Home made burb headliner

[gearboxx70]

While FRP is a great product for the headliners, its not the only game in town. I work with some cool plastics at work that come in different textures and colors.

One of those products is ABS plastic sheet. Many automotive parts are made from this, and it comes in several colors. The texture isn't as "thick" as the FRP, and its easily molded to shape with a heat gun.

Another one is "Sintra" (aka; expanded PVC). This also comes in many colors, but is much smoother than ABS or FRP. Its also easily molded with a heat gun.

We get both of these products from a company called Interstate Plastics, which is a national company.

I plan to use ABS for my Burb when I get around to making things pretty.

As for insulation, I'll be using R-Max from Home Depot. Lowes carries a similar product. Its basically rigid foam that comes in different thicknesses. The half inch should be perfect.

My plan is to coat the roof with some POR-15 (to get rid of the surface rust and yet leave some tooth for adhesive to grab), glue up the R-Max, and put up the ABS like others have done with the FRP.

[RustySunShine]

This is one for my library...

One question tho, does any one know if the '70 Burban roof pattern is the same as the '70 panel truck? I have a headliner for a Burban (in kind of rough shape) I can use as a template.

[vectorit]

I don't have enough back ground on the panel trucks to give a detailed response to your question, though I can say that the channels are not perfect in the Suburban. I have noticed variances in other Suburbans I have looked at, while comparing to my 1968 headliner board channel placement along the ceiling.

I think no matter what, every Suburban or Panel will require some custom fitment of the headliner boards.

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by vectorit

I don't have enough back ground on the panel trucks to give a detailed response to your question, though I can say that the channels are not perfect in the Suburban. I have noticed variances in other Suburbans I have looked at, while comparing to my 1968 headliner board channel placement along the ceiling.

I think no matter what, every Suburban or Panel will require some custom fitment of the headliner boards.

Chris - My apologies of bringing up an old thread, but how many sheets of the FRP did you use? I'm going to try and accomplish this task this weekend. Thanks for the help.

Rob

[vectorit]

Hey Rob,
I used about 6 sheets, only because I messed up a couple times.
I tried to duplicate the number of panels that were used originally, and looking back, I think one could do the FRP route with larger panels instead smaller.

The front panel for me was the hardest, since it has a curve to it that is hard to duplicate on a flat sheet. I know I ruined one panel at least on that section, and one of the middle sections I cut too small.

So, if your store to buy these panels is far away. I would buy a couple extra just in case, and you can always return them if you don't use them.

Chris

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by vectorit

Hey Rob,
I used about 6 sheets, only because I messed up a couple times.
I tried to duplicate the number of panels that were used originally, and looking back, I think one could do the FRP route with larger panels instead smaller.

The front panel for me was the hardest, since it has a curve to it that is hard to duplicate on a flat sheet. I know I ruined one panel at least on that section, and one of the middle sections I cut too small.

So, if your store to buy these panels is far away. I would buy a couple extra just in case, and you can always return them if you don't use them.

Chris

Thanks for the quick reply Chris! Fortunately, I'm only a few miles away from HD and Lowes, . Any suggestions on how you would have reduced the number of panels, ie which ones would you combine? Also, did you work your way from back to front or front to back when installing them?

[Hart_Rod]

Chris - did you put any insulation on your roof? I put a layer of Fatmat but was thinking about putting a layer of close celled foam (CCF). Do you think it would be worth it or just a waste of $$$?

[Bigdav160]

I used Reflectix under my headliner. And I also left the factory foam pieces in place.

It's not summer yet but I'm optimistic it'll help with the radiant heat from the sun.

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by Bigdav160

I used Reflectix under my headliner. And I also left the factory foam pieces in place.

It's not summer yet but I'm optimistic it'll help with the radiant heat from the sun.

There was a foam piece on the portion of the roof over the driver/passengers head, but not from there back.

[vectorit]

I didn't put any sound deadening material on the roof or the panels.
It is something I think I want to do some day, since the inside of my burb is very noisy just cruising down the road.

I used 3 layers of sound proofing on my floor in font, and on the inside of my door panels. Just ran out of materials from the roof area.

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by vectorit

I didn't put any sound deadening material on the roof or the panels.
It is something I think I want to do some day, since the inside of my burb is very noisy just cruising down the road.

I used 3 layers of sound proofing on my floor in font, and on the inside of my door panels. Just ran out of materials from the roof area.

Thanks for the reply!

[HO455]

[QUOTE=Hart_Rod;7854325]There was a foam piece on the portion of the roof over the driver/passengers head, but not from there back.[/QUOTE]

I'm more interested in the heat insulation factor over the sound deadening. I will be using some of the Reflectix type of material as I got a bunch of it cheap. I was planning on trying to put two layers of it up. I have all the pieces of the original headliner material, but the PO glued cloth like the type that covers speaker cabinets on the perforated panels and now they are all distorted (from the extra weight?). Can't wait to see how yours come out.
My 67 has a pebbly (?) looking type of asphalt/tar sound deadener over the front seat area only.

[vectorit]

I think the stick on stuff like fatmat or dynamat or the like would be best for the ceiling, just as long as it was applied well and no air bubbles allowed to exist.
The ceiling gets some condensation during the cold weather, and then the heater being on the ceiling will get wet. Just gotta be aware of that when putting stuff up there, since you wouldn't want to create a pocket or a source for moisture to collect causing rust.

