Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Hey Everyone,

My Suburban only has one section of Headliner , the rest is missing...

Where is the best place to get them?

I'm also think of maybe using Aluminum perforated Sheet or Stainless Steel Perforated sheet . Ten powder coating the Aluminum or just polish the Stainless.


Anyone hear tried this?

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Check this thread out and if you use the search function you will find others. You idea of using perforated or expanded metals is interesting. If one could find a way to bond fabric or some other sound deadening material to the back of it you could have a really trick looking headliner. Good luck.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

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There are quite a few threads on the Suburban headliners. The best way I have found to find them is to use the GOOGLE search box at the top of this page. Type "Suburban headliner" into the box, click on the circle in front of "67-72chevytrucks.com" and click on the GOOGLE button. Just make sure the thread you are looking at refers to your style of truck. (Hits will include all years)

LockDoc

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

These guys have a headliner material similar to the original perforated board. http://www.remautoinc.com/contactus.php

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Why don't you promote the board search? Then people can search by sub-forum without getting a lot of replies for irrelevant data, you can even search in a specific thread and searches for user name and "threads started by user"

This is the link http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/search.php

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Like he said. That's what I was trying to convey. I must have been tired as I forgot the link I was referencing. Maybe this time I'll get it right.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=432734

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Here is a perforated board material really close to the original. The guy on this tread explains what he did and where he bought it from.
http://www.christinecarclubforum.com...eadliner-board

Good luck and let us know if you reach out to them!

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

I saw you post that in another thread. I don't really see how that is useful to us since it is flat and our roofs have curves at the sides and a compound curve in the front at the windshield. That would be near impossible to form and get installed unless you had some sort of form to press it in to make the shapes.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Good points - Hadn't thought about it in the context of "forming or shaping" it.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Just dampen it slightly and it will take a curve. I had my OE headliner out for a couple years and it flattened out.

I wiped it down and stored it on top of the roof to regain it's shape.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

As far as the headliner material many people have used flat material for the Burb headliners with pretty good success as long as it isn't too thick, and there are threads that document it.... It is up to the individuals as to which suggestion is useful to them.

LockDoc

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

So, in the link to that post about the place to buy it, it talked about swelling when it gets wet so I didn't think think it is a great replacement for us.

All the posts about the headliner that i have found and read are working with plastic, and that is easily heated to take the necessary shape. I went back all the way to the first )or last page) of suburban posts and haven't seen any other materials being used. This doesn't seem like a good fit because the other thread talks about it swelling when it gets wet, and my old headboard did not want to flatten out without ripping or even bend slightly without breaking. I just made an observation that it doesn't look like a good fit. Bigdav160 refuted me, I can admit if I am wrong, but it doesn't seem like it will work well.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Actually if you read the other thread - The guy was asked if the new board was comparable in thickness to the original. The guy's answer was that he thought is was close, but his original board material was swollen due to being in an open vehicle for many years. So the "swollen" comment in the other thread really had nothing to do with the new material.

I think I'll order some and do a test on how if getting it moist (not wet) will help or hurt its ability to be shaped...then report back. Stay tuned!

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

You might want to check out the 48-54 side. The headliners in those are a fiber board material that comes precut and flat and during installation you wet it and bend it to fit. The compound curves in those trucks are more extreme than anything in our Burbans. I know there are some tricks to putting one in that may help with this product. I don't know for a fact but I would bet that the headliners in those late fifties Mopars are curved to. Maybe a call to the supplier would answer some of the questions. Let us know how you do.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Ugh, there is no sub-forum over there so the search sucks, a lot of the threads are about the trucks. I will have to read into the build threads

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Wow. Thanks for all the responses and tips, will update so I decide which way we are going ....

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Don't know what kind of budget you're on or what the services run in BC, but I just got a quote to redo my entire headliner for $200.

Of course, I'm in Texas, so my guy isn't an option for you. Just something to consider. Guys that do headliners seem like a dying breed. Most are pretty talented.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

I found this set of instructions. I ruined two headliners before I found a local guy who did it in about an hour for fifty bucks. Money well spent.

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/he...cardboard.html

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Let me know if you go the perforated route. I'm not ready to do my headliner yet but will be by spring. When the time comes and you go this route I'm pretty sure I have all the parts to my original to use as patterns if your interested. They were sagging a lot due to the PO gluing speaker fabric to them and then stuffing foam rubber behind it. Half of it was stacked in the back when I got the Burban and the front piece polished the top of my head on the way home.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Simple answer, is that no one make them.
You will have to fabricate the head liner yourself.
The fabric headliner sold from some of the vendors looks weird, and takes a lot of work from an experienced upholstery shop guy.

