The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors AD Headliner Replacement Advice Needed

Mice got into the portion above the windshield this winter. I got some portions cut out and the mess cleaned up. Need to purchase the replacement and install.

1) Which type to buy? I’d prefer to stay original cardboard, but open to considering ABS if there is some consensus that it’s easier or better for some reason. Sounds like a PITA either way.

2) Install tips? I’ve read the tech tip about the ABS style. Anyone have a little tutorial on the cardboard if I go that way?

3) Insulation/sound deadening - At a minimum, I will do the adhesive foil/butyl to take some of the steel drum effect out. But it seems like I’ve read a suggestion to also do some foam for additional heat and sound reduction. What type and where to purchase?

1) I bought the usual cardboard replacement from Jim Carter. Have no experience with ABS, although I had a leak around the center of the windshield and the headliner got damp and came loose from under the windshield trim. But I was able to get it back in place and looking OK. ABS wouldn't be affected by moisture.

2) Definitely secure the front section to the middle bow first. Have a helper to hold the opposite in place as you tuck the headliner behind the windlace above the door. Your ball-end weatherstrip tool works well there. The windshield trim goes on after the headliner is in place, and the rear section and bow with it's screws would be the last thing installed. My wife was the helper and it went fairly well.

3) I used a rubberized sticky stuff for insulation/sound deadening and it seems OK. I would think that unless the foam is very compressible, it would be hard to install the headliner, as the space between headliner and roof is variable. IMO, that would be too much trouble for whatever improvement you might get.

Thanks, Kevin. How much, if any, trimming was required of the cardboard?

No trimming required. I did have to transfer the visor holes to the passenger side, but that was pretty easy - just mirroring from the pre-punched holes on the drivers side.

I also used the cardboard version (from Classic Parts I believe) and have no experience with the ABS version.

Installation was a pain, the driver's side holes for the visor did not line upwell and the holes I transferred to the passenger side were worse. The tails that come down next to the windshield were trimmed during the installation process making it more challenging. Definitely do the front portion first as Kevin noted and once you get it in place (or give up trying to move it) then install the rear portion.

I was doing the installaiton as a one man band which may have made the process more challenging but I am not sure how much.

One other item. Before I attempted to install the headliner, which came in a tube (about 6-8" diameter). I unrolled it out on the floor and weighted it down with some books to flatten it and let it stay that way for a day or so. I don't recall, but may have also misted it with some water to help it lay flat.

I put the one piece ABS headliner in my truck 7 years ago. I like the look without the bow in the middle. It was a real PITA to install, with a lot of cutting, just a little at a time. Got mine from Classic Parts.

Definitely a 2 man job and a third would be useful at times. One inside and one standing outside each door opening.

Still looks like it did the day I put it in.

We bought heavy cardboard from the craft store. Used the old headliner as a template to cut out the new headliner. Glued vinyl to the cardboard. (matched vinyl colour to the seat upholstery) We glued insulation to the roof before installing the headliner. The insulation was the common stuff that looks like bubble wrap with foil on each side.

Doing this job by one’s self evokes an image….an image best described using an old analogy about monkeys and footballs.

Tip of the hat to those of you who tried it, and prevailed. My patience is far too thin and temper for too short to even attempt it solo.

I made mine by laminating school glue and heavy floor protecting paper I got at Home Depot. The roll had more than enough to make 2 or 3 headliners, door side pieces and a couple of new glove boxes (a different design because of the A/C unit). It turned out to be pretty easy work and is tougher than the cardboard sold today. As I recall I used three laminated sheets...could have been four but I think it was three. I used the headliner I had made about 40 years ago as an outline and had no trouble at all. After it dried a couple of days I removed it and painted it a flat tan color.

I also used some self-adhesive neoprene sponge (about 1/8 inch thick) after I painted the top inside part. After that I also installed some of the higher R value HVAC duct insulation (foil all around and about 4 inches of fiberglass in the middle). You can work that stuff pretty easily and if you use some double sided tape to hold it in place it works nicely. I flattened it where the bow goes so I would have insulation all over up there. One thing I learned from the work I did many years ago...don't overlook insulation up there. What it does is it keeps your headliner from shrinking where it goes down under the windlace rubber. The cardboard will shrink to some degree and I don't believe you can stop that however the insulation will push against it and minimize the process. Also all that insulation makes for a much less noisy truck. In a good rainstorm mine used to sound like somebody beating on a washtub with a crescent wrench. Much better now. Good luck!