I'm sure we have all heard how difficult it is to install a headliner in our cats, but I am here to tell you that it isn't hard at all. You just have to have the right information, tools and a little bit of know-how to get the task done.
I installed the headliner in my '70 standard coupe, and I would like to share my experiences with you all. These tips and tricks apply to the 1969 and 1970 hard top cars with little variation between '67-'68 and '71-73. I will go over most of these differences at the end of the article.
The Supplies:
- One headliner from a quality supplier ($65 - I used West Coast Classic Cougar)
- Windshield Trim Removal Tool ($10)
- Gasket for Rear Glass ($35)
- Spare Window Trim Clips ($.25 each)
- Approximately 100 binder clips ($.88 per dozen at Wal Mart)
- 3-M Super Trim Adhesive ($6.50)
- Headliner Insulation from Pep-Boys (Don't Remember Cost)
Old Headliner Before Disassembly
Before you start, you will want to take out your back glass. In order to do this, you must remove your SS trim around the rear window. This is pretty easy with a trim removal tool, but I used 2 putty knives and gently popped off the trim.
I recommend that you change your gasket whenever you take out the window. If it has been in there for any length of time, it will be cracked and shrunken. In that case, I simply cut mine from the inside with a razor knife and the window just popped out.
I had my windshield out, and I recommend you do this too. You can install the headliner with it in, but it will be much easier to get the headliner attached with the windshield out. The windshield trim removal went the same as the back glass.
One word of caution on windshield removal, please either be very careful, or have a professional do it. I broke mine taking it out and bought a new one. I was going to get a new windshield anyway, but if you plan on keeping it, be very careful. You can cut the urethane seal with guitar string or piano wire, but be sure the entire seal is cut before you start lifting out the windshield.
Ok, now that you have removed your back glass and windshield, and cleaned up the nasty black goop on the pinch welds, you are ready to start the interior demo process.
You should have all of the visors, hanger hooks, seatbelts and windlace down before you start on anything with the headliner. By the way, you can cut the windlace into 1-1/2" strips and use them instead of binder clips, but I was reusing mine, so I didn't want to cut it up. The trim at the top of the windshield will need to come down. You will also have to loosen the A-pillar moldings to get the headliner completely out.
The sail panels also need to come down. Some people recover their sail panels with thin vinyl, but mine were good enough that I just put on a coat of paint and reattached the clips on the back. The 3M trim adhesive is strong enough to glue the clip retainers to the sail panels. These clips are very important to keep the sail panels tight to the headliner when reinstalled.
You should take this time to evaluate all of your interior pieces for condition and cleanliness. It's a lot easier to clean and repaint pieces on your workbench rather than in your car.
You can now start digging into the headliner. Mine was very fragile and came down without much of a fuss. The insulation pad made a mess though. It just fell apart when I touched it. I would recommend using a mask and safety glasses for this step because everything is overhead and you never know what you will find up there.
To remove the old headliner, you can just cut the pieces apart instead of taking it out in one piece. It makes it a lot easier when you go to take out the rods that hold it up. They can come out one at a time instead of being all hooked together.
You must also keep track of which holes you took the rods out of. There are two possible sets of holes for each rod, so make sure you mark them before taking them out.
The final thing that you should remember during demo is that you will need to keep the two wire retainers that hook the back rod to the back window area. I think that you could make replacements, but there is no reason to if you just take your time.
Once everything is out (and the rods are labeled in order), you can take a Scotch Brita pad to the underside of the roof to get all the fuzzies from the old headliner off. This is important if you want your new insulation pad to stick.
Now, just cut the pieces of insulation to size, follow the directions on the can of spray adhesive and stick away. By the way, this is strong stuff.
NOW, STEP AWAY FROM THE GLUE!!! DON'T TOUCH IT AGAIN UNTIL I SAY TO!!!
You will want to install all of the screws for the visors, and seatbelts and hanger hooks now. Make sure they are sticking out from the roof that way you can feel them under the headliner when it installed.
Finally, you are ready to futz with the actual headliner. I followed the instructions of some articles and laid it out in the sun for about an hour to soften it up a little. I then measured and marked the center of the headliner on the back side. I also looked at it pretty hard and made sure I was installing it with the front at the front and the back at the back. It is not interchangeable, so get it right!
You can now start sliding in the rods. These rods have a kink at both ends, so it makes it difficult to get in. You have to be careful putting in the rods, because the listing material is prone to snag and you could have a mess on your hands.
You will now need another set of hands. The only part that I needed Sheila was when I was actually hanging the headliner. At this point it will look pretty sad, but be patient and you will be rewarded.
To get the rods to stay upright, you will need to hook the two little hooks in the back that attach the headliner to the back window. Then you can work your way up to the front window turning the rods upright as you go and keeping tension in the hooks. Once you have all of the rods upright, just take one binder clip and clip the front edge of the headliner to the windshield pinch weld. This will be enough to hold it in place.
Finally, just take your time and work your way around the windshield clipping the headliner in place and stretching it as you go. The binder clips work great for this as they have enough holding power you can actually stretch the headliner. You should be using one clip about every 3 inches. There will be no need for glue until you have the headliner completely stretched and perfect. Don't even attempt the corners yet.
Next, you go to the back glass and do the same thing as on the windshield. Just work on the top area. Don't worry about the corners yet - they will come soon enough.
Next go to the side glass. After the front and the back, these will seem like old hat. You just need to go slow and take your time. Check your work as you go. On some headliners, I have heard reports that you may have to trim back the listing material to get the headliner to stretch. Mine fit perfect, and I didn't have to cut at all.
Now for the corners. I like to cut as little as possible and stretch to fit. If it tears a little at this point because you didn't cut it enough, the tears will be under the windlace, or under the window seal in the back. You don't have to worry about tearing the front because it is completely covered by the interior windshield trim. At the corners, I like to use a lot of binder clips. When I did it, they were right next to each other. This makes sure everything is tight around the corners.
After you have the corners stretched and looking good, it is time to glue. I liked to start at the middle and work my way out. Take 3 binder clips down, and spray the glue on the back side of the headliner and the pinch weld. After letting it skin over, you just reattach the headliner and immediately put the binder clips back on. You will then want to check and make sure everything still looks good. If it does, just go to the next 3 clips and glue away.
On the C-pillar there are barbs that point down. You will need to hook the headliner that goes behind the sail panels on these barbs. This is all that holds this material, so make sure it is really hooked on there.
You can see where the headliner is hooked to the barbs at the c-pillar.
After everything is glued up, let it sit for a day or two to let it really cure. I found a wrinkle in my headliner the next day and almost had to rip the headliner material to get it to come unstuck.
Now, you can reinstall your windshield and back glass. These are fairly simply operations and I will go over these installations in another article.
To finish, you will want to reinstall your seatbelt, visors, clips and windshield trim. To do this, just push into the headliner and you should feel the screw heads that you left sticking up before you installed the headliner. Just cut a little "X" into the head of the screw and it should just pop right through the headliner. Take the screws out and reinstall the item of choice.
Finally, a new headliner for about $150 and you did it yourself! Now, you just need new visors, and windlace and clips and sail panels and...
There you have it, a nice new headliner ready for the show!
Here are two articles that really helped me with my install:
