[Pointer0986]

Need some help please. I decided to tackle installing the headliner myself after days of research. Can’t pass up a good challenge. It was going relatively well and most of it is at 95% where I want it, but I’m running into an issue of too much material at the rear and sail panel areas on both sides and now I get some rippling of material along the top rear. Maybe some creative relief cuts needed? Open to suggestions. Attached is an image of what I’m dealing with.

Edit: this is on a 69, not sure if there were any nuances between 68 and 69.

Thanks,

Dan

[OG68]

You’ll need to make relief cuts around the rear window corners, quarter window curve as well as behind the ear muffs.
Place the ear muff against the headliner and tape off the upper edge of the ear muff. This will give you an idea how far you can cut without messing it up. You’ll still
May have few wrinkles left but I was able to pull them out from the upper rear window area.
If you have a small space heater place that on the package shelf to heat up the interior. Makes it easier to stretch the fabric

[OG68]

It took my wife and I about 5 hours to do ours. First time attempt. Saved about $600 doing it ourselves.

[Pointer0986]

Originally Posted by OG68

It took my wife and I about 5 hours to do ours. First time attempt. Saved about $600 doing it ourselves.

Thanks Ed for the tips and pictures. Yours turned out great and it looks like I'm at least on the right path, wasn't expecting it to be easy around the rear.

[Entropy11]

A couple things I could think to add from ones I’ve done…

Correct bows in correct order?
Correct holes for the bow?
Condition of the hole the bow goes into?
Condition of the bows?

The first two are obvious but I was having issues with the last due to the bow holes being elongated and it allowing the bows themselves to sit at the wrong arch “angle”. I had to weld in small washers drilled out to the right size. If the bows are a rusty mess then sand them down to good metal so the material can slide freely as you snug it outboard.

Other things that help…

Placing center line marks on your bows and top (hidden side) of headliner so you can ensure you’re lined up as you clip in. Sure, the bows keep the material perpendicular, but if you’re skewed left/right you’ll have a harder time at the sails.

Having all your screws for the hardware in place under the headliner and backed out just far enough to feel so you can cut them free later.

Starting from the center bow and pulling tightly to the next bow front/rear.

I like using the tiny binder clips and ordered maybe 100 off Amazon. For the rear you can clip on your center binder clip and know you have one spot that’s 100%. Next get a clip an inch away from that left and right. Keep working an inch at a time towards the outer edges. The biggest thing to keep in mind is as you’re doing this, you’re also ensuring that you’re working the material on that last bow outward as you go or you’ll have a harder time at the sail panels. Don’t hesitate to walk away for a day or two and come back and snug things up (following the same process) as it relaxes. When you’re happy with that, start to work the sail panels with your clips and you can cutoff all the bulk material 2” or so beyond the clips. Getting rid of all that extra bulk really seems like the point where you feel like things might actually come together. As you dial in that sweet spot you can trim back accordingly. When you’re happy go back over it the same way as you started but add your adhesive as you go.

Use a cheap portable clothes steamer ($25 Amazon/ebay) for any of the few wrinkles that you honestly can’t not adjust out.

[Pointer0986]

Ok, this is making me feel dumb. I’ve gone back and reworked the whole rear going center outward from side to side, also pulling outward along rear bow and at the end of the day I’m still ending up with nearly an inch of extra material (folded) on both sides - see attached image. I can get the sail area nice and tight but end up with the extra material at the top corners of the window. If I try to work it the other way (rear to front of sail area) I end up with the same bunch of material that’s way too much to make disappear between the center and rear bows. The rear bow is slid all the way back in the center and tight to the roof line. Any advice appreciated.

[BB70]

I just did mine the other day. Is it centered up? Did you trim the bow listing sleeves enough? Looks like it needs pulled down. Stretch the front and rear tight then work the sides, and then both together if need be. I watched Gary Lamont on U tube.

John

[dataway]

I remember I had to trim the sleeves quite a bit.