on a 69 firebird hardtop...what is the purpose of the middle headliner bow that does not snap into any where on the side.it looks like it is made from a coat hanger and wrapped in paper.it snaps into clips in the roof(6 of them total along with the dome light harness) i know it loops through the headliner but what is its purpose and what happens if those clips are busted and you done use that center rod and just use the 2 steel rods in the front and the 2 steel ones in the back?an help would be greatly appreciated.just trying to get my birds interior back together so i can move onto the engine and trans the last things on the list(and possibly the most expensive).
The headliner, in order to sit properly must have all the bows installed, they keep equal tension on the whole headliner, if you were to leave out one or more bows it would have a wave pattern at the end ( correct ) and be flat in the center ( incorrect ). As an owner of an origional 69 that had the origional headliner, I personnally wouldn't even consider not installing all of them. As for the clips, they all break due to age the plastic gets brittle, I have not personally seached for them but I imagine there must be at least one or two vendors that sell them, try CI or Year One, the wrapped in paper part by the way is a loop in the back of the headliner that holds it up to the roof and off your head, there is one for every bow down the full length of the bow. The results are well worth installing it properly. Good luck.
classic industries and year one,AMES,and Performance and all the other parts vendors list the 4 main bows and the 4 center clips for the headliner but do not acknowledge this center bow and clips i am aware that this bow slides into the headliner but am not sure since it does not go into the sheetmetal at the sides and only clips to the top what happens when you cant get the clips for it from anyone?the old ones were so brittle that they broke off right when i unsnapped the center bow.i am perplexed on this situation i am an ASE certified master technician working as a transmission and driveability tech in a gm garage and it think i am about to be defeated by a headliner.
That is really steep. I found a local place that would do it for $120-150 if I provided the headliner material.
It's not that hard to do, just time consuming.
If you want a perfect install, and you won't be happy unless it looks perfect, take it to a professional. But, if you are OK with a few places in the headliner where it's not stretched perfectly, then I would suggest doing it yourself.
The headliner won't come out perfect. Only those that are glued to the roof come out smoothly and the FGFs aren't glued. There were wrinkles right out of the factory.
Installing a headliner is a very do-able project. Here is what you need: 1) You must have patience (if you dont, save up and pay someone else) 2) You need another person to help, they too need patience (if they dont, find someone else) 3) New set of headliner clips 4) Headliner glue 5) Headliner 6) New sail panels 7) A razor 8) Q-tips (to apply the glue, the applicator that comes with it is just way to big and messy) 9) Go to office depot (or raid your office like I did) and buy 6 or 8 boxes (12 each)small document clips. Not paper clips, the black metal clips that pinch the paper. These work great for clipping the liner up and holds it in place really well. 10) Did I mention Patience?
If you want PM me and I can go through the whole process with you. It isnt hard to do your headliner, its just a royal P.I.T.A.
