had never been adhered (see second picture). I then started applying the Butyl/Aluminum sheets to the section of roof above the rear A/C (with the unit removed, obviously) and continued rolling down those sheets until the back four sections were complete.

[Beach-Burban]

I repeated the same process with the Butyl/Felt mats, then started the repair process on the original headliner panels. Knowing that the original panels were only going in for temporary purposes (the car show and to be a pattern for my interior guy to follow), I patched holes then painted the panels an Almond color that looks real close to the color I found in some protected areas. After adding new dome lights (one for each bench), I installed the panels using only the metal portion of the bows to hold them up better than nothing at all. As the plastic portion of the bows are very brittle, I didn't want to snap them in place just to have to remove them again...so I was fine with this level of completeness. With the back four sections complete, I removed the front bench and installed the three layers (silver/black/headliner) onto the factory sound deadener that is found only over the front seats of Suburbans. The last section of headliner has a small (but very stiff) warped section (see second to last picture) that the metal bow would not confine, so that edge is below the bow. The sound deadening/heat insulation results are terrific...and the headliner doesn't look horrible, so I'm okay with it if it takes a while to move on to the next step. The last picture is "somewhat" close to how I imagine the new "Beach-Burban" headliner will look...but that will be more dependent on how my interior guy needs to proceed.

Woody

[pontiacvince]

That looks really good! I did the same with the butyl sound deadener/insulation, then on the panel side, I added a 1/2" of regular seat foam and sandwiched it between the panel and butyl. I had some stainless strips made to do away with the factory plastic pieces that clip on. I shaped the strips by hand, and drilled 5 holes to hold the stainless strips up and it looks pretty good, and I won't have to worry about the plastic getting brittle and breaking like some of mine have. Here I have the rear stainless strip on, and the others still waiting to be done.

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by pontiacvince

That looks really good! I did the same with the butyl sound deadener/insulation, then on the panel side, I added a 1/2" of regular seat foam and sandwiched it between the panel and butyl. I had some stainless strips made to do away with the factory plastic pieces that clip on. I shaped the strips by hand, and drilled 5 holes to hold the stainless strips up and it looks pretty good, and I won't have to worry about the plastic getting brittle and breaking like some of mine have. Here I have the rear stainless strip on, and the others still waiting to be done.

Thanks Vince...I really like what you've done as well! I wouldn't mind avoiding the re-use of the original plastic pieces, but for the look I'm going for, I might have to follow your lead with wood strips? As for the 'Dark" material...what did you use?

Woody

[pontiacvince]

This foam-backed headliner material I found on Amazon. Looks and feels good. Used 3M Super 90 spray adhesive to attach it to the panels.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by pontiacvince

This foam-backed headliner material I found on Amazon. Looks and feels good. Used 3M Super 90 spray adhesive to attach it to the panels.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the link, Vince...I already have a roll of the material that I'm hoping to use (not actually headliner material but if my interior guy (Amadeus) can make it work, I'll be happy). I don't know what adhesive Amadeus uses but it could be the same as what you used, only his comes in the "industrial size" container. In order to use my original panels, I'd have to spend more time repairing them...but they would still be 50 years old and brittle so I'm hoping he uses them as a pattern to make new ones.

Woody

[HO455]

That really turned out nice. Headliners are such a difficult are area to make look good without spending thousands of dollars.
What did you do to restore the original panels to such a nice glossy look?
Can you post some more information on the felt pieces? Those may be what I've been looking for to use behind the side panels in the back of mine.

Pontiacvince yours came out great too!

Great work gentlemen!

[pontiacvince]

Originally Posted by Beach-Burban

Thanks for the link, Vince...I already have a roll of the material that I'm hoping to use (not actually headliner material but if my interior guy (Amadeus) can make it work, I'll be happy). I don't know what adhesive Amadeus uses but it could be the same as what you used, only his comes in the "industrial size" container. In order to use my original panels, I'd have to spend more time repairing them...but they would still be 50 years old and brittle so I'm hoping he uses them as a pattern to make new ones.

