1957 Fairlane 500 4 door Head liner

[quickas01]

Can someone recommend a good place to purchase a head liner for my 57 Fairlane 4 door town sedan ( 58b ). Quality and fit is the main issue.

[RICH MUISE]

I got mine from www.automotiveinteriors.com . They are in Mass. I wasn't looking for oem, just a large selection of quality fabrics and they came through. You can get samples. I was very happy with the quality. As far as "fit"...alot of that is going to be in your hands!!

[Ford Blue blood]

2X on both counts!

[BP57CUSTOM]

Rich , did you install your headliner and wind lace yourself? If so how difficult is it. With the windshield and rear glass in place?
Thanks
Barry

[RICH MUISE]

Yes, I've done everything on my car.
Not what you want to hear, but IMHO it would be nearly imposible to do it correctly with the glass in....however, someone on one of the two forums I'm on was going to attempt it within the last year or so. I never heard how that went. The biggest problem would be the back glass as there is nothing to attach the headliner to. By design, it is glued to the outside surface of the window flange that the rubber window seal fits over. The front has a tack strip just inside of the window, so it would be posible, just real hard to get to. The other thing is you really need those window body flanges to clamp on to while your pulling the headliner tight. There's alot of back and forth, adjusting, etc to get the seams straight.
The windlace....if you look at the 1st and 2nd photos you can see where I attached wood strips to the body wherever I could in lieu of using the factory gripping brackets with teeth.
BTW, that last photo was taken to show how the new seal needs to be "cleared out" so it fits into the corner of the window frame. It also shows the headliner after trimming on the outside of that mentioned flange.

[quickas01]

Thank you, those pictures and advice will be a big help

[Marc]

Rich that looks great. I'll be doing mine once the car gets back from paint (windows are out). Hoping it comes out that nice.

[BP57CUSTOM]

Thanks Rich, that answers my question. I need a new rear seal anyway , but the front is only three years old. And thanks for the pics.

[Ecode70D]

     I have been down that road lots of times on 57 and 57 Fords.   In my honest opinion, the only way to do it right is to have the front and rear windshields out of the car.  The wind lace has to be installed first.

[gasman826]

x2 on the windlace is the first step.  Ford installed the windlace with unique clips that snapped into holes around the door opening.  This clips had 'teeth' that were pinched into the windlace.  The OEM windlace material had buried wires to reinforce the material.  New windlace does NOT have the reinforcement wire.  So, not only are the clips expensive to replace but the windlace will be fragile and likely prematurely fail.  Look at older, restored interiors and usually the first thing to fail is the windlace.  As Rich mentioned, he supplemented the OEM clips with the old tried and proved wood.  I went a step further and did not use any OEM clips.  Instead, I lined the door opening with a strip of 5/8" square PVC.  I glued and screwed the PVC to the sheet metal.  A little heat makes bending around corners easier.  After installation, I shaved the PVC for a custom fit.  Air stapler worked great to fasten the windlace.

[BP57CUSTOM]

Gasman , is that PVC 5/8 thick ,it looks like it would be thinner. Where do you buy that?
Thanks

[gasman826]

I bought mine at the Universal Material Store (Lowes).  It's about $4 per 8' stick.

Yes, 5/8" is too thick in most places but it's a good width.  Like I said, I shaved the PVC down for a custom fit.  The screws are countersunk so shaving won't hit them.  I used an air grinder with a 5" 24 grit disc.  Shapes real easy but a lot of shavings.  I won't hesitate to do the same thing on the next car.

Sorry for the lack of pictures.  I get so focused on what I'm doing I forget to stop for a photo session.

[BP57CUSTOM]

Thanks Gasman ,I may go that route if I can get up enough nerve to do mine. I am beginning to think the holes don't look so bad, its like patina?