WillBilly53

Gotcha, I think I'll go with just the steel. That's a good point about the stainless being tougher to cut/drill. Thank you Bob, I'll post back about how it goes!

Great! I see that they have weldable stainless steel. I take it I should use stainless steel sheet metal for the "clip"?

Ahh, I gotcha! Thanks for the encouragement! My brain is a little swiss cheese as I try to finish up all these loose ends to get her ready for my wedding next Saturday! Okay, so what you explained sounds very doable. Luckily I have two sets of those big sweep spear trim pieces in case my artists eye goes a little blurry Thank you for that step by step explanation, Bob!

Yes you have photos or yes you have a resource for the rear sweep spear retainers? I must be a little slow. I found this thread: http://forums.aaca.org/f162/53-skylark-sweep-spear-stainless-molding-343102.html I didn't realize that the retainers/bolts are welded to the moulding. I am also scared to death to drill through the moulding?! That just doesn't seem right.

Right on, Bob. I'll give it a shot. Upon further inspection, it does seem pretty simple. Anybody have pics or resource for the rear bottom sweep spear trim retainer clips?

Does anyone know where to find the windshield belt molding retainers (see photo) Also I'm looking for retainers for the bottom part of the sweep spear (the big curve) mine were crumbled rust and I have no idea what they even look like. Any ideas?

Ha! and now I can relate! I don't ever want to do a headliner ever again. No way, no how! Willie, I got mine from Original Auto Interiors. The code is Rec star vinyl 6469 (black)

Great safety points, Bernie and excellent info on the sawtooth retainers. John, here are a couple of photos. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with the results of my first headliner installation. Finding the receiving end for the molding screws in the roof rail behind the headliner has proven a challenge. I still can't find the last one towards the back on the passenger side. I pulled out one of the staples where the screw should land and felt around with my finger but couldn't find it. I may have to take a drill and make a new one. (You'll notice the wrinkles on that side in one of the photos)

UPDATE: Headliner is looking awesome. Tim hooked me up with the bows and took some photos of the inside roof rail of his parts car. It seems that the '53 doesn't have the metal saw tooth retainers like the '52. I just stapled it to the tack strips that the windlace is stapled to. I had some wrinkles here and there and it didn't seem as I tight as I've seen. (And believe me, I know how to stretch material and staple it to a substrate - I hand construct all my canvases for my fine art paintings Anyways, when installing the inner garnish molding last night, I noticed that these pieces are what really help tighten up the headliner. At every screw hole on the garnish molding, there's a sort of angled bracket on the back side that to help tighten up the headliner considerably. I was willing to live with the wrinkles before I started installing the moulding, but was pleasantly surprised last night when I noticed this. Just wanted to put this info out there in case anyone else might have headliner questions for a '53. EDIT: One last thing, for the tack strips - I ordered a set for a 2 door '55 from Ecklers. I had to thin them down using my band saw, but they work great. I fastened them with #8 3/4" self-tapping sheet metal screws and heavy duty adhesive.

If it's just the sockets you need... On my Super I matched the originals to new equivalent sockets at Pep boys. I drilled out the rusty/rotty ones and pop riveted the new ones into the casing. I managed to polish up mine chrome bezels pretty nice.

I sympathize. My '53 is the worst. I've been futzing with this issue off and on for the last 1 year. I have yet to put on the front bumper because I can't get everything lined up correctly. I got some information from a guy Mr. Earl knows. He said what's already being said here, that perfection just ain't gonna happen. For the '53 he basically said to align the hood first and then align the fenders to the hood. I could be wrong, but I imagine this would apply to other years such as yours.

holy crap, 9? Dang, I'm counting 5. Looks like I'm missing some.

Thanks folks! Tim, that would be great if you could check on the retainers. I sent you a PM. I took a chance and ordered the '49-'52 Chevy retainers off ebay. They came yesterday and unfortunately the curve is too shallow and they are too short (I'm wondering if they are for a 4 door or maybe 2 dr Chevys have pillars?) I think I could use them if I had another set that I could chop up and modify. Tim I'm hoping you can help me out

Is there a way to identify which order the bows are installed in the headliner/roof? Mine was all shredded and the bows were in the trunk. Except the back two which I labelled. There's one that's thicker and I'm guessing this is the middle one? Any ideas?

Definitely with Lamar. The sweepspears, man are simply stunning. (ventiports too, of course

Would this work? Maybe be modified? http://r.ebay.com/IMGP1m What I thought were retainers off a '53 Chevy was actually for a '51. But I found these and thought they might work.

Hey Lamar! Upon my research I think I'm missing pieces that looks like this: Headliner Retainer The way I understand it there's the pinch welded strip that has rubber/fiber on the inside of the roof rail. The windlace is stapled to that then the headliner is installed and simultaneously tucked behind the piece in question which is tightened down with sheet screws. At least that's how the manual explains it. I'll be more than happy to get a case of Angry Orchard for ya!

I finally got around to starting to installing the headliner (I ordered last summer) I was wondering if there is an alternative method for retaining the headliner to the strips. My car didn't have a headliner and is apparently missing the retainers that screw to the strip on the inside of the roof rail. I think the headliner is tucked between this and the strip that is attached to the roof rail. I saw a few months back someone on here with a '57 was looking for repros to no avail. And now that Wheatbelt is gone I was wondering if anybody had an alternative method or ideas on fabricating something? I found some '53 CHEVY retainers from RPM on ebay and thought I might could "adjust" them. Any ideas?

rather than start a new thread... Al could I could a copy of it also? I would greatly appreciate it. The hood is driving me a bit crazy.

Yep! I drained the Dynaflow and cleaned the surfaces of the retainers and tail. Cut the gaskets at the top and then put on a nice bead of the permatex. Put everything back together and let it sit overnight, then filled her back up with trans fluid. Not a drop yet. I guess we'll really see when I take her around the block

yep done and done. thanks guys. I used the permatex gasket sealer (In my confusion I had only used the paper shims and not the gaskets and didn't use sealant before - woops!) No leaks as of yet - at least at the torque ball

thanks fellers. i was lumping the shims and gaskets together in my head as well. now I know what to do!

thanks jaybird and oldtank. the bolts are out at the moment as I needed to remove them to remove that u-shaped plate the holds the thrustpad in place. I'll get the gaskets out and rebolt as jaybird said first and see if I still have a problem. If it still leaks I'll do what you said oldtank. thanks!

So I went through the entire rigamarole of replacing the torque ball retainer, gasket and seal last year. but I seem to have a leak at the inner retainer and tail housing of the Dynaflow. I went to replace the thrust pad mount and it dripped pretty steady probably about a half pint. Now it's just a slow drip about every 5 secs. Do I have to go through the whole process of pulling the rear end back again and replace the gaskets (shims)?

Thanks Mike. Juliano's was suggested over on the HAMB forums too so I'll go with them. and thanks for the tip on the mounting kit too!