Cardboard Headliner

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stansblue72

stansblue72

one of one 1953 ME!
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Trying to figure out what to do with my headliner, the rest of the interior is going to be black. My two thoughts are:
1. Paint it black
2. get some thin black vinyl from a fabric store and try to glue it to the headliner.

I had one painted black before and it looked okay, but I think the vinyl might look really good and hide the little bit of damage that is on it.

So was wondering if anyone has tried to put vinyl on one?

Or your thoughts on doing it.
 
I used some of that polyester/felt-like material and glued it to the cardboard headliner in my Dart .And I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.I'm sure it could be done with vinyl . Just a lot more labor intensive. Probably need to get it really warm to get it to conform to the panels . And would have to be fairly thin also to be able to wrap it round the edges.
 
Well if you put vinyl on it (gluing) and for some reason over time it decides to start coming off then you could very well damage it. Vinyl is going to be heavier than cloth, and I have had my share of the cloth coming loose and start drooping. Riding with the windows open and air getting in and around it would accelerate the process.

That headliner looks in decent shape. If it were mine I'd paint it. Just my two cents...
 
I went to Hancock Fabrics and bought headliner material foam and fabric and glued to mine.. Turned out pretty good.. I didn't have the money to buy a new headliner, so for less than $50.00 bucks I redid mine.. Just a thought..
 
I think the paint is going to work okay. I used a adhesion promoter then vinyl paint made by Dupli-Color. Here's the results.
 

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She was in beautiful shape to begin with. Turned out great. Would love to find an original headliner in that good of shape. I am not sure about the repop's. Would like to see one installed before I decide to go that route. The mice build a hotel in mine and trashed it.
 
Good thread. I was wondering what to do to make my headliner better and to remove the shoulder harness and hide the holes so I can lie if a cop pulls me over. The car came with lap belts only, officer! You gave me the solution. I am going to cover mine. Vinyl, maybe. Some fabric for sure. I have done lots of that sort of work. It is easy and durable. I'll just go to Bloomington Textile again and find something I like. Mine looks good now, and it's painted like you just did. It should hold up well.
 
We put a repop in my son-in-laws dart, it fit pretty good but 2 years later the lining on it is starting to sag in places.
 
I think you made the right decision with painting it.

Those cardboard headliners are impossible to find in the condition yours looks :cheers:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPVUa29kHu8"]The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black - YouTube[/ame]
 
19 Again.. said:
I went to Hancock Fabrics and bought headliner material foam and fabric and glued to mine.. Turned out pretty good.. I didn't have the money to buy a new headliner, so for less than $50.00 bucks I redid mine.. Just a thought..
Click to expand...
same here came out real nice for 30.00 same store too except in ca.
 
Installed the headliner today and it looks pretty good. Hard to get a good picture though.

004.JPG
 
I wish I could have done that with mine but the fiber board had deteriorated so it would not have looked as smooth as yours.
 
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