Difficulties Installing ABS Headliner in 73 Swinger

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Keystone

Keystone

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**EDIT: It's actually not as bad as I made it sound in this first post; it just requires some time and patience **

Hey guys, I could use advice on installing the pre-covered ABS headliner in my 73 Swinger. As far as I know the car originally had a cardboard headliner (non-bow style) and I’m running into some troubles with the one I purchased. I’ve since seen 72bluNblu’s suggestion to buy one that’s uncovered because trimming is required, but too late for that now.

I started by opening up the holes for the seat belt anchors and for the sun visors, and I marked the location for the rear view mirror (there wasn’t even a hole cut for that) and the dome light area seems to line up properly. What I’m struggling with is the amount of material that extends over the side edges.
IMG_0210.JPG


It’s making it so that the A-pillar trim isn’t able to push up far enough
IMG_0211.JPG


And the trim that runs along the top edge down to the base of the C-pillar has no chance at all of attaching
IMG_0214.JPG


The driver’s side has about the same amount of overhang, so it’s not like I have the headliner shifted over to one side.

I already started pealing back the liner material and marking where I think it needs to be trimmed to. I’m just looking for some reassurance here that I’m doing the right thing by trimming it back, because once I cut it, there’s no going back, and figuring in shipping I already dropped $300 on this ill fitting thing.

So basically I want to cut it to come flush with this edge, and then the trim will be able to be pushed into place?
Roof Edge with Arrows.jpg


The only other option would be to trim it back even further so that it butts up to the trim, but I don’t see how to get it just right so it doesn’t leave a gap at some points. Any help here would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
Keystone said:
Hey guys, I could use advice on installing the pre-covered ABS headliner in my 73 Swinger. As far as I know the car originally had a cardboard headliner (non-bow style) and I’m running into some troubles with the one I purchased. I’ve since seen 72bluNblu’s suggestion to buy one that’s uncovered because trimming is required, but too late for that now.

I started by opening up the holes for the seat belt anchors and for the sun visors, and I marked the location for the rear view mirror (there wasn’t even a hole cut for that) and the dome light area seems to line up properly. What I’m struggling with is the amount of material that extends over the side edges.
View attachment 1715163303

It’s making it so that the A-pillar trim isn’t able to push up far enough
View attachment 1715163304

And the trim that runs along the top edge down to the base of the C-pillar has no chance at all of attaching
View attachment 1715163305

The driver’s side has about the same amount of overhang, so it’s not like I have the headliner shifted over to one side.

I already started pealing back the liner material and marking where I think it needs to be trimmed to. I’m just looking for some reassurance here that I’m doing the right thing by trimming it back, because once I cut it, there’s no going back, and figuring in shipping I already dropped $300 on this ill fitting thing.

So basically I want to cut it to come flush with this edge, and then the trim will be able to be pushed into place?
View attachment 1715163306

The only other option would be to trim it back even further so that it butts up to the trim, but I don’t see how to get it just right so it doesn’t leave a gap at some points. Any help here would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
I'll be watching closely. Want to do the same thing.
 
I for the life of me will not understand how someone could pay over $300 and still have to trim the thing all over the place!? This is complete Insanity! Personally I would have sent it back and said this thing doesn't fit. You know I did it thread on building one yourself? I think I spent less than $50 in materials. I mean think about it when you have to trim the thing all the way around basically to make it fit why not just build one yourself that fits correct the first time?
Anyways none of that I told you will help so definitely you want to get the dome light secured first as that sucks it up close and brings those sides in Tighter. Make sure it's very tight against the ceiling. I actually had my seats out and was able to lay on the floor and push it up with my hands and legs it was kind of a crap show but I made it work. But again I started from the center and getting it all posted up there nice and tight from the dome light and then working my way to the outer edges. I also left my seat belt bolts sticking out on either side as that was a spot to also prop the sides up and keep them up without the trim. I personally had my windshield out so I didn't have the front seal to deal with but I jammed it into the back seal nice and tight around the sides and then trim the front to fit. So I guess all in all start from the center work your way out, trim what you have to and make it work it. It's a serious pain in the butt but just take your time and reboot yourself if you have to.
 
My thought process with paying the high price for the part was that I would have significantly less work to do. Obviously that's not how it turned out. Lesson learned; do some research first.

