I haven't bought one from any of the usual suspect vendors. The last one I made was apx 45 years ago and I made it using the original headliner (which was in pretty rough shape). A friend bought/installed one (from which seller I don't know) and told me the problem he had was that it shrunk after he installed it. And that caused it to come up and gap over the windlace piece at the top of the door.
The cost? Well, actually I wanted the thicker version of this stuff (there are 2 types) but there was an open roll that had been returned at Home Depot and it was the thinner type. They sold it to me for $18 as I recall and I bought maybe 10 or 12 bottles of school glue when everyone was selling them for 50 cents each. Back to school sales. I made a couple of glove boxes and two headliners (the first one I pre-bent and decided I didn't like that approach) and now I'm making the side panels for the doors. I think there will still be enough in the roll to make another headliner set. The roll is 36 inches wide and there's about 5/8 inch of stuff still left in the roll. So even if I had paid full price for the cardboard stuff and full price for the glue, I think I might have $25 or $30 in the headliner and the door side pieces are being cut from various left-over pieces. And it probably would be less than that if I had just made one headliner set but this has all been a learning experience.
Installing it isn't all that hard if you have the pieces cut properly. It is easier if the windlace piece is removed and out of the way but that isn't a must-do. You can use a ball end tool to pull the windlace rubber over the new headliner. Now is a better time to do this than summer. Just be patient when you're making the bends. Attach the rear edge of the front headliner piece to the cross-bar first and clamp it (GM appeared to have clamped in the center first and worked their way to the sides). The back piece just slides in place and is held by 11 screws and a molding.
I don't know if 47-49 was different. I've seen that before so there must have been something there. I've owned two pickups which still had the factory headliners and door pieces in them. Both were black. I've decided to paint this one a flat almond/beige. The truck is lipstick red and the interior is a match to the original goldish color...some called it champagne but that wasn't the color GM used and I can't remember the name of it now.
~ Jon 1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
