I have the headliner in hand, and am considering installing it and was looking for some opinions.

I've already asked a local auto interior guy what he would charge to install and he said $400. I asked another guy in Northern VT (thinking that they are a bit cheaper up there) and he was $350. Those are both a bit steep for me, considering I already have the headliner...that's just for the install. So, I think I'll have to try to tackle this myself.

I've watched a few videos and looked up some tips online. One thing that I am a bit unsure of is the windshield and rear glass...it's in the car. It looks like it was installed fairly recently (before I got the car). The car was re-painted last year, and I think the glass was installed just after that (no trim on the car yet). All the videos I've been watching have the glass out for the headliner install...and I can clearly see that "glass out" is probably a million times easier. So I'm wondering...should I take the glass out before installing the headliner?

Part of me thinks that it would be easier to just remove the front and rear glass, install the headliner, and then re-install the glass again. But, I've never done something like that either. I have been looking around and it seems that there is a real risk of breaking the glass.

Part of me thinks that it's possible to install the headliner with the glass in...at least I've heard it's possible. But when thinking about what would be involved in attaching the headliner at the front and rear, it makes me wonder if I could do a good job.


So, would it be better to go the extra step to remove and re-install the windshield to make the headliner install easier? Or, would it make more sense to just try to install the headliner with the glass in place. Keeping in mind that I've never done either job before.

Any thoughts are welcomed!

OR, if anyone knows a shop that will install a headliner for $100-$150 in the Southern Maine/NH area, that would be probably the best option!

My personal opinion is that I would not install the headliner with either set of glass in. In fact, with those bids I would inquire if that includes removing /reinstalling the front/back glass, because if it does, the estimates don't sound too bad. I did one myself with both sets removed and it came out great and wasn't that hard. Also when you remove the glass it will allow you to clean up ay existing rust issues.

Give these people a call. Ask for Francis. He did my 66 GTO 15+ years ago. I don't remember the cost off the top of my head. Did a great job.

His main business is furniture, but he takes in some car upholstery work from time to time.

http://www.aceupholsteryinc.com/index.php?link=about

It's a piece of cake, even with the windows installed. Get some 3M adhesive, the headliner installation tool from Eastood, take your time and do it over the weekend.
Start at the front. the metal pieces screw into the header panel and then the fabric wrap around the metal towards the rear. install the front bow in the fabric, make sure it is centered and snap into the roof. Work your way back with the bows. Now use the adhesive and install tool and gently and evenly stuff the headliner into the window channel working back to the rear window. Stuff into channel at rear window and trim excess from edges and rear window. Install sail panels. Any wrinkles must be taken out as they appear by pulling or stretching the material. A hair dryer also helps with some curves and such.

I've done 4 headliners this way with no problems.

Good luck

Do you have a link to that Eastwood tool? Did a quick search on here and also at the Eastwood site, but can't seem to find it. I was thinking of making my own tool by rounding off a plastic putty knife or something.

I thought I'd update this thread, in case anyone else was weighing the same options...

I ended up installing the headliner myself, leaving the windshield and rear window in. There was plenty of room between the glass and the tack strips. Two of us tackled it in a couple hours. The results were OK/good enough. I'm glad I still have the $400 in my pocket. But, if I had paid someone to do this, and they did the same kind of job, I'd be disappointed. I would think that a pro could do a full level better than I did. there are a few little wrinkles along the seams...but I'm hoping that they'll come out over time and with a little heat.

In general, worth doing myself. I'm glad it's behind me and on the to the next thing!

A couple of things that would have made it easier...
1) I used the contact cement that came with my headliner. It was a tiny bottle with the brush attached to the lid. It worked OK...but took a while to brush on and made a bit of a mess. We happened to spill some on a drop cloth and used a paintbrush to try to save what we could. Turns out that using the paintbrush would have been about a thousand times better than that little brush that comes in the can. I saw today that you can buy pints of the Weldwood contact cement at Home Depot. That would have been better than using that ridiculously tiny brush.

2) I took a 2" metal putty knife and rounded off the corners with my belt sander. I then bent a slight curve in it. That worked pretty well since I didn't have the headliner installation tool. I was afraid that it would cut the headliner as I used it, but it didn't. Could wrap some duct-tape over the end of it to make it less sharp. Probably worth the few bucks for the actual tool. I just didn't want to wait for it.

Picts?

I'm glad it worked out for you. You can try to unglue and then reattach some areas if they don't even out after a while.

Here is a link to a tool like I use.
http://www.dearbornclassics.com/index.ph...-_-63-10766-_-X

I'll get some soon. Once I go over it some more with the hairdryer to get more wrinkles out. It's not the best job...but it's better than nothing (I guess).

Picture of the homemade tool also.