Does any one have any exsperiance instaling a head liner in a 48 gmc 1 ton panel? Or were i could find one. I want to one that will go all the way to the back . Some one told me a sub headliner is the same but to short for a 1 ton and it needs an extra piece. Is this true and were could i find one. thank you bigjer
I have a '55-1st 1-ton panel, and I had to make my own headliner. Since these were cargo vehicles, the headliner was a pressboard sheet that covered the steel roof supports and insulation pads (if there was another option for the 1-ton, I haven't heard of it). When I got my truck, there were only small remnants of the board and some of the insulation was missing, which allowed me to see the surface rust where the adhesive had been. I had to remove the rust and re-insulate, and since I am not doing a true resto, I upholstered the roof. There are two easy ways to install a headliner. The way I did it was to glue polyester batting to the back of a sheet of vinyl (or whatever you choose for headliner material) and use thin wood strips (steamed and bent) to hold it to the roof supports. Easier still is to get a sheet of particle board and glue the batting/headliner material directly to it, and lift the entire headliner into place at once. In either case, you need to secure the headliner down the center of the truck first, then work toward the sides (this is very important with a suspended headliner so there is even tension on the material). The wood bows fit the theme of my truck, so I went that route; you may have other concerns. I countersunk the screws and covered them with plug dowels so all you see is wood strips. Another good "cheat" is to buy a snap kit from an upholstery shop (a punch that lets you cover the snap with your choice of material) and run the screws through the back (male) half of the snap when installing the headliner. Then you can simply press the front (female) half of the snap into place and the screws disappear. The thicker the batting layer, the more pillowy the headliner, which helps hide the wood strips/snaps from your noggin when you bump your head. I hope this is useful, I just realized how long I've gone on... [small]"Pass the cutting torch, I'm done f***ing around." -hedgehog[/small]
