The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors AD ABS Headliner Install results

The last couple of days was tinkering with the ABS headliner. Quite the job to get the sun visor holes in the correct spot. The visor holes were marked and were very close and turned out everything covered the holes. The centre bow was fun also, you have to make sure the punch marks on the bow are straightened out to allow the headliner to slide all the way in. The ABS liner I think is a little thinner than the cardboard liners so it went in easily. The only other problem was the rear piece were the divots are for the screws to hold the metal trim had to be filed a little for the screws to get through. The picture is not great and dust all over as this was on the shelf for at least a year.

Kevinski - How much trimming along the edges did you have to do? Guessing some trimming is necessary? How did you fit and hold the panels to the curves of the roof and pillars to determine what needed to be trimmed, while keeping the panels from moving around?

Dan the abs two piece liner did not need to be trimmed ,I only had to take a round file to make the half circle cut out a little to one side were the screws at the back trim fit in.The visor holes are marked at the back so I used a 1/16 bit to drill them then once the liner was on made the holes bigger to make sure they line up ,they were off a bit to one side .I put this on by myself the 54 just slips on the front rubber and put one screw in each side of the visor hole.I did put the centre bow on backwards and it looked okay but showed a sliver of the metal by the top of the drivers door and after I switched it around everything was covered and fit good .The windlace holds the sides in so once I got the front under the rubber a little duct tape to hold the centre bow on and just started at one side and worked across .It was a challenge doing it myself and would be easier with a 2nd set of hands.

The abs liner was from whitewolf speed shop ,I think Ls fabrication is who makes them .here is a picture of the half holes that I had to file a bit .

Thanks Kevinski for the added info on the install process and where they came from. I've always thought they would need trimming and not having extra hands around usually myself, haven't wanted to give it a try. Your info gives new confidence! Thanks again.

Are these flat or are there curves formed in them?

They ship them rolled up but they are flat when I got the headliner I unrolled it and stored it flat . No curves formed just cut .

How do you bend the compound curves in the corner? ABS plastic is usually rigid.

No real sharp bends more like curves ,seemed to follow the form of the windlace and bows .i was a little worried as the garage was cool .

I am growing weary of how the cardboard panels warp and shrink shortly after installation.
Is the finish of the ABS smooth like the cardboard ones?
I also wonder if the ABS is paintable. Black makes the inside of the truck too dark for my taste.

The finish is textured. You may be able to reverse it as the underside is smooth. The site says you can paint it or cover it .

For anyone interested, here is the site link for the seller of these ABS Headliners (and a bunch of other offerings): LS Fabrication Classic Truck Parts

If you look through the site, you will also find downloadable "instructions" for many of their products.

White wolf speed shop https://www.whitewolfspeedshop.com/product-page/1954-early-1954-chevrolet-truck-headliner Instructions https://www.whitewolfspeedshop.com/_files/ugd/ce120c_779e486c300442a5be7dde789298af7e.pdf

Just a note to help hold off any confusion. Greg H posted links to the original fabricator/supplier of these ABS Headliners which is where LS Fabrication gets them from to sell. According to the White Wolf Speed Shop Home Page, there is a note that says:

"PLEASE VISIT LS FABRICATION TO PURCHASE MY CLASSIC TRUCK RELATED PRODUCTS https://lsfab.com/"

Apparently White Wolf isn't selling them directly, only through LS Fabrication.

What is the thickness of the ABS headliner?

Otto - from the LS Farication site description page for the 1954-55.1 ABS Headliner:

Features of ABS headliner – 1954-1955 Chevy Truck:

★ Made from 1/16″ ABS plastic to replace factory cardboard.
★ Black in colour with haircell texture finish.
★ Comes with (4) ABS pieces
★ Can be left exposed, painted or covered with fabric.

Saga of my putting a 1 piece ABS headliner in my '52 GMC follows. This takes the place of both pieces of cardboard and the center metal bow.

I shot the ABS headliner with the same Rustoleum Hunter Green paint that I had used on my door cards.

After removing the interior sun visors, I used a set of dividers to measure the distance from two known points (a screw in the inner windshield trim and a pin hole I punched into the windlace as it curves down) to all 3 screw holes that hold the left sun visor in place. Did the same for the right visor. These dimensions are needed when it is time to put the visors back on. (This solves the problem Kevinski reported about finding the placement of the holes for the sun visors in the ABS.)

I used some cardboard flooring protector (about 1/16" thick, comes in a 100' roll) to make a template of the leading edge, over the windshield down the a pillar a bit and then starting back over the doors a few inches.

Start the clock running.

