Slick 60's

After seeing a thread on here and another forum about making a headliner out of FRP I got around to making one today. Just traced out the old headliner and cut the panel to the same shape, bent the ends with a heat gun and then used a drill with a sanding drum to get it to fit just right around the edges. Still need to make the back piece and i want to make a console for a stereo and fiberglass it on to the roof panel but that will get done in the morning. Here's a picture of it so far.

Nice job.

Rich

Heres the console that is going in. It has one coat of resin and glass right now, its gonna get another then a good sanding and then i need to figure out how to cover the whole thing.

Got the box finished and mounted the headliner. Next will be a switch panel that will mount under the stereo. More on that to come as soon as I figure out my switches.

Dave its looking good Buuuuuuuuuut from where I am sitting it looks like it is bowing down from the weight of the radio and such . Might I suggest glassing in some 1/8" rods or something like that into the backside to help it hold its shape .


Rick

Its the marks from the sanding that are making it look that way. It doesnt sag in person ill upload more pics in a bit

Dave, any updates on how this turned out for ya?

The console and headliner held up fine with the weight of the stereo however I didn't like the way the console looked so I made my own. I will post pictures of that tomorrow as I just re made the console this past few weeks. I will be covering the headliner next weekend if possible. Sorry for the lack of updates I got caught up in other projects

Sweet, can't wait to see it

ok so heres the new console: Its mostly fiberglass with two metal straps across the mounting surface to give a tad bit more support. The holes for the indicator lights, stereo and switch panel still need to be cut in. Unlike the original console which was glassed on to the headliner (which would have been a pain in the a** to upholster) the new console will be held on with some small ish bolts and fender washers (pics on this when i get to that point). The console itself will be smoothed out and then painted gloss black while the headliner will be covered in black vinyl.



If you have any questions feel free to ask. Progress has been slow as i got caught up in other projects and school just got back in session.

did you ever do the rear piece? id like to see how you managed the rear curves

Not yet, I've got my old headliner to use as a template and a sheet of that plastic ready to go but school always manages to get in the way.

I had my headliner done like that minus the radio but yesterday I covered it with black leather grained Naugahyde. maybe it will work and i can post some pics. I think this is a good idea. easy to make and paint-able or cover-able. poor guys dream.

65f100_Thug wrote:I had my headliner done like that minus the radio but yesterday I covered it with black leather grained Naugahyde. maybe it will work and i can post some pics. I think this is a good idea. easy to make and paint-able or cover-able. poor guys dream.

That's the plan for covering mine, unfortunately with school in session I haven't had the time or the money to do it. But yeah te cost of doing it this way is much more poor-man friendly than reproductions

Hi guys, money has been tight so progress is painfully slow. Had everything smoothed an primered so I cut the opening for the stereo an the face isn't as straight as I thought it was so I'm gonna have to build it up a bit with some bonds to get it to fit right. I'm coming home from college this weekend so I hope I can get the console done and get the rear piece of the headliner cut out and shaped. Then next month when I have a bit of spending money ill hopefully be able to cover everything.

What did you use to cut the frp with?

Used a jig saw to cut the frp

Keep the updates coming please, I have a 63 and a 64 and would like to do matching headliners.

Hi have been searching for a headliner pattern for my 63 wrong bed ,you know of any place a guy could find one? wanting to make something like you have made here looks great . thanks

Following, I've got a 65 that has none of the headline left and need to make one. This looks like a promising possibility. Keep up the good work!