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I just installed a 56F100 headliner from Dennis Carpenter. Not too happy with it .It had two screw holes which DC directions say is original. My roof panel was changed from another 56 from a junk yard. It had only a little rain gutter rot. The original was rotted all the way around and almost blew off towing it home. The one from the junk yard has three roof panel screw holes. The two holes are off 1\8 & 1\4 in. The panel is back as far as it will go in the window rubber. The side panels have each have two buckles in them and not quite go under the back window rubber. I had saved Mid Fifty directions few years ago and theirs say original but shows three screws. I haven't called DC to see what they have to say. Its in and I doubt I will take it back out. it not a show truck or a trailer queen, self built but it does look pretty good or so I'm told. Just not happy with the way the panel went in. The only thing I can think of is the difference in screw holes ,maybe standard vs custom cab but I had never heard that. Dean??
Can you take some pictures of the overall look, and maybe also the areas of issue? I have never installed a headliner in my truck, and this is kind why.
Here is a picture of the problem areas. There is also a1/16 gap on the sides of the rear window. I put a small slice of rubber over. I am still confused why one shows two holes and the other three holes. Dean
You could drill a hole in the support piece where the holes are in the cardboard and put those large headed screws in.
It doesn't look that bad really but I know it will bug you since you know where the flaws are. When I put my headliner in I had to trim cardboard around the driver's side of the back window. And I have a crease or two.
Because I tore the front hole I have a fender washer under the upholstery washer painted the same as the roof panel to cover the hole. The ripples you can see in the pic are on both sides but not the middle. If I had trimmed the front of the panel to make the screw holes fit, the gap at the rear window would have been a lot more.I think the side panels should have been back about 1\4 in. I have a couple creases too.
Full disclosure, I have the same kit but have not installed it yet. However, I have installed similar in the past.
My expectation is that the holes in the roof that have already been drilled will not line up with the holes in the headliner. The fit of those pieces was not likely to have been precise and the templates may not have been consistent. Tolerances were just not that good back then and the reproduced ones may not even be true to whatever factory template they used in manufacturing.
My plan is to get try and get it largely in place using the existing holes as an initial guide to get the other parts mounted. Then undo the top mount screws and re-drill the holes shifting everywhere to where it needs to go.
It may be too late for that but it may be worth a try undoing those screws in the cab roof and readjusting just the top piece and drilling fresh holes when you have it aligned and re mounting the screws It might take 2 people to do so that the roof piece can be held in place once it is aligned properly while the new holes are being drilled.
I have loosened the screws and moved it as much as it will. I called Dennis Carpenter tech ,they had never seen three screws but my brace had three screw holes. I have both directions from DC and Mid fifty on down loads but don't know how to post them. The Mid fifty clearly shows three screws. It is what it is now I guess. I was hoping someone may have seen this before and maybe in case someone in the future to look out for. Dean
Here are pictures of the headliner brace on my very original 55 F350 and the original headliner. 3 holes in the headliner and 3 holes in the brace!
The 1955 headliner with 3 screw holes in place before removal.
brace with 3 holes for headliner
another pic of brace. The stuff hangin from roof is not insulation. This truck was a Standard Cab with no roof insulation. It is a mouse nest.
healdiner in the bed of my 54 F100
huge mouse nest on the top of the headliner. This is why I removed the headliner and why the headliner was cracked
Close up of the original headliner. Original factory kick panels, headliners and I suppose door panels on Custom Cabs had a grain to them. They were not just a piece of gray painted carboard.
comparison of the original kick panel and a repopo. After painting of the 55 I put the original kick panels and headliner back in because of the grain.
repaired headliner back in with new rubber gasket holding it in:
see the crack from the heavy mouse nest? I glued ceral boxes on the back side to hold it together.
I went out to the garage to look at the repopped headliner in my 54. I bought it at Carlisle back in 1999 to save on the shipping costs. I don't remember what dealer I bought it from.
One (1) hole!!!!
Here is a spot where I trimmed the cardboard, not so well.
It doesn't look as bad as it did initially because I added screws to both sides to hold the cardboard in place . There is a hole in that part of the cab. I got a small paper hole punch to make the hole in the cardboard.
Thanks all for getting back to me. 8 pack , I really didn't expect it to fit perfect, as well as any aftermarket parts. Abe now at least I know some had three screws. Thanks for the pics. Mine has holes already in the lower corners of the rear window that you had to punch. They don't line up but I will work on that more. Maybe that will pull the sides in ,but they didn't want to go without creasing more. I did as the instructions said and had moistened the back where any curves were. That helped .
Thanks all for getting back to me. 8 pack , I really didn't expect it to fit perfect, as well as any aftermarket parts. Abe now at least I know some had three screws. Thanks for the pics. Mine has holes already in the lower corners of the rear window that you had to punch. They don't line up but I will work on that more. Maybe that will pull the sides in ,but they didn't want to go without creasing more. I did as the instructions said and had moistened the back where any curves were. That helped . My roof panels were both long gone. Sorry about double post ,thought I was editing Dean
Abe , if you used Frosted Flakes maybe Tony the Tiger will keep the mice out ,lol Dean
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