one piece seamless headliner

[RICH MUISE]

Has any one done one or had one done. With the more contemporary interior I'm doing, I'd really like the modern-day one piece look. I've seen tv shows where they are reforming the inside of the roof with multiple layers of thin chipboard glued and shaped one layer at a time. I spent weeks doing this...was coming out great. I had rounded off all the corners, and had built up in between the ribs with 1/2 foam so that everything was flush. Headliner final material, and center roof console would be installed last...after painting the car...before the windows went in.
One day it got real hot in my garage... 110 or 120... and the adhesive I used let go and 1/2 of it ended up on the floorboard. Very frustrating. I have tried every type of super strength adhesive I could find, including most of the 3-m products. They all seem to let go if it gets too hot. I've stripped it all back off and am going to try another approach....as soon as I can figure out what it is! Any suggestions? I've even toyed with the idea of making a one piece fiberglass mold...Too much work I think.

[Zapato]

My boy had a third generation Camaro with a one piece headliner that looked like an old tent hanging down. We removed it and cleaned (rubbed off) the deteriorating thin foam under the fabric and went off to a fabric supply shop and bought the best 3M glue available, worked great for awhile till a real HOT day then it started to sag again. After that I stopped by an old time auto upholstery shop and talked to the owner and he confirmed our suspicions. We needed a lot better glue and short of buying a gallon and a special pot and gun we weren't going to be able to match his or the factory efforts. So we once again stripped the panel and hauled it and matching upholstery material over to him and if memory serves me right $25 later we had a bulletproof headliner.

He was right most of the stuff available in spray cans is good for door panels and consoles but a headliner is a whole different animal. Talk to a good upholstery shop and they should be able to help you achieve your vision for really chump change.

[RICH MUISE]

At least glad to hear it wasn't my doing something wrong. We don't have an auto upholstrery supply shop here in Amarillo. I had stopped in a supply house on a trip to Dallas when I was working on the project to pick up exactly what you were talking about but all they had in stock was 5 gallon cans(200. plus if I remember). If I attempt that again, I may have a gallon shipped in from somewhere. I'm also kicking around trying to form abs panels but the problem with that is I'm told unless you have facilities to heat the entire piece at the same time, and form it on a mold, it'll warp too badly. Thanks for the input.

[tarheel57]

Rich,you might try contacting Rod Doors Designer Interiors , at  www.roddoors.com  or  1-800-428-7114 .They make all types of ABS interior panels,( door,headliner,kick,etc ).They make a good durable product,I have used their products in the past on different vehicles.Not sure what all they offer for the 57 fords but they do offer some,just give them a call.Hope this helps,Tarheel 57...

[RICH MUISE]

Unfortunatly Rod Doors has become a victim of our economy. According to the website they are out of business as of nov.,09. Apparently they are trying to sell their inventory of molds in hopes thay someday somebody will have the panels available again, but apparently it won't be them.

[Zapato]

Rich, been thinking about this for a couple days and found an outfit in Ohio (Miami Rubber Corporation) that sells all kinds of upholstery supplies and has an spray adhesive specially for headliners. Couldn't hardly read much on the can picture but was labeled HI-TEMP. They seem to sell just about anything upholstery wise. Check their site out and you'll probably be tempted to give them a call. Hope this helps.

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks for the lead. I'll give them a call and find out if their spray can headliner adhesive is as good as the 5-gallon bucket stuff. Their price on 5 gals. is reasonable though. May go that route if I can't find same product in 1 gal. Also followed their threads to some pics from  their customer's projects and gave me some ideas for an alternative method.

[JPotter57]

Try this Rich...Then go to Harbor Freight and buy one of those cheap paint guns to spray it through..DOnt use a good gun, this stuff will kill it.  Here is the link:
http://www.perfectfit.com/24783/148343/Upholstery-Adhesives/Dap-All-Purpose-Adhesive-Spray-Grade.html

[RICH MUISE]

will it spray thru a 2mm nozzle?

[JPotter57]

Yeah.  I don't know if you've ever heard of a "Buffalo" gun, but basically, its a Chinese knockoff of a Binks #7 gun.  You can pick them up for about $15 anywhere, and they are fine for this stuff.  If you clean the gun out really good, ususally disassemble it completely and clean all of the glue up, you can use it again and again.  You will need acetone or similar product to clean this stuff up, lacquer thinner just pisses it off and it turns to goo.

[JPotter57]

Side note:  The "buffalo" gun is shown on the sidebar of suggested items, I think the brand name is Sumex or Sunex, something like that,  but any cheap gun will do.  Per manufacturers instructions, make sure you have a plastic cup to spray from, apparently the adhesive will weld the cup to the gun, lol...good stuff./

[RICH MUISE]

If I can figure out a way to catch drips, I may try to make a 2 piece fiberglass gel on fleece panel using the outside of the roof as a mold. I wanted to put a roof console all the way down the center, so a 2 piece would work. I'd first cover the roof with aluminum foil and/or plastic, and add a layer of fiberglass cloth to reinforce the fleece. James, I checked out that website...prices are ever better there. My problem will be shipping, even the 1 gallon has to go truck. Hazardous material...won't go u.p.s.May be just cheaper for me to pick up 5 gallons next time i'm in Dallas.

[Zapato]

JP great find on that 1 gallon adhesive, great price and I never had found similar product in less than a 5 gallon bucket at a ridiculous price. On the gun sticking to the cup issue why not use a cup liner and cut your cleanup and hassles in half. Gun would definitely have to be completely torn down or thrown away otherwise. This has been a real helpful thread with outstanding co-operation from all. Thank you for starting it Rich.

[JPotter57]

I have bought the plastic disposable cups from Harbor Freight before, pretty convenient.  I suppose the liners would be at least as good, though I've never used them.  I agree this has been a good thread.

[RICH MUISE]

James... any idea how long this stuff can be left in a gun before it has to be cleaned out. I have to wonder if the more expensive (250.) guns that maybe an upholstery shop would be using aren't designed for the adhesive to be left in there. I'm thinking also a with siphon feed gun you could undo the canister and stick the pick up tube in a jar of acetone to flush the nozzle, then just put the gun back on the canister for overnight.
Zap... thanks for the thanks on starting the thread. Sometimes I wonder if the guys aren't tired of seeing my name so often when i look down a catagory list sometimes and my name is on 1/2 of the new posts. This has been a real helpful post for me also.
And... speaking of new threads...Harbor Freight has been a godsend to me. At times I wonder if I could even have done this project if I had to buy all the tools and equiptment elsewheres. I'll bet in the last 4 years I've spent 4-5K there. Sure, I've had some absolute crap there on occasion but 90% of the time, for the money, I've been at least satisfied. I'll start a thread on Harbor Freight in our new product review section