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Dear Ron,
I recently installed a vinyl headliner in my 67 mustang coupe, and it looked great for the first few days, but now there are some wrinkles showing up in the back on the sides. What can I do to correct this and keep it from happening again?
Peter (Tuscon,AZ)
Dear Peter.
I see by your address you are in the heart of the sunbelt where temperatures inside your car can easily get into triple digits. The wrinkles are a result of the adhesive letting go and allowing the vinyl to loosen up. Before I can offer advice, I need to know what you did to install your headliner.
The first question I have is did you remove your rear window before installation? The headliner on that era Mustang is wrapped around the rear window pinchweld and the corners and sides actually have several small clips that go over the vinyl to help hold it in place. In extreme heat situations, the glue needs some additional help, so the factory resorted to those clips. They look like a folded over piece of spring steel with a slight curl on the open edge to allow for installation. There are tiny barbs on the edges to help hold them in place. If you didn’t remove your rear window when you installed your headliner, I recommend doing so, then reattach the vinyl headliner with the proper adhesive.
The next question I have is what kind of glue did you use? I recommend using a vinyl top adhesive because it is heat and water resistant. Do not use an aerosol adhesive. They do not work. There is something in the propellant that does not allow the use of anti-plasticizers, so the aerosol adhesives will allow vinyl migration which dissolves the glue. If you cannot get vinyl top adhesive, you can use Formica counter top adhesive. That is a contact adhesive so you need to brush it onto both the headliner and the metal. You may have to clean the metal surfaces before applying the glue. Use alcohol or a professional prep cleaner. Do not use mineral spirits. That leaves a film that could inhibit adhesion. Thinners can harm the paint, and some will leave a film. The alcohol works the best. If you are still not getting the proper adhesion, try carefully sanding the surface with fine sandpaper or steel wool.
There are some excellent installation instructions in the “Interior” section of Hot Rod MD on this website. I hope you used them when installing your headliner. Let me know if this advice has helped solve your problem. Best Regards, Ron
Hey Ron!
I want to put some speakers in my door panels, but I hate the look of those bulky speaker covers. What do you suggest? Johnny K. (Springfield, MA)
Dear Johnny,
There are a couple of ways to hide speakers in door panels, depending on what materials you are using to cover the panels with. If you can place the speakers behind cloth, that would be the ideal place for them. You would not need to remove the foam padding or the cloth; just cut an opening in the panel board where the speaker is mounted, and the sound will come right through the materials.
If you are using vinyl or leather for the door panels, I suggest the same thing, with one slight difference: using a die, punch a series of small holes in the vinyl where the speaker goes. I generally get a sheet of graph paper (with the ¼” squares in light blue) and draw my circle with a compass (or trace around a coffee can), then glue the paper over the vinyl or leather where the speaker should go. Using a small punch (die) cut the holes at the intersections of the light blue lines. This is a somewhat tedious job, but worth the effort. When the holes are punched, peel off the paper and clean off the glue with mineral spirits. You will end up with a very nice design that will allow the sound to come right through.
Both methods will allow you to disregard those bulky speaker covers that always seem to get in the way of the window cranks, as well as give you a smooth, custom look for your door panels. Send me a picture when you are finished. Best Regards, Ron
Ron
I have built a Ferrari Daytona which is based on a 79 Corvette. Because it was a very incomplete project car, I have decided to make it like a AC Cobra roadster. The Ferrari door panels and so much more was missing. My problem is that I want the door panels to cover where the windows once were as I am having no windows or convertible top. I am using the plastic corvette door panels which don't cover the window openings. Can you advise me as to how to extend the door panels to butt up to the painted doors please? Or is there another alternative? I want to upholster right up to the painted door. Thank you very much. Andrew .
Hello Andrew.