Best results I have seen from past builds are with fabric covered foam board, or using sections of FRP board from the local home builder stores.
(Despite what people may think, the "plastic" or FRP materials do NOT form easy).

I myself went with the FRP route.
It came out ok, and is better than nothing.
Do a little research, and a little experimentation.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Headliner solution, '72 Burban. Inspired by post-war woodies. A boat-load of work, but worth the effort.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

I always thought that would be a cool way to do a "headliner". I even have a folder with a bunch of older vehicles with the wood like that. If thats yours, great work on your part. Any pics of how it was laid out and done?

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Amazing solution...this concept has been on my mind as well, and is why I've "slowed my roll" with regards to changing my headliner. Photo attached shows my best thought to date for the Beach-Burban theme...but maybe combining the "woody" look with the palm trees peeking-through the wood slats (with them spaced out a bit more) might be the way to go for me! I really appreciate the photos you posted!!!

Woody

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Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Love the palm trees! The headliner I installed has a perforated vinyl from Brothers peeking between the slats. The vinyl is a bow-type headliner, but such a disappointment to install by itself - not a custom fit, very generic, and hard to get right without sagging everywhere, even given the original bows. So I went with wood slats screwed thru the vinyl to the roof braces. A lot of holes to drill, but luckily nothing went thru the roof!

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

I'll upload pics of the install, as soon as I figure out how to do it. New to the site/forum, and still working out the bugs!

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Here are some pics of the woody-style headliner install. Still getting my chops down on how to upload to the forum, so I may have to share these in several doses. Thanks for the interest and patience!!

First the materials: 1 x 3 New Zealand select pine strips purchased at Lowes. Lengths in 6, 8 & 10 ft. Whatever I could find that was straight. Ran them thru the table saw to make them 1/2 thick, then beveled/rounded the edges that would be showing (a ton of hand sanding!). Then finished the strips with Minwax Golden Pecan stain and 2 coats of Minwax Helmsman poly. (More sanding!).

Meanwhile: ran a clothesline down the center of the Burb's interior from which to suspend the vinyl headliner material. The material was purchased from Brothers, roughly 6 ft wide and 12 ft long. Seams were already located at every 2 feet to match the spacing of the roof supports. Hung the material over the clothesline to hold it near the the roof, carefully centered L/R and positioned front/rear so the seams matched the roof supports. The pic shows the suspended material, and insulation material (from LMC) mounted on the roof by wedging edges under the roof supports to hold it in place.

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Woody-style headliner continued. (Seems I can only upload three pics at a time.... Sorry for the tedium!)

Starting at the rear, used shims to tuck and hold the vinyl headliner material into the channel at the interior roofline. Cut shims shorter, and then secured in place by drilling thru the channel and screwing shims in place with #10 sheet metal screws. Excess headliner material was trimmed to about a 1/2 inch overhang, to be concealed later with trim.

Attached first wood strip down the center of the Burb by drilling and screwing into the roof supports, again using #10 sheet metal screws. Careful not to drill through the roof! Screws were countersink slightly, so they can be concealed later under final cross-pieces. As to the vinyl material... get it close to where you want it, attach the wood strips to the roof supports, and then position the material by loosening each screw in sequence along the wood strip and tensioning the material as you retighten the screws. Work from the rear forward.

Working outward from the center strip (hardest one to start!) attach other strips in similar fashion, tensioning the vinyl material outward as you go. Continue shimming and screwing the shims in the roofline channel as you work outward from center.

Wood strips do not need to run the full length of the interior - they can be butt- jointed in sections at the roof supports every 2 feet, and the butt-joints will be concealed later with final trim.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Woody-style headliner continued...

As you get closer to the outer edges, tension and tuck the vinyl material into the side channels running the length of the interior above the window line. Hold the material in place with shims as before, but don't secure with screws until the outermost wood strip is in place. otherwise, the tension of the material may be goofed up by the need to allow for the proper curve of the roof toward the edges. As each wood strip is attached, tension the vinyl material by loosening the screws in sequence, tensioning the material, and retightening the screws against the roof supports to hold the material in place.

There's a channel at the front above the windshield, but I removed it and tucked both the vinyl material and the wood strips between the roof and the panel to which the visors are attached. It's a tight fit... shaved the ends of the wood strips a tiny bit thinner to fit them into the gap.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Woody-style headliner continued...

Once the wooden strips are all in place final outward tension of the vinyl material can be achieved, and material secured in place by drilling and screwing the shims in place along the window line. Material above windshield is held in place with tight fit of the wood strips in the gap between the windshield and the roof.

Headliner edges along sides above windows is concealed by a long strip of 1 x 4 hem-fir, shaved to match the 1/2 inch thickness of the ceiling strips. These long side pieces are attached with #10 wood screws into the roof supports, and tidied with finish washers. These screws need to be about 2 1/2 inches long to reach the roof supports which are curving at the outer extremes of the roofline.

