Dear FTE,

We just finished the seat recover kit project that bought from LeBaron Bonney. We are very happy with the results.

We are now thinking about the headliner. Looks like we can get an ABS plastic molded headliner from QuiteRideSolutions or we can go back to LeBaron Bonney for an original kit which comes in a lot of pieces.

We like the original look, but the the original head liner pieces sure didn't look that great when we took them out.

Anyone have any experience or thoughts about the QuiteRideSolutions molded plastic approach? Did it look out of place in the older F1's?

Thanks, Richard

 

Sorry, I don't have any experiance with any plastic pannels or headliner. I did however want to say congrads on finishing your seat project. I'm glad to hear it went so well.

 

Have you looked at RodDoors headliners? I haven't done my interior yet, but in checking out other rides, I've seen the RodDoor parts. The molded ABS is very nice. People report that it installs with relative ease and rides quiet. Many of the FTE contributors here have these parts. See Jag Red 54's gallery. He used RodDoor for just about everything and it looks superfine.
TTFN

 

Does quiteridesolutions have a website? I did a search and nothing came back.
I just tried putting the material on my Roddoors headliner for my 48 F1 and I must tell you I am very disappointed. I am of the opinion that it is impossible to put that much material in all of the nooks and cranies and not have a pleat somewhere to take up the slack. I don't think ANY material would streach that much!! I was also not impressed with the fitment.

Anyone ever use a Roddoors headliner on a 48-50 F1 with success? I'm ready to try again as soon as I figure out how to get all of that 3M glue off!!

Tim

 

FYI - I have one of the commonly-available 'stock' paper headliners in my '51. It was relatively new when I got the truck 4 or 5 years ago. While there's nothing wrong with it, it certainly isn't terribly impressive. It does clean up the roof, but that's about it. And it does sag in the middle. The previous owner installed one of those spring-loaded cowboy hat holders to keep the liner from sagging.

It would be nice if someone made a roof kit for a '51 with some speakers in it. It seems like the roof is the only place in the whole truck with room for them.

Good luck
Brian

 

Brian
I don't know about your 51 but a set of Infinity component speakers fit perfectly in my kick panels. Used some thin plastic for the kick panels and cut them out and used stock clips to hold them on. Upholstered like Roddoors stuff--looks great.

I have thought of buying new cardboard headliner and having it reowrked (upholstered) by a pro. This may be cheaper than true custom. I bought a overhead console from Roddoors for my air ride gauges so this will also have to be rethought. It won't stay on with the super velcro stuff they give you anyway (they suggested pop rivits).

Tim

 

Hi Tim

I never would have thought anything but the smallest of speakers would fit in the kick panel.....mine has a crossmember running through it....did you install your speakers above or below the crossmember? (I can't remember if the crossmember is vertical or horizontal)

The previous owner of my truck put a small pair of shelf-type speakers just sitting on the floor in the rear cab corners....hi-tech it ain't. I'd like to move the gas tank outside the cab and install a small speaker box in its place, but then you've got a hole where the filler exits the cab. And of course, if you were to leave the filler in place with the tank moved, you just know the first time someone other than you gets gas, he'll pump 50 gallons of premium into the cab......that would be just before the big boom.

As far as a console goes - i don't know about all F-1's, but my roof has absolutely no brackets or crossmembers of any kind on the roof itself (that I've seen).....sure would make mounting anything up there a whole lot easier.

Later
Brian

 

My truck has a horizontal cross member and I mounted 5 1/4" infinitity speakers above the crossmember. A perfect fit. I used the stock clips around the edge and a piece of the super velcro stuff on the crossmember. Real solid and looks great.

The overhead console was supposed to attach to the roddoors headliner with the velcro stuff and a piece of angle metal on each side of the console. However, the sticky glue side of the velcro would not hold and it kept falling down. When I went thru all the velcro pieces I finally called roddoors and they sent me some more and suggested the pop rivits. (No charge) The overhead console was going between the dome light and the area above the windshield where the headliner slides in. A screw at the dome light holding everything up to keep from sagging and the front support where it slides in would be sufficient. It couldn't be more than 1 1/2 feet. I don't think "engineering" is the problem at all, although I haven't gotten that far yet. My only real beef is that I honestly don't think you can upholster the headliner without a pleat to take up some material. And this would not look good at all.
I will try to get some pics. Much easier to look at and understand than have me babble on to try to explain.

Tim

 

I think I understand....the problem I have is I don't have a dome light...so there's nothing to hold anything up against the roof. I wonder if they were optional? I do have the switches mounted on the door pillars, they just don't go anywhere. I'll have to look at the roddoors website and see what the headliners look like.


Later
Brian

 

There should be a little bent piece of metal bent like a U in the middle of the roof. A screw went through the headliner and into that little bracket.

 

Velcro comes in different varieties and you need to look for the high strength and high temp adhesive variety velcro. You can get it made either by Velcro or by 3M. I have used both in aircraft work. Preparation is key when applying velcro. You need to clear the surface with Prepsol or a chemical like it then wipe the surface down with Isopropol alcohol before placing the velcro where you want it.
In working with headliners and wanting to develop mount points you could consider a product out there put out by Versachem called Plastic Weld Systems. When working with ABS plastics I haven't found a better bonding agent. If you take and scratch the metal surface where you want to bond a plastic mount I have found that it works well also.
There is a fabric out on the market that is called Stretchsation and it does exactly that. You have been talking about not having enough pull. This may be the answer. There are some other goods out there that I use that give a nice finished look too.
Good luck.

Gear Up

 

Gearup
Is Prepsol similiar to the "Bulldog" product? I used Bulldog to prep the console priot to paint and it worked great. I throughly cleaned the mateing surface with alchol prior to adhesion but it won't stick.

Thanks for the tip!!

Tim

 

Prepsol is put out by Dupont; I'm not formiliar with Bulldog. Was the velcro being used on metal or plastic? I know that you can use EMK toget the self adhesive type to adhere better. You need to use platex gloves when working with the chemical because it takes about 30 second for the chemical to reach the liver if it comes in contact with the skin. yes a well ventilated area is a must too.

Gear Up

 

Gearup
I was adhering Duolock (a 3M product) to ABS plastic. It is the standard Roddoors "velcro". It's pretty tough stuff actually! That is assuming I can get it to stick to the plastic.

The Bulldog stuff is a primer type spray that I saw on this site to prime ABS prior to paint. Worked great!

If Primasol is that toxic I think I may look at plan B--whatever that is. Sounds like pretty serious stuff--I like my liver just fine!

Regards

Tim

 

Prepsol Is not the toxic chemical. Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) is. If you used the Bulldog to Prime and then colored the ABS plastic before applying the Velcro I am surprized that the velcro did not stay. The ABS plastic that come from Roddoors does it have any mould release agents on it that would cause the adhesive to let go? If the surfaces aren't clean the velcro will not bond. If you are placing the vecro on the ceiling of the truck that surface must be preped as well and you will want a high temp variety. I have put velcro on pickup covers and the regular velcro gums up and lets go. I don't have much more foe tricks up my sleeve at this time. Good luck.

Gear Up