And as far as sending it back... The first thing they have you do is take a razor and cut an X into the liner fabric everywhere there's a hole in the plastic backing, meaning the shoulder belt holes, the mirror holes, and the dome light hole. So you wind up cutting it up before you even realize it doesn't fit right.

Yeah, I'm frustrated with it, but stepping away for a bit has helped. I think I just have to go bit by bit and be patient. I was hoping to have this put up in an hour or two and I'm already four hours in and I haven't even looked at the back end portion yet.
 
As Jpar suggested, make sure it’s tight against the roof before you start trimming it back. Installing the dome light will help, pushing it up into place and then clamping it will help. It’s hard to tell from thr pictures but it looks to me like it’s not pushed up against the roof along the edges, it stays flatter as it transitions from the roof to the edge leaving a gap behind the headliner. You want to push that out before you start cutting.

Yes, they’re expensive. So are the replacement cardboard ones, and they absorb moisture. Yes, they need some trimming to fit perfectly, but that’s true of darn near everything made for these cars. Which is why I suggest getting them without any upholstery. The other reason I suggest getting them without upholstery is that the glue they were using a couple years ago wasn’t great, and I had to re-glue pretty much the entire headliner fabric on mine after it separated in the heat. So yeah, they definitely have their issues, and at full price I can see why some folks would be disappointed.

I still like them far better than the cardboard or the earlier fabric headliners, but that’s just me. The last one I bought for my Dart was from amazon and it was on clearance for way less than half what they usually sell for, so deals can be had. All the interior stuff for any of these cars is insanely expensive. Legendary’s stuff fits well, but costs an arm and a leg. PUI has plenty of complaints and issues, and they still cost a heck of a lot of money. Just less than legendary. For me it just boils down to I’m not doing custom upholstery myself. Not what I want to spend my time doing. Could I make something cheaper? Sure. Would it look better? Probably not. And it would take forever. That’s why I spent the money, and it’s why I tell other people the issues I had so they know what they’re getting into.
 
72bluNblu said:
As Jpar suggested, make sure it’s tight against the roof before you start trimming it back. Installing the dome light will help, pushing it up into place and then clamping it will help. It’s hard to tell from thr pictures but it looks to me like it’s not pushed up against the roof along the edges, it stays flatter as it transitions from the roof to the edge leaving a gap behind the headliner. You want to push that out before you start cutting.

Yes, they’re expensive. So are the replacement cardboard ones, and they absorb moisture. Yes, they need some trimming to fit perfectly, but that’s true of darn near everything made for these cars. Which is why I suggest getting them without any upholstery. The other reason I suggest getting them without upholstery is that the glue they were using a couple years ago wasn’t great, and I had to re-glue pretty much the entire headliner fabric on mine after it separated in the heat. So yeah, they definitely have their issues, and at full price I can see why some folks would be disappointed.

I still like them far better than the cardboard or the earlier fabric headliners, but that’s just me. The last one I bought for my Dart was from amazon and it was on clearance for way less than half what they usually sell for, so deals can be had. All the interior stuff for any of these cars is insanely expensive. Legendary’s stuff fits well, but costs an arm and a leg. PUI has plenty of complaints and issues, and they still cost a heck of a lot of money. Just less than legendary. For me it just boils down to I’m not doing custom upholstery myself. Not what I want to spend my time doing. Could I make something cheaper? Sure. Would it look better? Probably not. And it would take forever. That’s why I spent the money, and it’s why I tell other people the issues I had so they know what they’re getting into.
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I'm almost positive you seen my thread where I made my headliner? But anyways with a pretty good idea of how it's done and what to use I can't imagine it taking more time than it would to order one and wait for it and get it open it and test fit it and recut it again and again. I would be thinking at this point it's going to have to be taken out and it's going to have to be putting back in and it's going to have to be fitted a couple times and test cutted. And as you say you're going to have to want to glue the headliner on also...
I know this doesn't help the original poster or any but if you're taking your headliner out anyways and to give it a $15 shot to slap it down on a piece of 1 ply plywood. Cut out a replica of your old one. Get a $15 can of that glue spray and $15 worth the headliner material at Jo-Ann Fabric and Valla...
As far as the time scale I would think most anyone within a half hour of a city limit could be to the lumberyard in Jo-Ann Fabric and back home within 2 hours and since the headliner is out you could slap it down on that plywood trace it and cut it out within an hour and I think you're already at about where you're piece of plastic comes in for $300? Just for conversation sake? Also I do agree with everything you're saying about the headliner it's not easy either way or...
IMG_20180301_162640.jpg
 
