Summershandy Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 With this COVID thing having my job shut down and all this time on my hands, I thought I might as well finally tackle my headliner. Remember, I have to what I can with as little as possible. Going to the hardware store is near impossible. For starters, get yourself a tack puller or at least make one. Curved needle nose pliers help too. There's a lot of those little buggers to pull. Did you know they used to put the tacks in their mouth and use a magnetic hammer to grab them and also hit the metal behind the strip bending the tips for a better hold? I got intimidated at first with so much of it being stitched but it's rust stained and rotten. It has to come out. I'll have to be creative with the re-install. The retainers will have to be cleaned up of rust and painted to protect the new headliner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 15, 2020 Author Share Posted April 15, 2020 The passenger side has clips holding the bows in place and the drivers side has the holes. Don't mix up the clips like I did. They have different bends in them but can be figured out. I marked the holes that the bows were in on the drivers side. The main bow hangs from clips on the roof. Some joker decided to bend a couple in I guess for a better hold. The windlace was interesting. Tacked in a few spots but mostly held by a flange made of cardboard stitched on the back on the hooks above the doors. I just might figure out a material and make my own strips and place them behind the clips as I don't have a sewing machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 15, 2020 Author Share Posted April 15, 2020 The door pillars were held by nail type fasteners and a flat crow bar takes care of that. That's cardboard behind the cover with the windlace stitched into it. This is what the installer would have to do one side. Probably the hardest part is getting the front window pillars done. It's kinda funky with rubber moulding and the windlace slides into a metal moulding down by the feet. Which of course is rusted and rotten into place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 15, 2020 Author Share Posted April 15, 2020 Rusted windlace..... A clean slate to work with. I'm hoping most of the original tack strip will hold staples. Maybe use rivets and glue for the door pillar lace. I think they glued the headliner above the front windshield to hold it before tacking it tight before trimming off the excess. Sure can get in some tight spots with them little tiny tacks! Going to have to clean up the rust and paint above the front windshield. The rust line follows the chrome trim. Be a shame to do all this work only to have rust stains come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 15, 2020 Author Share Posted April 15, 2020 Guess I should have started with the original pics! Sorry, my first project post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 15, 2020 Author Share Posted April 15, 2020 One more bow away from good riddance! There was so much dust coming from the liner my eyes and nose got clogged. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john hess Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 All good there, Mark. No matter what order pics are.. thats my next project if i ever get car back from painter !! I vaccumed my liner first.. got rid of all fuzzies that you were breathing.. wish i had it... Since we are both at same point on interior work we could swap ideas.. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 Thought of you when I started this haha. I vacuumed mine too but still had rotten fuzz. Liner was so rotten in spots even a sharp box cutter wouldn't cut through it. Speaking of cutting, I just cut above the doors to get to the retainer to release the liner and removed the tacks front and back. I'm not a fan of hack jobs but it's the only way I could see getting it out. I thought I'd try keeping progress and share stuff. I couldn't really find anything definite for this car. The basic info is available of course but if someone like yourself can use what I find, then great! Going to head back out today and start to clean up the rusted retainers. Thought last night maybe wood could be used for tack strips above the doors. I'm also going to see if I can cut the stitched windlace off the pillar board and re-use it. Maybe 1/2" staples with the back side bent inwards. The metal pillar doesn't look too user friendly for lace to attach to and the cardboard is in great shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 (edited) Pay attention to the angle of the bows as they were originally installed. Also, where the sleeves end. On the installed headliner, you will see a little breakover point or sudden angle where the sleeve effectively ended. It is helpful to know about where these were, as the new liner may leave you a little extra that you may slice back when installing. The end point is chosen to help get the headliner smooth and without wrinkles. If you slice it too far you cant put it back Make sure that the bows are super smooth, they need to slide real easy or you can't get rid of wrinkles. . Overview: 1) Center the headliner on the bows and attach some of the middle at the front and back. Adjust front and back attachment points and tension to get the bows up at the correct angle. 