1963 Dart Headliner questions

-

Mineallmine

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2019
Messages
574
Reaction score
968
Location
Ontario
I am getting ready to start the interior of my 63 Dart 170 2dr sedan and had a few questions about the headliner.

When I purchased the car it only had the front headliner bow and was missing all others. I was fortunate that a yard here had a 64 hardtop that I was able to scrounge the bows out of.

I noticed the 64 had an extra slot at the rear for a 6th bow that my 63 sedan doesn't and after some research I am reading that some had 5 and some had 6 bows. Is this correct? Is there any way to confirm which my car should have had? If anyone on here has a 5 bow 63-66 with the headliner currently removed a picture or 2 would be great to see.

Another dilemma I have found is that multiple places don't differentiate between 5 and 6 bow headliners. One states 2 and 4 door sedan (but I know I found a 64 4door sedan with 6 bows as I removed the rear windshield brace from it)

I am pretty sure my car only came with 5 as I am unable to determine where the 6th bow would go. The other 5 are clear. On the cars with 6 I noticed a slot that a clip that was attached to the bow would slide into and a pair of wire clips that held the bow towards the rear attaching to the rear windshield inner roof support.

Any other info I can get would be great to determine how to piece this back together and a possible source for my headliner would be appreciated as well.
 
I am getting ready to start the interior of my 63 Dart 170 2dr sedan and had a few questions about the headliner.

When I purchased the car it only had the front headliner bow and was missing all others. I was fortunate that a yard here had a 64 hardtop that I was able to scrounge the bows out of.

I noticed the 64 had an extra slot at the rear for a 6th bow that my 63 sedan doesn't and after some research I am reading that some had 5 and some had 6 bows. Is this correct? Is there any way to confirm which my car should have had? If anyone on here has a 5 bow 63-66 with the headliner currently removed a picture or 2 would be great to see.

Another dilemma I have found is that multiple places don't differentiate between 5 and 6 bow headliners. One states 2 and 4 door sedan (but I know I found a 64 4door sedan with 6 bows as I removed the rear windshield brace from it)

I am pretty sure my car only came with 5 as I am unable to determine where the 6th bow would go. The other 5 are clear. On the cars with 6 I noticed a slot that a clip that was attached to the bow would slide into and a pair of wire clips that held the bow towards the rear attaching to the rear windshield inner roof support.

Any other info I can get would be great to determine how to piece this back together and a possible source for my headliner would be appreciated as well.


So I find myself correcting myself once again. I previously stated my dart only had 5 headliner bows. Today I was out looking the car over again, and what do I find? A 6th headliner bow location. Unfortunately it doesn't match the bows I currently have. I think the other 5 will be OK but the 6th is definitely different. The location for the type I have goes into a hole at the upper edge of the sail panel area, utilizing a clip that attaches to the end of the headliner bow. Mine actually has a pocket like the other 5 just above the rear seat level (see picture).

Now I have a new couple of questions. First is does anyone know if this is specific to 1963, or to the 2door sedans? Did they use this style in other years of dart? Other question is does this setup still use the sail panel boards? I know that the headliner material can't actually attach to it using these but is it used as a backer to provide support of some sort?

Again, thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

Headliner bow location.png
 
Only slight help I can give is tell you to search for an article which details the headliner bow lengths and color codes. I filed it away at home. Search from google works best w/ "forabodiesonly" in the search. That article may discuss any 1963 differences. My 1965 Dart has sail-panel boards, kind of between cardboard and clipboard material, similar to the door cards. I will have to cut new material since they are degraded.
 
Only slight help I can give is tell you to search for an article which details the headliner bow lengths and color codes. I filed it away at home. Search from google works best w/ "forabodiesonly" in the search. That article may discuss any 1963 differences. My 1965 Dart has sail-panel boards, kind of between cardboard and clipboard material, similar to the door cards. I will have to cut new material since they are degraded.

I read that article and didn't see anything that specified differences in years. I have discovered that the longer headliner bow is not specific to 1963. I was speaking to someone with a 1965 2 door hardtop that also has the longer bow at the rear. Therefore I am starting to think this may be a 2 door sedan setup. I can't confirm this for sure though as I am only speculating at this point. I plan to check out a wrecking yard near me that has 5 or 6 64-66 dart shells (Canadian valiants) to see if any of them have the same bow as mine. All of those are either 4 door or 2 door hardtop. I already know the one 4 door sedan has the shorter rear and one of the 65 hardtops as well as they are where I sourced my current set from.

I also have to replace the sail panel boards on mine as they are non-existent. I am guessing mine go behind the longer bow and don't actually get glued to anything, just provide added support.
 
I am getting ready to start the interior of my 63 Dart 170 2dr sedan and had a few questions about the headliner.

When I purchased the car it only had the front headliner bow and was missing all others. I was fortunate that a yard here had a 64 hardtop that I was able to scrounge the bows out of.

I noticed the 64 had an extra slot at the rear for a 6th bow that my 63 sedan doesn't and after some research I am reading that some had 5 and some had 6 bows. Is this correct? Is there any way to confirm which my car should have had? If anyone on here has a 5 bow 63-66 with the headliner currently removed a picture or 2 would be great to see.

Another dilemma I have found is that multiple places don't differentiate between 5 and 6 bow headliners. One states 2 and 4 door sedan (but I know I found a 64 4door sedan with 6 bows as I removed the rear windshield brace from it)

I am pretty sure my car only came with 5 as I am unable to determine where the 6th bow would go. The other 5 are clear. On the cars with 6 I noticed a slot that a clip that was attached to the bow would slide into and a pair of wire clips that held the bow towards the rear attaching to the rear windshield inner roof support.

Any other info I can get would be great to determine how to piece this back together and a possible source for my headliner would be appreciated as well.
Did you get this done? pics?
 
I have a 65 and 66 2 door sedan. They both have 6 bows. The very last bow at the rear installs into a clip instead of a slot like the others
 
-
Back
Top