As I understand it, you want the top of the door panels to cover the opening that the windows raised up through, correct? If this is what you want, you can use the metal tops of the original door panels and extend them horizontally to cover the opening. You will have to split them lengthwise and add a section of metal the width of the opening to make them wider. Then you can attach the door panel boards and start upholstering them. If you do not have any curved metal door panel tops, you will have to fashion them out of metal. You can make a curved piece that covers the window opening and turn the raw edge under so it doesn’t cut the upholstery. You will have to devise a method of attaching it, the simplest would be beauty screws through the upholstery and metal into the door itself. You could also use clips, but you would need to put foam over the metal to hide the side of the clips that fasten to the new panel. Either method would be acceptable. Good luck with your project. Send me a picture of it when you are done. Best Regards, Ron
Ron...
I've done a couple of interiors on rods, but I'd like to try something different for our '55 Ford Sedan Delivery headliners. Rather than using the bows, I want to have a seamless, front-to-back headliner that matches the roof curve of the Airstream we're towing with the rod. My thoughts are this: I would like to use thin plywood (doorskin) bowed from side to side. That'll give me the curve I want without a seam. Then I would cover it with foam and a single piece of vinyl from front to back. Am I missing something? Art Spinella, Bandon, Oregon
Hello Art.
If you have a way to fasten the plywood in place, you are 90% home free. The vinyl might be somewhat heavy to try to suspend with glue, but there is a foam backed vinyl headlining material that would work. The vinyl is very thin and lightweight, and the foam (1/4”) is already bonded to the vinyl, so all you would have to do is glue it up and finish the edges. You also need to choose your adhesive very carefully. Make sure it is highly heat resistant and contains anti-plasticizers. The roof of any enclosed vehicle can get very hot in the summer, even in Oregon. If your adhesive is not heat resistant, your headliner could fall. I recommend a vinyl top adhesive or Formica counter top glue. Both are contact adhesives which require glue on both surfaces. If you have a spray gun, you can easily spray the glue onto both surfaces evenly. You can get an inexpensive primer gun at most auto paint stores or a tool store. They are worth the small investment in the frustration they save you. Good luck with your project. Send me an email if you need additional help. Best Regards, Ron
Ron
I want to put new seats in my 1968 Camaro, but the kind that incorporate the 3 point seatbelts. Any suggestions ?? Joe Mazeika
Hello Joe.
Today’s seats generally have only lap belt anchors, and your Camaro has no side mounts for the shoulder belts, so there is really no way to mount three point belts in your car safely, with one exception: get some seats out of a newer convertible. These seats generally have the shoulder harness built into the seat frame, and has already gone through the DOT testing for safety. One make that I know of that has this type of seat is Chrysler Sebring convertibles from 1995 up. I’m sure there are others as well. Let me know what you decide, and send me a picture when you finish your project. Best Regards, Ron
Ron
I read your response of punching holes through the door vinyl/leather, and wonder if there is a similar solution with carpeted door panel. My 62 Buick Skylark convertible has carpet on the lower portion of the door panel. I would like to put speakers in the front and the rear of the door. This way the sound will get to the front and the back of the seating area but do not want the garish speaker covers that are being produced. The back recesses on either side of the back seat do not have room for speakers except to be partially blocked by the seat bottom. Thank you in advance of your response. Bill Haughton, Newberry, Florida
Hello Bill.
I know the car well. The carpet on the lower door panels has a latex backing on it that will muffle and distort the sound if you leave it in place. I suggest that you have some non-woven carpet put in its place. You can go ahead and cut the holes in the panels right through the old carpet and bolt your speakers in place. The put the non-woven carpet on the panels and put the panels back on your car. You should fasten some ¼” chicken wire over the face of the openings to support the non-woven carpet before installing the new carpet. The only downside is that the non-woven carpet most closely resembles cut pile carpeting, not the loop carpet that your car came with. If the match is too far off for you, consider replacing the floor carpet with cut pile carpeting. You may also be able to get some loop carpeting in a non-backed style. This carpeting is fragile and can snag and run easily, but once it’s glued down to your panel boards, it is more stable. Non-backed carpet will let the sound through fairly well. Best Regards, Ron
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