The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors 1946 Chevy 1/2Ton - Headliner Color

Just asking for input: I'm going to order a new headliner for my truck. Anyone know if the color of my interior is classified as Beige or Brown? Not sure if I want a black headliner.

I think a headliner being something different from the rest of the interior might look good. A nice contrast. Your interior reminds me of a Rust O-leum dark bronze metallic.

Headliners would have been brown back then. Your choice now. Personally, I like the color you used with the brown headliner. That’s the way Sparky is now. I too used the Rustoleum dark bronze for all interior painted surfaces. See the attached photos.

FWIW, long before I acquired the ‘46 I bought and finished restoration of a ‘37. Still have it. I really struggled trying to install a fiber board headliner. Actually failed twice, before going with an ABS the plastic liner instead. That was no picnic either. When I reached the headliner stage of the ‘46, I bought an ABS liner for it because of the previous misery experienced. However, in the parts pile that came with the ‘46 project from the previous owner, there was a fiberboard liner. So, me being a stubborn cantankerous old coot decided to try using the fiberboard liner first. I also recalled the ABS installation effort previously done was not exactly as easy as expected. Nonetheless, I finally got the fiberboard liner installed in the ‘46. The effort as described in a previous post about your headliner hardware questions was challenging, but worth the effort. Both headliner installation efforts were done solo.

Also FWIW, my experience with the use of rubbing alcohol to soften and help bend the board as some suggested back then did not work for me. Someone else suggested that laying the board out and using some appropriately curved tubes or other objects to help hold a curve for a few days before attempting installation. That did help, there might be others that have better tricks and will share their experiences too.

I purchased a replacement for my '37 from one of the venders, they suggested water/vinegar mix to soften the cardboard type headliner. It did nothing but stink. I like the black to off set the seat and dash color.

Not having replaced a headliner of this type in any vehicle, can you explain the difficulty?

Do the headliners not come preformed to the curvature of the roof?

That's what I was hoping. I didn't know I would have to form them. I guess that's the struggle to get them installed.

Do you know if the two kick panels are supposed to match the headliner or do most of you paint them black to match the floor?

They didn’t come ready to install when I was doing these on my trucks. They were delivered rolled up in a box, both types, fiberboard and ABS.

The struggle is getting the bends made especially on each end. Wetting the fiberboard was supposed to soften it enough to conform as needed. But, in my experiences that was useless and counterproductive as it created an ugly mess before it even reached that point. I did not wet the material at all when doing the installation on the ‘46. Tenacity, patience and walking away to cool off when needed because of frustration eventually won the prize.

I do believe having another set of hands to help would likely make the process a bit easier. I didn’t have help, other than the “tools” referenced previously.

In hindsight, I wonder if using steam from a hat shaping tool would work? My guess is having a helper steam the backside while the installer held the material near the placement point and hold it in place until it cools might work? I believe care would be needed to not over do the steam or the fiber board might delaminate?

The stuff I used was expensive from the truck venders so the second one I purchased was from a upholstery supply house. They were flat, black, and textured pieces of a card-board type material ( universal headliner / door panel / kick panels ) that were way cheaper. I purchased three of them for the less then the one made for the truck. First one went bad getting it wet to bend, the second one I made cuts at the rear corners and got it in and mounted. Figured with the third sheet I would perfect the install with out the cuts. The second one is still in the truck, I don't even see the cuts anymore. I would say it was one of the harder things to do of the whole rebuild.

All good information here as I plan to do this sometime after Labor Day. I'll be sure to have a friend stop by to lend a helping hand.

I was able to fit the headliners on my '50 COE and '37 pick up, only to have them shrink over time exposing gaps at some of the edges. The shrinkage took several months. It may be due to the low humidity in AZ so if I do it again I will buy the liner months in advance and store it in the garage.

I sure would like to know how the factory did these. I bet two people were in the cab as it came down the assembly line. I know I would be fired on day 1 if I had that job.

Kent

I bet the originals were stamped with a heavy press to form them, I would be right behind Kent being shown the door if I worked there.

I'm really surprised nobody is selling them pre-shaped.

My guess is the assembly line had pre-shaped headliners with holes punched to match appropriate clutch head screws attachment locations. With one person on each end working in sync it would seem to be a simple and quick installation. I doubt they had anywhere near the ordeal we experienced or the entire concept would have been re-engineered to keep speed and cost in check.