1971 383 SE Headliner Help

[Andru_Z]

Hi Everyone, my '71 needs a new headliner. I have zero experience with restoring car interiors, but I'm gonna give it a go. Can anyone who's done this before provide any tips, insights, do's and don'ts, special equipment suggestions? Thanks!

[ACUDANUT]

I paid a pro. up.  shop to do mine.

[Andru_Z]

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty dead-set on giving it a shot myself, though. What did you pay, if you don't mind my asking?

[Bob]

I never did one until I did mine. It was pretty easy once you get started. Every where the materila is tucked, that piece needs to be removed. Just do the reversal when puting everything back together.

[Andru_Z]

Thanks, Bob! The car currently has no headliner whatsoever, so unfortunately working backwards isn't an option. I was thinking of buying my kit and accessories from the website yearone.com. Where did you get yours?

[ACUDANUT]

The shop that did mine was around 3-4 hundred. Beware the headliner you order does not always fit.  My up. shop had to seriously modify mine (from year one) to make the bows work.  I tried it on my own and found out I was not in error. It's the reproduced product that is never right.  

[Andru_Z]

Gotcha. Good to know. Thank you!!

[Andru_Z]

Bob, where did you get your headliner from? Did you have to modify it much to make it fit?

[Bob]

Bob, where did you get your headliner from? Did you have to modify it much to make it fit?

Bought it from Hardings who is long out of business. I think I paid $104.00
There will be extra material left over. I used the excess to do my speaker deck and sail panels so everything looked uniform.

[71_Charger_R/T]

I did mine myself as well. I bought mine from Harden's muscle car world also, It's a "P.U.I." brand.  I too had problems with the fit, thinking I had the wrong one, sent it back only to receive the same problems on the new one. The second one came in a box that had PUI printed on it. I decided to call PUI directly to see if they could shed some light on what was wrong. They were extremely helpful and discovered that their CAD program was cutting them short on one end. They made a correct one for me, shipped it out at no cost to me let me keep the one that was short, but like Bob said, there is extra material for the sail panels included. I had that extra sewn on the front so it just has an extra seam in it up front. I installed the correct one but have an extra white one now, just in case. When you install it,  you need to make sure you cut the listings (the provisions for the bows to go through) just far enough so they don't hold you from stretching it to the sides adequately. I started at the back bow and worked forward if I remember correctly. Make sure you have the little wire bow retainers for the rearmost bow......(picture)



These hold the bow from tipping forward when stretching the headliner to the front. stretch everything as tight as you can. Use the little "u" clips that hold it to the pinch welds on the sides of the roof. Afterwards you can go in with a heat gun and CAREFULLY shrink the wrinkles out with heat. (take a piece of your scrap and play with it to see how it shrinks and at what point it melts and distorts or actually stretches back out. Don't go that far with the material in the car!) Take your time, be patient, and you will be very satisfied with the results I am sure.

[71charger_fan]

I did mine and it wasn't difficult. Best to wait for a warm sunny day and let the sun soften the material and take shipping creases out before you start.

[ACUDANUT]

Hardings is out of business ?

[71_Charger_R/T]

Hardings is out of business ?

There never was a "Hardings".............. It was Hardens (muscle car world) And yes they are no longer.  Classic industries , national parts depot or someone bigger like that, bought them out as I understand.

[Bob]

Hardings is out of business ?

There never was a "Hardings".............. It was Hardens (muscle car world) And yes they are no longer.  Classic industries , national parts depot or someone bigger like that, bought them out as I understand.

I meant Hardens.  Thanks for the correction.

[ACUDANUT]

"Hardens" were good people.

[71_Charger_R/T]

I agree. I liked to give them as much business as I could. Kind of a Mom & Pop family type business and they were very personable as well as quite knowledgable about their products.

[AKcharger]

Here Andru, this will help ya'

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,34904.msg380893.html#msg380893

Our 3rd Gens are the easiest to do, a lot better than the 2nd Gens. it's not hard, save your $$$ for the really tough stuff like machine shop work

[Andru_Z]

Thanks for your insight everyone. Very helpful!

[mach123]

Hi guys, I have been reading on your post for headliner, so when it is time to do mine I will know how. I do have one question about what insulation are you using to go against the roof, and does it get glued or what. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what part are the sails people talk about that are a pain in the buttttt. Thx

[AKcharger]

I used plastic bubble & Mylar stuff from Lowes® worked fine. I recall just wedging it into place no glue needed so made for a clean installation.


The sail panel is a pain, it's in the back corners...not an issue for 3rd Gen's

[CDN72SE]

So how did the headliner install go? Did you have a chance to give it a try?