Talked my brother into driving out and giving me a hand. Cut the leading edge of the ABS one piece headliner to match the template, tried fitting just the leading edge and probably had to fit and cut small amounts 8 or 10 times to get the leading edge in place. Removed at most 1/2" from parts of the leading edge to get it to match the inside top of the windshield gasket.

This is definitely a 2 man job. No way I could have held it in place and marked it for cutting.

Then spent a while working on the headliner's "tabs" that run down between the A pillar and the windlace where it goes down from the area over the door and runs towards the windshield's inner trim pieces. Had to remove about 3/4" from the bottom of the tab and narrow it from 2" as it came from the factory to about 1/2".

Measuring where to cut the ABS to get the right length to tuck it under the windlace going over the door was a real PITA. What we ended up doing was I held the headliner in place and my brother Jack traced a line on the back side of the headliner using the bottom edge of the windlace as it passed over and curved down a bit at the door. Then we measured the distance of the "height" of the windlace as it passed over the door at about 1.5" We wanted the headliner to slide it between the windlace and the cab's metal over the door about 1/4", so subtracted that from the 1.5" leaving 1.25". Then we drew a line on the back side of the headliner 1.25" "higher" from the previous line that marked the bottom of the windlace. Then we cut using that higher line. Slipped the side of the ABS under the windlace on both sides. The headliner now would hold itself in place. We had removed over an inch at the center of the doors tapering down to about 1/4" at the front and rear of the doors.

Now we had the front and both sides fitted and turned to fit the rear. Funny thing was it was almost perfect already. We had to remove a strip about 1/4" and a foot long.

Let my brother go home. Time so far is two guys for 3 hours.

Screwed down the over the windshield trim pieces and the back of the cab piece. Some of the screws had to be persuaded a bit, but eventually they all went in.

Made a small templet mimicking the mounting brackets of the visor. Drilled matching holes in the template.

Laid some painter's tape over the general area that the visors bolt to. Using the measurements from the third paragraph from the top of this post taped the visor template in place and drilled through the ABS. Actually hit 4 of 6 holes and was close enough on the other two that I just hogged out the hole in the ABS to match. Used the visor template cut the center hole for the visor's arm in the ABS using a 3/4" hole saw. BE CAREFUL THAT YOU DON'T DING THE UNDERSIDE OF THE TRUCK'S CAB ROOF AS THE HOLE SAW CUTS THROUGH THE ABS. Hogged that hole out to full size using a rotary rasp in a drill.

Probably another hour and a half later when I finished.

Picture is from when I did this in 2019. Still looks great.

Bill, is this a different product than Kevin's? No adhesive is used?

Thank you. I had bought an adapter to tube multiple Carter Weber carbs with a Uni-Syn from him years ago. Great guy to deal with. I didn't pay enough attention to his website recently to notice he had chosen a different distribution method.

No adhesive. I did put some stick-on sound deadener to the cab before insulation.

Kevin's is a 2 piece that uses a center bow. Mine is a 1 piece without the bow.

I thought I bought it from Classic Parts (5+ years ago), but I just checked their website and see that the 1 piece they are now offering says it is for '54 only.

Bill your sun visors are they recovered or from a different vehicle they look good .I need to redo mine and I am looking for some ideas .The replacements are cardboard like the origional ones and would like to see if there are something a little better than the cardboard.

They were in it when I bought the truck and I have receipts from the previous 2 years with no mention of the visors. Sorry. A decent auto upholstery shop could cover the cardboard ones. Classic Parts advertise covered visors that mount on your hardware (bracket and rod which they also sell) for less than $30 a piece. Click here.

Thanks that looks easier than recovering. They sell the brackets also ,l had a hard time finding the passenger side as I think it was an option .

I've always liked the perforated headliner fabric that was common in the 60's and 70's. I'm thinking about using an off-white, which I think would compliment the bronze color of the interior paint. Using the ABS plastic as the backer would work, especially if it turns out to be a little thinner than the cardboard. I have a cardboard headliner waiting for installation, but it is a dark gray and I'm not that happy with how it looks...may be time for an experiment? The fabrics are plentiful on ebay and inexpensive ones can be found. Using spray on contact cement might be a good way to adhere the fabric to the ABS or cardboard before installing?

Mike, I would suggest you test any spray on contact cement on the ABS. Some cements stick to ABS and some don't. Some may also react with the ABS causing it soften/warp or deform. Better yet, go with a product that is designed for headliner fabric like THIS ONE from 3M.

Gdads51, thanks for the heads up! I didn't know the glues might melt the ABS.... The 3m product recommendation is a good one!