Head Liner Thoughts

[Mopar_Gods]

I have got to the stage where the interior of my Aspen needs a head liner for the inside to be complete. When I purchased the car it never had any kind of a pattern board attached to the roof so I have nothing to use for a pattern.

I have looked at a few places and even though panel board is pretty flexible it does not seem like it will work for the project because it is still to thick and will snap under to much stress at the corners and in the center. Has anyone ever tried to make one for a 1977 Dodge Aspen 2 Door Coupe before??? Thank You

 

[Justwondering]

Just tossing out ideas...
The foam board can be cut and triangle slits removed so you can form an inside curve. Cover it with duct tape or gorilla tape.
Why is there stress in the center?

Foam board is thicker. So you need something thinner.

The purpose of the headliner is to provide a flat area for the covering so it will be very pretty and l insulation from the roof.
Has to be something that we can cut holes in for the seat belt bolts and for the dome light/sun visors.
Stiff enough that it won't sag.
Flexible enough to mold to concave shape of the roof.

Since it is upholstery, maybe we should be looking or asking someone that runs an upholstery shop.

Linoleum would be too heavy and would sag in the heat.

If you want to do the resin thing, you could use fleece and resin+hardener.

What about a sheet of abs plastic from big box store? Its 1/16 of an inch thick and you should be able to use a heat gun to 'mold' areas.
1/16 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. Plastic Panel-63003 - The Home Depot

I had enough of my old headliner left to work with, but next time I'll have to add fleece.

 

[BudW]

Justwondering, many of the F bodies have a perforated headliner – that looks like a flimsy version of pegboard (think 4x8 foot sheets from hardware store). The smooth hard (and heavy) paper product is painted (yes, painted) the interior color.
The weight of the headliner and water moisture, I think is the reason why they sag (or fall apart in place). The sag is not easy to remove, either.

The newer M bodies have a more feather like/pressed paper texture to it, which is covered with fabric.

Either version is far better than fabric held in by steel bow wires – which was used only a few years before F bodies came out.

I can’t disagree with your recommendations, but he may need to add fabric over finished product – which might not have been present before.

BudW

 

[89.Fifth]

If you made a plaster cast of both the positive and negative sides of the headliner then you could do fiberglass or similar material.

 

[volareandgtcat]

Yeah .. I thought all F body's had the peg board type headliner .. mine is just beginning to sag a bit.
The fabric and bow was actually a coveted semi skilled job that was eliminated just as I was hired on .. they went to pressed fiberglass with some type of vinyl coating on the good side, that was on the B(R) body's ... I was on layoff when the J body's showed .. and for the life of me I don't remember what was used on the M body's .. sorry .. no help just some thoughts.

 

[BudW]

I hadn't seen a non-pegboard type F body headliner, but if I said all were that style, then I'd be proven wrong.
To be honest, I don't go looking at headliners, until it starts flapping at me (ie: in my way).

 

[Justwondering]

Making a mold is gonna be too expensive and a very big time sink.
I agree you should cover with fabric.
If you can find a fabric pattern that mimics the pegboard and has the foam backing. That would be awesome over abs plastic
But if you just find the fabric then first cover the abs plastic with fleece the cover that with the fabric

 

[F body Deconstructor Jim]

I hadn't seen a non-pegboard type F body headliner, but if I said all were that style, then I'd be proven wrong.
To be honest, I don't go looking at headliners, until it starts flapping at me (ie: in my way).

They were all the pressed paper pegboard like headliners in the F's. Some did have a fabric like covering glued over that.
They all sag eventually, just like people. Time and gravity.

 

[Darth-Car]

Then there was also that foam / asbestos like solid head liner material in the late seventies four door Fury's, and Monaco's.

 

[BudW]

The '66-67 Dodge Chargers also had a hard solid headliner like that. It was odd, for at the time, everything else Chrysler made had fabric with metal bows.

 

[BudW]

This is a picture of the headliner from my '77 Volare.
Not sure if you can see the holes in it, or not.

 

[Darth-Car]

That is the funky stuff that was like Masonite. I had it in my 77 coupe. I wonder, was that a 77 only thing?

 

[F body Deconstructor Jim]

All years and models of F bodies used the same headliner material. Some were cloth covered but not many.

 

[Aspen500]

My '70 Barracuda Gran Coupe had a fabric/foam covered one piece headliner. Made from some sort of pressboard material if I remember correctly.

You can get the headliner material with thin foam attached from a number of places. Be sure to use a high heat spray adhesive made for the application.
The board can be "unwarped". On mine I SLIGHTLY wetted the board and then used blocks of wood and weights to make sort of a mold. Let it dry really good and it seemed OK. Then glued the fabric/foam over it. Four years later and it's back to the way it was, kind of bowed/warped in the middle. Should have reinforced it somehow. Oh well.

Got the material and adhesive from this place:
Automotive Headliner Material - Replacement Headliner Material - Headliner Fabric - Cloth and Vinyl

 

[F body Deconstructor Jim]

My 72 demon had a paperboard headliner originally. All the 72-76 A bodies had the same stuff I believe...at least the Dusters/Demons/Dart Sports did. Paperboard covered with a thin vinyl like material, may have been painted on. I have a plastic replacement for it on the shelf.

 

[Mopar_Gods]

I spoke to three different Upholstery Shops they wont even touch it lol. Two of them had over 30 years experiance. Will figure something else out. Thank You

 

[slant6billy]

Lowes $12.99 roll of backless carpet, Gorilla Glue, Epoxy, and a 6inch rubber ball to smooth it out

 

[Mopar_Gods]

You know it wont be original but come to think about it that carpet they have that I did my rear speaker cover with worked pretty good with that lock tite. It is not to thick and not to thin might lay pretty good. Plus you can pretty much not half to worry about the molding corners it is pretty flexible carpet material. Might try it. Thank You

 

[slant6billy]

You know it wont be original but come to think about it that carpet they have that I did my rear speaker cover with worked pretty good with that lock tite. It is not to thick and not to thin might lay pretty good. Plus you can pretty much not half to worry about the molding corners it is pretty flexible carpet material. Might try it. Thank You

likewise I used leftover material on the speaker tray area too

 

[Justwondering]

Only issue I've had using loctite it lets go when the temps get high inside the car.

When heat index is 107f in the shade and windows are up it gets mighty hot in the car.

But if you do wind up with a bubble letting go then get a syringe from feed store or tractor supply. Thinnest and longest needle they have.

Screw the needle into the syringe and suck in some glue then stick it in center of bubble.

Kinda lay the needle to the side and inject some glue, rotate and do again several times.

Borrow slant6billys six inch ball and smooth out the material. Saves you from replacing the entire thing again and no one sees the needle holes.