interior roof insulation ?

[Scott Mckenzie]

Fellas, my `64 had the interior stripped out when I bought it . my question is, was the roof insulated under the headliner?  If so, where would I get replacement. Thanks

[CTX-SLPR]

A bit of a bump because I'm interested to know as well.

[telriv]

I just glued some house insulation to the roof. Light weight & cheap if your going dumpster diving.

[RIVNIK]

Wow! Record weak response to a great question! I think you may have stumped the experts, Scott. Too bad, Im dyin' to know myself.

[PWB]

The early Rivieras had some of the best headliners ever made. 

I've seen these headliners being the solely intact item on some otherwise derelict cars.

I have no idea as to what is up/under there.

I'm betting on there being insulation.

Surely someone shall chime in...

 

Some generic stuff here. Hi temp 3M spray adhesive should hold them in until the liner is up:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Headliner-Insulation-4-Piece-Set-Kit-for-64-67-Skylark-Chevelle-442-Cutlass-GTO/131155220194?fits=Year%3A1966|Make%3ABuick&hash=item1e8975d6e2:g:mUgAAOSw9OFZN7Ob&vxp=mtr

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by PWB (see edit history)

[JZRIV]

Not sure about 64 but in 66 they used a flimsy light brown fiber-type insulation maybe 1/4" thick with a thin black backing on one side. It was not adhered to roof so it had to be lightweight as to not make the headliner sag.  It tended to disintegrate on all but garage kept cars and if any of you pulled down a headliner on one of these you know fine particles of insulation rain down on you. There are various products available at Lowes or Home depot that could be used as a replacement. They make a thin yellow foil backed fiberglass in 12" wide rolls that is a possibility.

The 66s also had a more permanent harder insulation which looked like it was installed when the roof was welded together so its permanent and does not seem to degrade. So there were two levels of insulation.

[RivNut]

The 64 was done in the same way as JRZ described in 66.  It does get a little frayed as time goes by.  It appears that it was done in sections left and right and front and back.  It also appears that it was just held in place by the head liner bows except for some spot adhesive.  You can see in the one picture where some of the insulation is stuck to the roof.

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Scott Mckenzie]

1 hour ago, RivNut said:

The 64 was done in the same way as JRZ described in 66.  It does get a little frayed as time goes by.  It appears that it was done in sections left and right and front and back.  It also appears that it was just held in place by the head liner bows except for some spot adhesive.  You can see in the one picture where some of the insulation is stuck to the roof.

 

Quote

 

Looks to be about an inch thick ?

 

 

[RivNut]

Spread out as it is in the picture but time and gravity have played with these.  I'd say more like 1/2" when new.

[JZRIV]

That looks ugly Ed. The 66 stuff was only 1/4" and not traditional fiberglass your picture indicates. So in that case the yellow foil backed stuff that comes in 12" wide rolls  from Home depot or Lowes would be a good substitute.  

[Barney Eaton]

I have replaced several headliners in Reatta.....20+ years newer, and have that foamed backed fabric that likes to come unglued.

The Reatta also has a fiberglass shell that the headliner material is glued on.

Any way......I have used the bubble insulation that has the aluminum foil on both sides.  Available at the home improvement store in rolls about 4 ft wide. I also use silicone sealant as the adhesive.

It gives some insulation and sound deadening........the negative.... if it really applies,  it does not breathe....and could trap moisture between the inside of the top and insulation, however most of our collector cars are garaged

and condensation is seldom a problem.  

You might consider painting the underside of the roof with a primer regardless of what you end up using.

[RivNut]

Primer is not water proof, go ahead and paint it with some Rustoleum.

[39BuickEight]

What about rustoleum primer?

[Scott Mckenzie]

Thanks for all the help.

[RivNut]

On 12/7/2017 at 1:23 PM, JZRIV said:

That looks ugly Ed. The 66 stuff was only 1/4" and not traditional fiberglass your picture indicates. So in that case the yellow foil backed stuff that comes in 12" wide rolls  from Home depot or Lowes would be a good substitute.  

Jason, is the similar to the stuff to which you reference, this is only 6" wide.  Peel & Seal from your local building supply dealer.  I watched a couple of other videos that tout the same stuff.  These videos are using it as a sound deadener.  I would imagine that there's some insulating quality as well.  For what purpose did the factory install the insulation in the first place?  Sound or heat?

 

 

 

[JZRIV]

Ed,

The stuff I referenced was not adhesive backed. See first pic.

I did use other adhesive backed foil foam type insulation (2nd pic) on the upper portion inside of my firewall where factory used the flimsy fibrous tan stuff that disintegrated just like it usually does above headliner. After install I painted the foil black to appear more like the factory stuff that had black thin paperlike cover on outside. l bought both at Home Depot in 12" wide rolls. The adhesive backed is very versatile. Sticks to clean metal very good. Basically a poor mans Dynamat.

Edited December 11, 2017 by JZRIV (see edit history)

[pyntre]

I used the same Frost King foil and foam as seen in the above picture on my inner roof ,,, used spray adhesive also , on a nice warm day ,and that stuff is there to stay !!!!  Easy to work with too!  

[jsgun]

My 64 had the tar covered cardboard. It was glued pretty heavily, and I think it was like that from the factory. When I pulled it out, the tar was turning to dust. Gave me a pretty good coughing fit. Replaced it with mylar (protecto wrap), then Noico sound deadener (like peal n seal, but butyl rubber instead of asphalt). I still have to glue on some Reflectix (mylar bubble wrap), then the headliner goes back in. A little overkill, but it gets hot in the desert, and the roof turns into a cookie sheet.

[jsgun]

I used peel n seal and frost king on the floor of my mustang. Must have dropped the interior heat by 20 degrees in the summer. When from my feet hurting from the heat, to pretty comfortable. Got much quieter too. Some people on the internet talk crap about it, but I had good results.

[mhnova65]

The roof has both sound deadener and insulation applied.  The sound deadener is applied directly to the metal roof which is about 1/8 compressed fiber.  On top of that is die-cut fiberglass insulation about 3/4 inch thick.  It was not applied with adhesive per se but with the same primer used on the interior.

[Scott Mckenzie]

12 hours ago, mhnova65 said:

The roof has both sound deadener and insulation applied.  The sound deadener is applied directly to the metal roof which is about 1/8 compressed fiber.  On top of that is die-cut fiberglass insulation about 3/4 inch thick.  It was not applied with adhesive per se but with the same primer used on the interior.

Thanks for a most difinitive answer, this will help greatly!

 

[slosteve]

I have purchased some 3M Thinsulate for this very area after reading about it on a sound deadening sight. It is supposed to be for marine applications as it is also waterproof, but it's not easy to find nor inexpensive.

I have not installed yet.

 

Steve