Headliner question..

[truckguy]

Heres what I did.
Heres the pic
http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... 56/hl3.jpq

the post
http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... =headliner
Kyle

[fordman]

go cut the headliner out of a car like a cutlass four door and reuse that hardboard as your backer. you would just then have to reattach new headliner material to that. that will work great.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey guys...

Here's a link to the thread about the $10.00 headliner

there's a nice pic of the headliner installed.. a guy could cover it with what ever he wants.

http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... =headliner

About using the headliner backing from a car...

I cut the entire headliner out of a standard size '95 Caravan as close to the edges as I could get.
It is just barely big enough and has several holes cut out of it for lights and the top console.
Since I already have it, I am going to try to cut some patch pieces and use some of the handyman's secret weapon on the back side to hold the patches. Then I can cover it with some black vinyl or fabric...
If that works, I'm good to go. Otherwise, I'm gonna get a sheet of the thermo ply and go that route.

If any of you guys use other materials, I'd be curious to check yours out as well....

KaptnKA S

[fordman]

yea those light holes will get you . you just have to find something as large as you can and use that. unless you coul put a seam in the middle where the headliner attaches to the roof of the truck

[Darrman]

I thought I would dig this old thread back up, as I finally built and installed the new headliner.
I had to get creative with this, as I wanted to install the four 6.5's the way I did. Weight is a major issue, the hardboard alone is not stong enough to last, and you have the constant warpage issue.
So I traced the old outline onto the new hardboard, cut it out, made sure it fit, and that the center screw lined up. Then I used a 1/8 thick 2x20 peice of aluminum stock to make a big spring that the center screw passes through, gorilla glued down and then riveted to the hardboard on the ends. This allows the headliner to flex over bumps just a little bit, but will keep it tight so it doesnt break down over time. The speakers are mounted at each corner of the aluminum, spaces them out just right.
Of course I didnt want them sitting bare against the roof, it would sound terrible and rattle like crazy, so I used sheets of carpet padding to insulate each speaker from the roof metal, it has nearly zero magnetic pull through this stuff.
As for the material, it was free, sorta. I ordered a supercab carpet, cut off the extra and had exactly enough to do the headliner! I also have enough scraps to fill in the front corners of floor where the carpet wont reach the kickpanel. What was crazy was npd charged less for this supercab carpet than the single cab.
In the pics it looks black, but its Charcoal gray, almost black. I got the extra padding for the headliner from the back of this extra chunk.
Also I had to make my own spacer shims, to drop the headliner down low enough to install the speakers.
Cost:
Hardboard 8 foot sheet - $8
Aluminum stock - $11
Material - free (had to buy the carpet anyway)
Insulation - free
What do ya'll think?

[towtruckerfour]

That looks pretty good. I have 2 6.5 speakers in mine and it has held up good so far. Does it get too loud with 4 speakers up there or does it sound good?

[Joshpow]

A guy that used to do this stuff recommended what he called hardboard when I asked him.

[seattle67]

Great job. I'm something of an old school street rodder and love to see people being creative and not just buying something out of a catalog. ( Though I have to admit there are some pretty cool things you can buy out of catalogs these days!)

Anyway, that turned out cool, and thanks for sharing it with us.

[drytoast]

Looks really good. Because you had to lower the headliner, won't your sunvisors fit now?

[Darrman]

No, they still fit fine, I am working on getting those installed today. Its the center screw that I had to make spacers for, thats why the speakers placement is in the middle, that way their away from the edge as much as possible, this makes the trim fit like original. Thats another thing I changed also, I ditched my rusty chrome trim and got a newer 4 peice set and painted them aluminum.
The only hard part was conforming the flat board to fit the curves at the back of the cab.