j par said:
I'm almost positive you seen my thread where I made my headliner? But anyways with a pretty good idea of how it's done and what to use I can't imagine it taking more time than it would to order one and wait for it and get it open it and test fit it and recut it again and again. I would be thinking at this point it's going to have to be taken out and it's going to have to be putting back in and it's going to have to be fitted a couple times and test cutted. And as you say you're going to have to want to glue the headliner on also...
I know this doesn't help the original poster or any but if you're taking your headliner out anyways and to give it a $15 shot to slap it down on a piece of 1 ply plywood. Cut out a replica of your old one. Get a $15 can of that glue spray and $15 worth the headliner material at Jo-Ann Fabric and Valla...
As far as the time scale I would think most anyone within a half hour of a city limit could be to the lumberyard in Jo-Ann Fabric and back home within 2 hours and since the headliner is out you could slap it down on that plywood trace it and cut it out within an hour and I think you're already at about where you're piece of plastic comes in for $300? Just for conversation sake? Also I do agree with everything you're saying about the headliner it's not easy either way or...
View attachment 1715163557
Click to expand...

First, let me address the $300 thing. You can get them for $160 from RockAuto for the uncovered ones, and $207 for the vinyl covered ones. Shipping to my area was less than $30 on top of that, so, no where near $300.

1974 DODGE DART 5.2L 318cid V8 Headliner | RockAuto

I doubt I have much more than 2 hours into the ABS one in my Duster. Waiting for it to show up doesn't count, it's not like I parked the car to wait for the headliner, I was just driving around without one. And I didn't have to stand by the mailbox and wait for it. I was done with the initial install and trimming in about an hour. It's not like they're totally wrong, they do take a little trimming here and there but I only had to trim and refit it a couple times to be done with it. It would have been even faster with an uncovered one, you could trim one of those in the car. With it already covered I had to take it out and peel the edges back to do the trimming. Still not bad at all though. After the vinyl separated the full re-glue probably took another hour or so, waiting for the glue to dry was the longest part of the operation. But again, it's not like I have to stand there and watch the glue dry, I'm doing something else what that's happening. And the ABS won't absorb moisture or mildew, it'll just about last forever. The tier grain vinyl and foam backing looks professional, even after the re-glue. I'm happy with mine.

Plus I paid $49.27 for the one I bought for my Dart last year, not $300 :D. It was on clearance for some reason. The one for my Duster was $222, it was the tier grain vinyl, shipped and everything, but that was like 4 years ago.
Screen Shot 2018-04-10 at 11.26.48 PM.png


I mean, if you want to make your own that's fine, but upholstery is NOT my thing. I'd rather be driving the car. Or setting up suspension, or welding, or just about anything other than upholstery. The ABS headliner looks way better than anything I could make, it didn't take all the much time to get sorted out, and with the deal I got on the second one I bought I think I'm money ahead for the pair compared to anything else I could have done.
 
j par said:
I'm almost positive you seen my thread where I made my headliner? But anyways with a pretty good idea of how it's done and what to use I can't imagine it taking more time than it would to order one and wait for it and get it open it and test fit it and recut it again and again. I would be thinking at this point it's going to have to be taken out and it's going to have to be putting back in and it's going to have to be fitted a couple times and test cutted. And as you say you're going to have to want to glue the headliner on also...
I know this doesn't help the original poster or any but if you're taking your headliner out anyways and to give it a $15 shot to slap it down on a piece of 1 ply plywood. Cut out a replica of your old one. Get a $15 can of that glue spray and $15 worth the headliner material at Jo-Ann Fabric and Valla...
As far as the time scale I would think most anyone within a half hour of a city limit could be to the lumberyard in Jo-Ann Fabric and back home within 2 hours and since the headliner is out you could slap it down on that plywood trace it and cut it out within an hour and I think you're already at about where you're piece of plastic comes in for $300? Just for conversation sake? Also I do agree with everything you're saying about the headliner it's not easy either way or...
View attachment 1715163557
Click to expand...

