Headliner Failing

jimmyessbee

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Location
North Dakota
We were driving down the highway today with the windows down on my '64 Newport and enjoying the ND weather when I noticed a piece of my headliner flopping in the wind. I'm not real happy about this. I appreciate a good interior, but have never done any interior work. Anybody have any good ideas about how this might be fixed?

headliner.jpg
 
It's been my experience that when you touch it, it falls apart. The fabric gets old and dry. Removing it and reusing is next to impossible because of that and because it's trimmed after installation, there's nothing to pull and tuck in place... It's all been trimmed off.

I hate to tell you this, best bet is to replace it. Maybe someone could patch it up in place, but removal and putting it back isn't happening.

If you want to replace with the original style, SMS should have it. You'll wait though. If it doesn't matter if it matches, the major supplier for everyone is Acme Headliner. You have to buy from a vendor and not direct. It'll be cheaper and probably faster. I like Stock Interiors as a vendor.

If you replace, get samples first.

acmeautoheadlining.com

Auto Carpet for Car, Truck, Van - Stock Interiors

SMS Auto Fabrics - The Largest Selection of Classic Auto Interiors
 
Fabric and such can look good, but be dry-rotted in plain sight. Including the thread holding them together. Good short-term and long-term suggestions above.

CBODY67
 
It's been my experience that when you touch it, it falls apart. The fabric gets old and dry. Removing it and reusing is next to impossible because of that and because it's trimmed after installation, there's nothing to pull and tuck in place... It's all been trimmed off.

I hate to tell you this, best bet is to replace it. Maybe someone could patch it up in place, but removal and putting it back isn't happening.

If you want to replace with the original style, SMS should have it. You'll wait though. If it doesn't matter if it matches, the major supplier for everyone is Acme Headliner. You have to buy from a vendor and not direct. It'll be cheaper and probably faster. I like Stock Interiors as a vendor.

If you replace, get samples first.

acmeautoheadlining.com

Auto Carpet for Car, Truck, Van - Stock Interiors

SMS Auto Fabrics - The Largest Selection of Classic Auto Interiors
I did suspect this would be the consensus. But... I really do just like to drive my cars. I'm not winning a show. I may try some half-baked solutions and then once cold weather hits again see what I can do. I do appreciate the input.
 
It looks like the thread gave away vs the fabric actually ripping. Also the foam above probably has turned into dust, so the more you play with it the worse it’ll get. A nice little hand stitch may keep it together for a little while. A small curved needle will be your friend. Don’t pull too tight. At this stage once you fix this part then the next will likely rip.
 
It looks like the thread gave away vs the fabric actually ripping. Also the foam above probably has turned into dust, so the more you play with it the worse it’ll get. A nice little hand stitch may keep it together for a little while. A small curved needle will be your friend. Don’t pull too tight. At this stage once you fix this part then the next will likely rip.
Actually the foam above looks pretty nice. Already touched it :) One of the things that perplexes me about this car is that little things like that all seem to be less degraded than expected in a 60 year old car. That's why I was so disheartened when this happened. Sometimes I'm convinced things were completely redone at some point, but it obviously wasn't yesterday and I struggle to think somebody would have done a full-blown restoration on a '64 four door Newport 20 years ago.
 
Well, my beautiful bride had a curved needle. And… as expected, it looks like a first grader did it. But the fabric didn’t crumble. I think somebody that is better than me could do a passable job. I didn’t take a picture of my finished work because I’m not much good at such things. But here’s a picture of the rest of the headliner. Way too nice to pull the whole thing out.

IMG_0347.jpeg
 
Poorly-sewn beats flapping every day of the week, and gives you time to decide about a future replacement.
Well done!
 
As a last ditch effort you could try some 3M automotive adhesive and spray some on a Q-tip and dab it up on the underside of your headliner cloth. That glue works well for headliners and holds up to the heat. I have fixed many non-Mopar cars with that glue. You have to be careful and only get it on the parts you want to stick, but it might just keep that piece up there and keep you from having to replace the whole headliner.
 
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