Woody

The very rear panel on mine was in pretty bad shape, and as you said, brittle. I tried repairing it, but it was beyond saving. I got a 4'x8' piece of door skin (Very thin wood veneer) and cut it to the correct shape. I soaked it in hot water to try and get the bends on the sides right, but that was useless. I had to force it into the side channels. Once there it looked good and was pretty sturdy. Once covered it will never show and should last forever. That was another reason I decided to go with the stainless steel strips. The plastic retaining strips wouldn't hold.

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by HO455

That really turned out nice. Headliners are such a difficult are area to make look good without spending thousands of dollars.
What did you do to restore the original panels to such a nice glossy look?
Can you post some more information on the felt pieces? Those may be what I've been looking for to use behind the side panels in the back of mine.

Pontiacvince yours came out great too!

Great work gentlemen!

Thanks HO455...I appreciate the praise, but the pictures hide a lot of "less than perfect" repairs! To answer your questions...I smeared wood glue around any breaks, holes or broken off portions on the backside of the panel and placed a thin paper towel over those areas. As the glue absorbed into the paper towel, I used a medium width putty knife to kind of "stretch it tight" then let it completely dry. This gave a flat and stiff backing to work with. I flipped the panel over to the "good" side and while this may seem to be an unorthodox method...I soaked Kleenex in wood glue and worked it until it became kind of like paste. I used the putty knife to spread the "paste" into the void until it was pretty much flat, then placed a thin paper towel over the pasted-area covering a few inches of the surrounding "solid" area (and stretched that tight) and let dry. When completely dry, I quickly sanded it flat, however, as I wasn't planning on using these panels permanently, I didn't spend too much time on sanding! In retrospect...I probably should have gotten it smoother to expose more of the original perforations! I used an Almond color Rustolem spray paint in satin finish which seemed to match the original color very well.

The black Heat Insulation mats are approximately 15" x 11" x 3/8" and are butyl backed. I believe Jerry said that it was made or used by Ford, but I'm not positive on that? I'm including a picture of Jerry's business card so you can call him if you want to? When I bought my silver sound deadener from him, he didn't have any of the black heat mat with him, so he shipped it to me. He's a nice guy and has been selling these products locally for a very long time. He has other products that could work for you as well, but I liked this one, and he discounted the price by about 50% since the first time I talked to him a few years ago (he said he wanted to move some of his inventory)...so it might be good timing?

I hope this helps, but feel free to ask for more clarification or anything else if need be.

Woody

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by pontiacvince

The very rear panel on mine was in pretty bad shape, and as you said, brittle. I tried repairing it, but it was beyond saving. I got a 4'x8' piece of door skin (Very thin wood veneer) and cut it to the correct shape. I soaked it in hot water to try and get the bends on the sides right, but that was useless. I had to force it into the side channels. Once there it looked good and was pretty sturdy. Once covered it will never show and should last forever. That was another reason I decided to go with the stainless steel strips. The plastic retaining strips wouldn't hold.

I'm glad it worked out well for you, Vince...I think Amadeus uses FRB (fiberglass reinforced board) as it comes in different thicknesses and is shapeable with heat? I like the plastic strips...but I don't trust them (being 50 years old) so I'll again let Amadeus lead me on that! Thanks for showing us an alternate fastening method!

Woody

[HO455]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will look him up.

And as a side note I did my headliner with FRP. I did not need to heat it to get it to conform to the curves needed. But I'm not a expert, at anything really.

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by HO455

Thanks for the quick reply. I will look him up.

And as a side note I did my headliner with FRP. I did not need to heat it to get it to conform to the curves needed. But I'm not a expert, at anything really.

No problem, HO455...and it's good to know that FRB is so user friendly! If you want to send me your mailing address (private message), I'll mail you a scrap piece of the butyl/felt mat so you can see if it will work for you...no problem at all...just let me know so I'll make sure to check my messages.

Woody

[HO455]

PM sent.

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by HO455

PM sent.

Got it...in the mail tomorrow!

Woody