Where is the thread on your headliner?
 
Jadaharabi said:
Where is the thread on your headliner?
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can/has it been done?? home made headliner...
72bluNblu said:
First, let me address the $300 thing. You can get them for $160 from RockAuto for the uncovered ones, and $207 for the vinyl covered ones. Shipping to my area was less than $30 on top of that, so, no where near $300.

1974 DODGE DART 5.2L 318cid V8 Headliner | RockAuto

I doubt I have much more than 2 hours into the ABS one in my Duster. Waiting for it to show up doesn't count, it's not like I parked the car to wait for the headliner, I was just driving around without one. And I didn't have to stand by the mailbox and wait for it. I was done with the initial install and trimming in about an hour. It's not like they're totally wrong, they do take a little trimming here and there but I only had to trim and refit it a couple times to be done with it. It would have been even faster with an uncovered one, you could trim one of those in the car. With it already covered I had to take it out and peel the edges back to do the trimming. Still not bad at all though. After the vinyl separated the full re-glue probably took another hour or so, waiting for the glue to dry was the longest part of the operation. But again, it's not like I have to stand there and watch the glue dry, I'm doing something else what that's happening. And the ABS won't absorb moisture or mildew, it'll just about last forever. The tier grain vinyl and foam backing looks professional, even after the re-glue. I'm happy with mine.

Plus I paid $49.27 for the one I bought for my Dart last year, not $300 :D. It was on clearance for some reason. The one for my Duster was $222, it was the tier grain vinyl, shipped and everything, but that was like 4 years ago.
View attachment 1715163583

I mean, if you want to make your own that's fine, but upholstery is NOT my thing. I'd rather be driving the car. Or setting up suspension, or welding, or just about anything other than upholstery. The ABS headliner looks way better than anything I could make, it didn't take all the much time to get sorted out, and with the deal I got on the second one I bought I think I'm money ahead for the pair compared to anything else I could have done.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry I didn't mean to leave you with the impression that waiting for the mail was part of what I was talking about as far as time. Obviously you're not going to wait there by the mailbox for 2 weeks. I'm just saying by the time you get out here on the forum and find who got the best price for it and where the discount is and if you can get it you could already be back from the plywood store. I agree with you I like banging on metal and making metal bend. The last thing I want to do is upholstery work and go to Jo-Ann Fabrics and mingle with the ladies! But when your faced with the expense and light on the wallet a man sometimes learns new skills. And as far as how it turns out... Mine turned out flawless because I made it myself.
 
I seriously at one point when I was making the headliner was thinking about getting some kind of light paper and tracing the pattern out on a light piece of paper. That way I could mail out copies of the outline and people could make them themselves. I mean I only really had half of a headliner that I started with and just flipped it and made it work..
 
Thanks for all helpful suggestions and information. Much appreciated.

I went back and checked the bill from Rock Auto and it was actually $240 shipped. Sorry for exaggerating the cost. I had looked at a few places before buying and the price and shipping varied greatly, so that must have tainted my recollection.
RA Bill.PNG


When I got home from work yesterday I dove right in and did trim the sides slightly based on where I had marked the plastic after peeling back the liner. I didn’t remove much, I’d say about a quarter inch from each side. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to get everything reassembled, but I did realize something… when I had removed the sun visors to pull down the front edge and mark the location for the rear view mirror, I didn’t reattach the visors before looking at the side trim. As it has been pointed out, this caused the liner to not be pulled tight against the roof. That accounted for some of the discrepancy.

I also noticed that temperature makes a difference with how well the plastic conforms. I had inadvertently turned off the heater in the garage prior to starting the install, so the first day I tired getting it to fit it was cold out there. Having the garage warmed back up I found it takes much less effort to push the headliner into place, so I think that was part of my problem too.

I should have some time this evening to get back at it and I’ll update again.
 
Keystone said:
Thanks for all helpful suggestions and information. Much appreciated.