[HO455]

Moisture??? Condensation??? What are these things? In northwest Oregon I don't believe we talk about water in that way. Good points Vector it. I may have to rethink my plan.

[Bigdav160]

I'm pretty sure my headliner had never been out. There was paper faced white foam, about 1/2 thick under the perforated board.

In the very front was sound deadener attached the the roof panel.

[Hart_Rod]

I made it to Lowes this weekend and looked at the FRP. I found 2 different colors of white. One was a really bright white and shiny and the other one was kinda an egg-shell color and satin. I'm going to use the egg-shell/satin one. I think it looks pretty close to the stock color of the factory headliner (could be wrong). I've attached pictures of both, but I don't know if you will be able to tell the difference (first one is satin, second one is shiny).

[PortHeadlight]

Re-posting these dimensions from earlier posts on headliners...

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by PortHeadlight

Re-posting these dimensions from earlier posts on headliners...

Thanks for reposting. I got my rear panel made last night. I'm debating on whether or not I want to combine the 2 center panels into one. In theory, it seems like it would make the installation easier. Here's a couple of crappy pictures. Will try to take some better ones today or tomorrow.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

Thanks for reposting. I got my rear panel made last night. I'm debating on whether or not I want to combine the 2 center panels into one. In theory, it seems like it would make the installation easier. Here's a couple of crappy pictures. Will try to take some better ones today or tomorrow.

Looks good! Did you have a factory deadener above the front seat? If so did the Fat Mat stick to well?. Thanks HO455.

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by HO455

Looks good! Did you have a factory deadener above the front seat? If so did the Fat Mat stick to well?. Thanks HO455.

Mine had the factory stuff over the front seat and the Fatmat stuck to it with no problem.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by PortHeadlight

Re-posting these dimensions from earlier posts on headliners...

Thanks for the repost.

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by PortHeadlight

Re-posting these dimensions from earlier posts on headliners...

I know this thread is a couple years old, but I really like the results I saw here! My original headliner is actually in really good shape except for a little sagging of the front panel, so my dilemma is whether or not to pull it down so I can insulate/sound deaden and fix the sagging. My actual question is for PortHeadlight or anyone that might know trucks as well as Suburbans: Is the front panel area of a '72 truck close to or the same size/shape as the front panel for a '72 Suburban? I saw a '67 to'72 ridged headliner panel sold by Brothers that's made to hold 4 speakers, but it specifically says "Truck"...and thought that if it was close, maybe??? Thanks PortHeadlight for the dimensions...I saved them to my desktop in case I screw things up when I remove the originals!
Woody

[HO455]

Just a couple of by the ways. The plastic bows that hold the panels up are fragile and won't take much force when you try to remove them. I have heard that heating them with a hair dryer can help but the fiber board will singe easily.
The sagging of the fiber board is caused by moisture getting in the board and gravity pulling it down. I have never heard of anyone successfully reversing this process. But there may be a interior restoration shop out there that deals in high end cars like Packards or Rolls Royce from the 30's and 40's that could do it. One of the side effects of the sagging is the area of the headliner is increased as the thickness is decreased in areas. So to get back to normal you would somehow have to compensate for that.
I had to source two partial factory headliners to get enough dimensions to build a replacement for mine. The thing I noticed is there was a difference in the dimensions of the pieces between the two sets. Enough to say I don't believe they were die cut but hand cut for each truck.
And finally the front panel was the first panel installed then they worked their way to the last panel in the back. I was ignorant of this fact and started at the back so the front panel was quite difficult to install. It also has the compound bends in the corners which I found difficult to keep from breaking when I removed the original.
All in all it is not a difficult job but the factory materials are quite fragile and replacements are not available through the aftermarket.
I hope this helps and good luck!

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by HO455

Just a couple of by the ways. The plastic bows that hold the panels up are fragile and won't take much force when you try to remove them. I have heard that heating them with a hair dryer can help but the fiber board will singe easily.
The sagging of the fiber board is caused by moisture getting in the board and gravity pulling it down. I have never heard of anyone successfully reversing this process. But there may be a interior restoration shop out there that deals in high end cars like Packards or Rolls Royce from the 30's and 40's that could do it. One of the side effects of the sagging is the area of the headliner is increased as the thickness is decreased in areas. So to get back to normal you would somehow have to compensate for that.
I had to source two partial factory headliners to get enough dimensions to build a replacement for mine. The thing I noticed is there was a difference in the dimensions of the pieces between the two sets. Enough to say I don't believe they were die cut but hand cut for each truck.
And finally the front panel was the first panel installed then they worked their way to the last panel in the back. I was ignorant of this fact and started at the back so the front panel was quite difficult to install. It also has the compound bends in the corners which I found difficult to keep from breaking when I removed the original.
All in all it is not a difficult job but the factory materials are quite fragile and replacements are not available through the aftermarket.
I hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks HO455...I have shaped some types of fiberboard a long time ago using steam and heat, but this might be different type stuff, so I appreciate the heads-up! I am very leery of removing the panel and trim-pieces as they look pretty good and don't want to make it worse, but I do want to insulate/sound deaden as so many others have relayed the benefits for these vehicles. Any chance you know the answer to my "truck vs Suburban" question with regards to the size/shape being close or not? Yes, it helps...and thanks again.
Woody

[Hart_Rod]

Got the front one cut