headliner

[zetterberg]

I am replacing headliner in my 57 4dr. I have been told that I should replace the bows as they might be rusty.  I have not removed the headliner yet in my car.If I do need to replace them where is the best place to get them?

[Ford_Crazy]

I'm not sure I would replace them.  Are they rusty?  How bad?  I took mine down to shiny metal with sandpaper and steel wool, then coated them with primer and Rustolium.  Be sure to number the bows and the holes they came out of.  The bows are different and set at the factory to the right position. Don't throw away the little wire clips.  They are getting hard to find.

[RICH MUISE]

what he said 100%. I doubt if anyone is making them. I'd metal stamp numbers in them as I took them out before cleaning up and painting. Given there location, how rusty could they be?

[cool57]

Too small in diameter to stamp. If I recall correctly they are color coded; little blob of paint on each one. I can look in parts book for codes if u don't have books.

[meteor]

I had a lots of bows to deal with in my wagon. I took them out one at a time and numbered them as I went along. I noticed remnants of color at the ends. I later found a section in my 57 shop manual that has roof bow color charts for all models.

I then wire-wheeled them all, and sanded to remove the rust. I then sprayed them with black rustoleum and repainted the colors on the ends according to my chart - I photocopied the page from the manual and gave it to my interior guy for reference.

Like ford_crazy said, don't lose the wire clips...

[RICH MUISE]

When I ordered my headliner from automotive interiors last month I noticed they carried a generic replacement bow kit. I'm not sure how you'd get the correct shape if you were replacing bows that were missing. Also as far as the stamping to identify if you didn't want to scrounge around for the 7 different correct color code colors...because they are a small cross section,you could stamp them with a center punch rather than numbers. #1= 1 dimple, #2= 2 dimples..etc.  Rich
P.S. automotive interiors had the widest selection of fabrics I could find and their service was great. It'll be in the box for a while, so I can't attest to the fit quality, but I was sure happy with the quality of the fabric itself (synthetic, color called leige)

[zetterberg]

My headliner was basically dirty and had some water spots at back window.  I was put in touch with a custom interior guy who recommended to do it with a vinyl spray.  Cost me $300.00 but it turned out great.  The original pattern showed thru and anyone who has seen it  :canada:was really amazed.