I went back and checked the bill from Rock Auto and it was actually $240 shipped. Sorry for exaggerating the cost. I had looked at a few places before buying and the price and shipping varied greatly, so that must have tainted my recollection.
View attachment 1715163651

When I got home from work yesterday I dove right in and did trim the sides slightly based on where I had marked the plastic after peeling back the liner. I didn’t remove much, I’d say about a quarter inch from each side. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to get everything reassembled, but I did realize something… when I had removed the sun visors to pull down the front edge and mark the location for the rear view mirror, I didn’t reattach the visors before looking at the side trim. As it has been pointed out, this caused the liner to not be pulled tight against the roof. That accounted for some of the discrepancy.

I also noticed that temperature makes a difference with how well the plastic conforms. I had inadvertently turned off the heater in the garage prior to starting the install, so the first day I tired getting it to fit it was cold out there. Having the garage warmed back up I found it takes much less effort to push the headliner into place, so I think that was part of my problem too.

I should have some time this evening to get back at it and I’ll update again.
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I'm glad you took 72 and my discussion on the subject as a learning tool. It's nice that we both took different paths that led to the same end. It kind of gives a couple few different angles at it, but I would say as far as putting it in we're all in sync. It's a test in patients....
 
Keystone said:
Thanks for all helpful suggestions and information. Much appreciated.

I went back and checked the bill from Rock Auto and it was actually $240 shipped. Sorry for exaggerating the cost. I had looked at a few places before buying and the price and shipping varied greatly, so that must have tainted my recollection.
View attachment 1715163651

When I got home from work yesterday I dove right in and did trim the sides slightly based on where I had marked the plastic after peeling back the liner. I didn’t remove much, I’d say about a quarter inch from each side. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to get everything reassembled, but I did realize something… when I had removed the sun visors to pull down the front edge and mark the location for the rear view mirror, I didn’t reattach the visors before looking at the side trim. As it has been pointed out, this caused the liner to not be pulled tight against the roof. That accounted for some of the discrepancy.

I also noticed that temperature makes a difference with how well the plastic conforms. I had inadvertently turned off the heater in the garage prior to starting the install, so the first day I tired getting it to fit it was cold out there. Having the garage warmed back up I found it takes much less effort to push the headliner into place, so I think that was part of my problem too.

I should have some time this evening to get back at it and I’ll update again.
Click to expand...

Yes heat makes a difference! I installed mine during the summer, the ABS was nice and flexible. It was hotter than hades in my car, which didn’t make for a pleasant experience, but the headliner is easier to deal with.

Glad you got it sorted!
 
Success! I had a little more time last night to put the visors, mirror and dome light back on and it fits very nicely. I put the A-pillar trim went on without a problem and the rest of the trim looks to be issue free as well. I just test fit the latter pieces because they’re starting to get some surface rust in spots, so I’m going to clean them up and paint them first.

I still have the back edge to do, but I know the drill now. I may wind up taking the rear window out, but I’ll see if it can be done without.
IMG_0224.JPG
IMG_0225.JPG
IMG_0227.JPG
IMG_0226.JPG


So in hind sight, it was probably unnecessary for me to do the slight trim on the sides, but even so it doesn’t seem to have caused any repercussions either. This is a good product and I think the biggest lesson here is BE PATIENT when installing. That one can be hard for me to remember sometimes, but I’m learning.
 
LOL so you finally learned about the last thing I said there in post 13? LOL
I'm very glad to hear about your success story. The last thing I want to see is someone spend money like that and not get the results they were looking for. Another Mopar saved! Good job.
 
Thanks for posting this. I’m going through the same thing on my 72 demon. At one point it was myself, my wife, and kid (shop light duty) monkeying around with the headliner. Wife was holding it up with her legs and I was literally using my head. We got frustrated and walked away.

I think some of my problem fitting it was I didn’t take the tape off in the corner pleats. Did you have to slice the corners along the pleats to get it to fit or just pinch and fold them into the slices? And did you mount the dome light first or the sun visors like in the directions?
 
The last post is only a month old so I figured I would chime in.
We bought the Rock Auto ABS headliner and it seems to be a pretty good match to the original in my son's 72 Duster. The directions suck. We slit the pleats a little SR77 it seemed to help it conform a little better. Did you ever get your's in?

We made our first run at it this evening, we were both a little tired but like was mentioned above, we figured we could just pop it right in. We soon realized that it was like trying to screw a greased football. :lol:

The best advice I've seen after reading this thread is from J-Par concerning the re-boot. That's why I am now in here surfing A-Bodies on my 3rd beer. My son and I both realized the reboot was needed when the language started getting a little heated. The interior is totally out of the car, so no excuse there.

We were close a couple of times to get it started but the upper body fatigue won out. I think the approach tomorrow after what we learned today is to get the rear window edge started then pin it with the dome light, then work the front edge under the windshield gasket. In retrospect I think we should have waited to install the windshield until after the headliner but that ***** ain't coming back out.

We'll get a good nights sleep and hit it again tomorrow. I'll post to this thread if we learn any secrets other than what has been mentioned here.
 
John_Lemon said:
The last post is only a month old so I figured I would chime in.
We bought the Rock Auto ABS headliner and it seems to be a pretty good match to the original in my son's 72 Duster. The directions suck. We slit the pleats a little SR77 it seemed to help it conform a little better. Did you ever get your's in?

We made our first run at it this evening, we were both a little tired but like was mentioned above, we figured we could just pop it right in. We soon realized that it was like trying to screw a greased football. :lol:

The best advice I've seen after reading this thread is from J-Par concerning the re-boot. That's why I am now in here surfing A-Bodies on my 3rd beer. My son and I both realized the reboot was needed when the language started getting a little heated. The interior is totally out of the car, so no excuse there.

We were close a couple of times to get it started but the upper body fatigue won out. I think the approach tomorrow after what we learned today is to get the rear window edge started then pin it with the dome light, then work the front edge under the windshield gasket. In retrospect I think we should have waited to install the windshield until after the headliner but that ***** ain't coming back out.

We'll get a good nights sleep and hit it again tomorrow. I'll post to this thread if we learn any secrets other than what has been mentioned here.
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I'll tell you what held mine in was putting the two bolts for the seat belts on either side in and you can actually push it up there in a holding in there by those big holes for the seat belt bolts?
 
And you're right jamming it in the rear seal first and then getting a screw or two in the dome light. Of course everything loose until everything's in and then tighten it down. Did you get some headliner material on the ABS yet or are you just trying to get that to fit first?
 
Also I found if you're putting in new carpet also to put the carpet in first! Not necessarily cut it to fit but to drop it in there and not only is it cushion while you're putting your headliner in and you laying there with your feet and hands in the air but it also kind of starts shaping the carpet to fit your floor with you rolling around in it constantly. Another one of Jpars top tips... LOL
 
Yea, the carpet has been "training" for about a week. Not fully in yet. The extra activity on it today has definitely sunk the training home.
I saw you mention the shoulder belt bolts in an earlier post. We will definitely employ that tactic.
Ours is pre-covered. It's almost a curse because you can't get too rough with it for fear of tearing it.
 
I got my greased football, (I've been calling it the dish rag, as in limp as a dish rag), up but it needs trimming on the front and back. I'm pulling it tomorrow back out, laying the factory one out, laying this one over top, getting some tape and taping it down to the old one through the holes, make some marks and trim some of it up. Not many interior shops wanted to even touch it or they want to pull the glass out and right now if it comes out old it's new going back in if I can help it and I'm not ready for new glass. I'll try posting results or how it worked out.

Side question, anyone have to trim/cut the coat hanger brackets out for a flush fit?
 
SR77 said:
I got my greased football, (I've been calling it the dish rag, as in limp as a dish rag), up but it needs trimming on the front and back. I'm pulling it tomorrow back out, laying the factory one out, laying this one over top, getting some tape and taping it down to the old one through the holes, make some marks and trim some of it up. Not many interior shops wanted to even touch it or they want to pull the glass out and right now if it comes out old it's new going back in if I can help it and I'm not ready for new glass. I'll try posting results or how it worked out.

Side question, anyone have to trim/cut the coat hanger brackets out for a flush fit?
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Since this is my son's car, I asked him if he wanted the coat hangers back in and he said "Why? I'm never going to hang anything off of them. I'll lay cloths flat on the back seat or in the trunk if I need to". Keep in mind he's 16.
I fully agreed with him. We're not punching the holes for them on this car. I think it will be a cleaner look anyway.
 
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