2) Attach both ends of a seam under the alligator strip, using a headliner tool or an old wide flat dull table knife. Start in the middle of the car. Material goes up over the top of the knife and back out. leave excess edge hanging out, do not trim until job is completely done. Do all bows. Slice sleeves as (or if) necessary. It changes the breakover point. You are trying to get rid of wrinkles right along the seams only. The seams will be the tightest part. Leave whatever fabric is in-between seams for later. If the breakover point is too far down, you wont be able to get rid of wrinkles at the seam. If it is too far up it will look funny. Pay attention to both sides (you DID get it centered, didn't you? ) 3) Now do the areas between the bows. The tension you put here will be less, but it stretches the material and makes the nice bulging curves. Adjust for no wrinkles. As long as the excess is hanging out. you can still readjust. Hold the excess material with one hand and push up on the tool or dull knife with the other. You can hook and unhook the material in this manner to adjust the tension. 4) Do the corners last, adjust for no wrinkles. 5) When you are completely satisfied, with the way it looks you can trim it. When you do, leave a little sticking out, enough to barely grab with your fingers. The tiny bit of excess is then stuffed under the alligator strip. The idea is that you could tease the end out with something, get hold of it with your fingers, and then, using the dull knife, unhook and take off an edge if you needed to. If you look closely, you will probably see that the factory did it that way. As for the windlace, I would sew it to the cardboard like they did if at all possible. With only a few attachment points it is very difficult to get it to hang straight. If not, consider sewing a piece of narrow cardboard tackstrip to it to give it a little stiffness. Wood should work fine as a substitute for the thick cardboard the windlace tacks to over the doors. Edited April 16, 2020 by Bloo (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 Thanks for those tips Bloo! I'll refer back to them when I get to the headliner. Didn't get much done today. Taking my time and overthinking as always. Sewing is out of the question. I got the old lace off but am a little concerned on the durability of the cardboard with all those stitched holes. There are some other rips now that I look closer. I'm thinking of beefing it up with a wrap of tape on both sides to hold it together. Looks are the least of my worries. As long as I follow the outside shape of the cardboard with the lace it should look good. Practised a couple 3/8" staples through the old lace and seemed to work well with the ends bent. The pillar cap should help pin the lace down if someone rubs into it getting in or out of the car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 I always thought the rusted liner was the result of leaky drip rails outside the car. I had cleaned and sealed them up last year. A closer look showed me the outside rails are no where near the liner. Just rusted at the alligator strips. Wonder how they got so bad? It's going to be a while cleaning everything up. You know what they say, it's all about prep work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john hess Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Mine are in the same condition... I can only think it is from condensation inside the car that runs down and collects on the headliner at the clips... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 (edited) I finished cleaning up the rusty alligator strips and have to bring them in the house to throw a coat of paint on them. Still too chilly to paint in the garage. I was happy to find a roll of rubber stripping I have to use for tack strips above the doors. The space is roughly 1/4" thick x 3/8" wide and the prongs can be bent to hold the rubber in place. I have to cut and trim the rubber but again, is free. 1/4" staple held really good. Edited April 23, 2020 by Summershandy (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 I pulled the bows out and of course they were rusted in place. Sanded and steel wooled them shiny smooth. Question: think I should leave them as is or spray a coat of paint on them? I also found it interesting that a couple of them were painted at the end. Guess for placement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 (edited) Shiny, smooth and numbered. The main bow (3) is wrapped in paper which seems in good shape. Now I can start painting the alligator strips and work on tack strips and cleaning up and painting the rust above the front/back windows. The pillar caps come in to get cleaned up and ready for material. Just going to be creative where the vinyl meets the liner. It's kinda hidden by the seat and I'm not looking for any awards on this! Keeping all old material if needed for templates. Edited April 23, 2020 by Summershandy (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARY F Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Paint them or plate them or something. Given any leeway, they will rust again. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 (edited) Yesterday I brushed on a coat of rust protector and left overnight. Today I wiped the strips and bows down again and gave them a couple coats of rust paint and left them in the sun for the day. Going to leave them to harden for a few days whilst I clean and paint the metal above the front/rear windows. It's nice when you've collected years of spray paints and even have a colour that you actually want. Those alligator strips should really be called shark strips....they are sharp! The wife was spring cleaning while I was busy and found an old wrist support from years ago. She removed the metal inserts and asked if I could use these.....are you kidding? Those look perfect for tucking headliner. It really doesn't take much to make me happy! LOL Edited April 26, 2020 by Summershandy picture (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 Today I wire brushed the areas around the roof and windows in prep for paint tomorrow. I'm kind of glad I had to re-visit a few things I didn't bother doing last time around. In the past, the rear window leaked at the bottom corner and messed up the window trim and such with rust. Seeing it doesn't see rain anymore, I had still gone and sealed up the window and trim from the outside 2 years ago. I stripped and sanded the rear window trim. I also decided to paint the underseat heater cover which I never did the first time. You don't see it but hey. Also going to change out the sound dampener material. Figured that's got to be holding some of the old car smell. I've got some trunk carpet left over that should work nicely and again, free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 1, 2020 Author Share Posted May 1, 2020 I finished slapping paint above the windows and of course couldn't stop there. I did the back deck which was never done. I'm confident the rust won't ruin the new headliner at least in my lifetime. As you know one thing leads to another and I got thinking, it sure would be easy to throw some paint on the door jambs with the windlace out of the way. I can do the doors anytime. It's not part of the install/prep so I won't bore you with that. I'll be a while before I get those done so nothing will be posted for a while. After that I'd like to make and install the tack strips. It sure is a pain with the hardware stores closed and online purchases only. I have to wait a couple days before I get an email confirmation to pick up my order. Like today, my shop light bulb blew. It's a T-3 and has to be ordered. Can't just run there and pick up another! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john hess Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 Looks good.... Guess i should take your lead !! Have same pieces laying idle for a year so far... Need cleaned and painted too... Finally nice weather has arrived in PA.... 70s this weekend.. pic of my doors with zinc primer..... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 Thanks and hang in there! You'll have that show car one day. Today was hot for this time of the year at 70 also but it'll be back down to the 40's for the next couple days with rain. I'm converting Celsius for you guys. Good garage working weather, heated of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 Turns out I didn't have enough rubber strip to make the tack strip. Found some 1/8" rubber matting so I have to cut 3/8" strips and double them up. It holds a staple well also. Instead of making the strips today, I experimented with doing a sample. Have to make sure everything is a go before I start my first headliner. I found the alligator strips too tight against the body to shove any liner up there but it's quite forgivable. I think those tangs will help hold it in too. About 3/8" of material goes up and under and holds. Because this is foam backed and not as thin as the cotton nap it feels it holds quite well. About leaving excess for later readjustment seems a little difficult. Gonna have to be patient on this job! New stapled lace and tack strip vs old hanging lace Alligator strip installed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 New liner tucked in. Same material different colour. Used as packing when I received the kit. This way I can tug and pull and play with it with no consequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Makin' the tack strips New black tack strips around the doors. Should have done myself a favour and made them a tad under 1/2" wide. Was bit of a tight fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 I found it funny that one of the tangs were bent straight up and they welded the center brace over top of it. I was able to force it back out. While I was waiting for glue to dry, I did a quick fit of the mat/carpet for under the front seat. I didn't have a long enough piece of carpet so I'm just putting 2 pieces down. I'll glue the carpet to the mat and screw the whole thing down. Doesn't end up being seen anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 (edited) Tinkered a bit today. Wasn't sure if I was going to be able to reuse the front pillar mold or have to make another. Acetone, a stiff rag and elbow grease removed 65 year old glue well. It's made of very thin belting and quite durable. This is going to be the trickiest section of the lace/upholstery work. It's funky with stitching, gluing and folding. The bottom lace also slides into a channel in a bracket and is held there. They just bunched the back part of the lace and stitched it thick to make it work. I have an idea when it gets to that. Edited May 9, 2020 by Summershandy (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 (edited) Also reinforced the edges of the main pillar strip with duct tape. Actually stiffened it up the weak cardboard. Did a couple 3/8" staples and folded them closed to hold the lace. Didn't want to use too many in case I had to remove them. I have to practice keeping the lace tight against where it gets fastened. I actually just wanted to get a better measurement of the length of lace. I had ordered 40 feet and they didn't give me any little extra. When I did a rough measurement I was a little concerned if I was going to make it or not. Today's practice confirmed I will have enough. Edited May 8, 2020 by Summershandy (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 (edited) Doing a lot of dry fitting. The lace will sit better when the pillar cap is upholstered and installed. Edited May 8, 2020 by Summershandy (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 what does your 54 star chief have for a radio antenna ?, looks like a modern antenna, not the original mast that i'm used to seeing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 10 hours ago, pontiac1953 said: what does your 54 star chief have for a radio antenna ? I replaced the original antenna with a universal one that can be retracted all the way closed. The original one only goes down to the first section which leaves it up a foot or more. I did this because the first summer I got the car I was using a fitted cover and it was worried it would rip with the original antenna. I've still got it and if needed can be swapped back quite easily. I've since been using a portable canopy which I can just park under and makes life easier. If I can just keep the wind from blowing it away! lol 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 (edited) I finished making the windlace that slides into the front side door brackets. I used maybe 16 gauge wire that would slide in and not pop out. I found some black CanTech two sided tape in the garage to adhere the back of the lace. I practiced on a small piece first and when I tried to open the lace back up I had to literally destroy the material to do so! Pretty amazing stuff. I was kinda nervous because this was a one shot deal and I don't have enough lace to make it back. Almost every inch is critical. I would have ordered more knowing this. I'm making sure I have enough for the doors first and if I were to run out, (sure I won't) I would have to come up with a plan to fill in the bottoms at the back seat .I still had to trim about an 1/8" along the length and it went in with a little tugging and pulling. Edited May 9, 2020 by Summershandy (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARY F Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 (edited) Holey moley. Spent the better part of the afternoon tackling the window pillar configuration. Thank goodness for using staples and a little two sided tape to temporarily hold things. I had to take the assembly apart I don't know how many times. I tried making it the same as the factory but I couldn't get it to work with the backing strip they sewed on. I decided to use the tape to close the lace up for stiffness. The problem was getting the lace to fit tight but I got it. It actually looks better with the door closed! The metal plate behind the upholstery holds it in good and tight. The other side should go quicker. On a note, first time using 3M SUPER 77 spray contact cement. I've had some bad experiences with other brands and I read up nothing but good things with this. I used it for the formed piece. So far I'm liking it. Edited May 10, 2020 by Summershandy (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 Man, it feels like forever since I got back to the car. Weather up here goes from winter to summer with very little in between. Last time I worked in the garage I needed heat. The nice weather hit fast and with it comes other duties. Yard work, opening camp and of course motorcycling. I vowed to focus on the car as others are out cruising now. I finished making the other front windshield pillar upholstery feeling like it was all new to me. Had to be a little creative in painting the two toned moulding and doing it one after the other. I usually like letting paint set 24 hours. While that was drying, I glued the carpet to the sound dampener for under the seat and gave it a dry fit. Also finished upholstering the main pillar covers. Going to try to get in the garage everyday and hope to have things back to normal in a couple weeks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 Finally spent a full day in the garage today. Also found out yesterday that our federal government has moved to phase 2 of opening our city further for hair salons, restaurants and such. It's going to involve me a little more but I'm still determined to get this done! I was ok using staples for adhering the windlace and good thing. I accidentally twisted it in production and had to disassemble it again. Please watch you don't do the same! A good stiff piece of foam makes a good backing when stapling and a piece of wood when bending the staples closed on the other side. '' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 I installed the metal door edging, propped up the main pillar and held it with a long twist tie. Kinda hung the completed front window pillar piece and feed the lace down the edging. Little tugging and pulling then made it. You've got to do a lot of dry fit install and removal in order to get the rough measurements. Close is close enough as there's a little give both ways. A bit challenging. Both sides are done. Just have to monkey around with the pieces at the rear wheel wells. The lace actually looks better when the doors close but can bind up. Hopefully they loosen up a bit. Reminds me of a time when I replaced front door rubber door moulding on a classic van. They never did close right. Always had to slam them even though an installer said they'd loosen up. 2 years later and the van is sold and the doors never did close right. I love the colour and the price....and mostly, the rotten looking smelly old ones are gone! I'm hoping I can have it completed by the weekend. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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