Last, the cross pieces to conceal the screws of the wood strips. These too are made of the New Zealand pine, but shaved to 1/4 inch thickness to allow for the bend required. They're placed at each of the roof supports to hide the srews and butt-joints of the ceiling strips. These cross pieces are tricky to install: Measure the distance along the curve of the roof from the top of one side-trim piece to the other. Cut the cross pieces to that length and tuck their ends against the tops of the side pieces. The cross pieces will bow downward under tension, but can then be "snapped" upward against the roof strips to fit the side-to-side contour. Once snapped into place, they can be secured with #10 wood screws and finish washers. Similar cross pieces can be fitted to the rear and above the windshield, but they'll need to be carefully trimmed to fit the curvature of the metal panels at the front and rear of the roof line.

Hope that helps. It's a boatload of work, but the result is pretty pleasing. Makes me wanna hop in and drive! You can pm me with questions etc by email:

dljolley@gmail.com.

Thanks for looking!

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Thanks for the extra pictures djolley...you did a mighty fine job explaining your work! Your workmanship looks fantastic! I do have the tools (and some woodworking experience) to pull it off but luckily, I have a friend that has A LOT of experience and every woodworking tool I can think of! I have already double insulated the roof so now I need to decide if I will hang my vinyl palm trees the way that you did or adhere it to my original headliner panels (or even something different?) while my buddy takes lead on the woodworking...but I guess I should let him know what I'm recruiting him to do :b69:!!! I've attached photos of how I insulated my roof...it really made quite a difference!
Uploading pictures to this site was a challenge for me as well...but with a few hints from other board members (the people here are the best!), I figured it out. My tip to you is: when the "Manage Attachments" box pops up, you will see five "Choose File" buttons...click the top one, choose your picture then it returns to the "Manage Attachments" box again but there are only four "Choose File" buttons left. Click the top button and choose another picture (I know you have already done this part). The trick I found to work was after I have two (sometimes three) pictures in the buffer, click on the "Upload" button that is in the same section as the "Choose File" buttons. A "Current Attachments" box will appear with your formatted picture code...and then go back and retrieve more pictures. You will be able to get five pictures into the "Current Attachments" box, and then you should be able to get them all inserted into your post the same as you did already. I hope this helps and that I explained it correctly?!

Woody

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Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Great write up! :metal::metal::metal::metal: Write ups like yours are one of the reasons this place is so great. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

You're choice of using the different materials was spot on. The wood's coloring works great with your blue interior.

Those cross pieces must have been the trickiest to cut to length. If you didn't have help that's a lot of crawling in and out. :lol:

Did you use the same finishes on the Hemlock pieces and the cross pieces? It may be how the grain reflects the light but, the cross pieces almost look like they are a darker color.

It looks like you cut the Hemlock pieces somewhat short in the front. Was that for clearance so the visors didn't rub them?

Again. Great Job! I'm pretty sure you've already inspired some people.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

Woody-style headliner continued....

A couple of afterthoughts/details:

Spacing between the slats is exactly an inch. Slats themselves are 2 1/2 wide.

Long hem-fir trim along sides is positioned so their bottom edges align with the bottom edge of the side channel into which the vinyl material is tucked and shimmed.

Per the questions posted: Hem-fir strips were given the same color stain as the slats. It just took the stain a bit deeper for a darker tint Cross pieces were also given the same stain, but given two or three coats for a bit of color difference. Meanwhile, the front ends of the side trim pieces were cut at an angle, with the top edge kinda poking up into the gap between the windshield panel and the roof, and still leaving room for the visors. I'll take a detail pic of that and post. I found it useful to make a pattern for the cut angle using a scrap of the trim material (1 x 4) to test the fit. Likewise for the contour at the rear ends of the same pieces. Measure, measure, measure. Don't wanna miss on a ten-foot length of the fir! (Full disclosure: I bought spare pieces in case I goofed!). And yes, the cross pieces were tricky, but if shaved to 1/4 inch thickness they have enough flex to tweak and snap them into place.

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And thanks to BeachBurban for the tutorial on uploading the pics! Love the forum and support.

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That's beautiful.

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Woody-style headliner cont....

As promised, some pics of the trim at the front, as it relates to the visors. Cut angle goes from the end of the headliner's fabric channel (along bottom) to the gap between windshield panel and roof at the top. Hope that makes sense. Corner of the visor does hit the trim, but not enough to bother. Could shave the visor's corner, but.... no worries.

Re: Headliner For 1972 Suburban 4X4
 

I don't know if you noticed but you got a thread link in the pickup section. You've made the big time! :lol: