Regarding 1957 Chevy restoration

[baileyuph]

Specifically, what direction are you auto restoration business people taking on restoring the 57 Chevy 2 & 4 door post headliners (not 2 and 4 dr hardtops)?

There is a flaw in the headliner design around the top of rear window, this has been noted since the car was produced as there were problems the first year off the assembly line.  GM made a change in 57 by the way the headliner is attached at the top of the rear window, the tack strip and garnish molding was eliminated and replaced with a cardboard stiffner. sewn into the liner.  It was a great idea if it had worked as it saved production time and eliminated more parts than it added.

Problem is, this concept failed immediately and is a concern still today as to how to secure the liner in this area.

Headliner kits made today, so far as I know, still build the liners the way GM did initially, hence the interest here.  Has anyone found a work around that works, one that will keep the liner secured in this area?

Again for clarity, this issue does not apply to the hardtop models.  It applies to the post sedans - 57 only.

We used the work around recommended by GM in 57, but now parts are not available through the dealers and used are hard to find.

Anyone with success working with this issue in restoration?

BTW, this issue is relative to the other GM lines, Pontiac, Olds, and any bodies that used the carboard technique.

I suppose this hasn't been an elevated issue over the years because four doors and 2 door post restoration hasn't been at the level as the hardtops.


Doyle

[ncydmn]

     I have never cared for the un-even look the rear of these liners have.  I install 1/8 pop rivets between the tabs which hold the cardboard.  This keeps the rear of the liner flat against the roof.  Of course this means you must install the liner starting at the rear, which makes installing the first rear bow a little tight but cures the problem. 
It is also how I solve broken or missing tabs.

     I still do a lot of tri-five Chevys so I am very familiar with them.  Just installed a liner in a 57 hardtop today.

[baileyuph]

     I still do a lot of tri-five Chevys so I am very familiar with them.  Just installed a liner in a 57 hardtop today.

This problem doesn't apply to a hard top, so you lucked out in that respect.

Back to the 2 door and/or 4 door sedans primarily, when working in vinyl, do you make your own vinyl windlace? 

Doyle

[baileyuph]

Also, Ncydmm, what do you do about the visors?  Order the cheap reproductions or something else?

I looked into getting a binding setup for a dedicated machine and the volume I antipate doesn't justify the cost (approx. $2K).  But, the quality of repro visors is far from OEM quality. 

Doyle

[stitcher_guy]

Doyle. I'm always happy with the visors I have made at Acme, the headliner people. They sell premade visors, and you can also send in your old ones along with the material you're using and they will sew them custom. I think the quality rivals the factory visors. I never ever have any good luck with trying to put my own binding on those thick things.

[baileyuph]

you can also send in your old ones along with the material you're using and they will sew them custom

Yes, Russ that is the approach I go and it yields excellent quality because the internal structure is far better than the repro.  Providing a OEM frame, using OEM hardware, will yield OEM equal. 

The cheaper repro visor, hardware and all route has yielded mounting brackets that break or the chrome peels off.  Their binding efforts are fine however.

Doyle

[ncydmn]

    I agree a lot of the repo parts are very inferior to the OEM.  Most of the cars I do are custom so I eliminate the binding.  On the original reproductions I use the aftermarket.  I install a plastic bushing, like in the sixties Chevelles, in the bracket.  You don't have to crank down on the bracket so hard to get them to stay up.
     It is not just the tri-fives that have poor repo quality.  Many of the Camaro parts of the late sixties are horrible fitting. 

     Many of these cars don't see everyday use like when they were new.  Even though the aftermarket parts aren't as good they usually last quite a while.  The 57 hardtop I just finished is owned by a returning customer.  I did a custom interior in a 55 sedan delivery over 20 years ago.  The car still looks like new and was on the CARS Inc. calendar two years ago. 

     I agree with Russ on the Acme products.  My folks used there liners starting back in the sixties.  I recently had two Chevelles to install liners in, (66 models).  One customer had his own liner and I supplied the other from Acme.  The weight difference of the liner material was quite noticeable.  The Acme was much heavier.  It was one of the only times I really had both products side by side to compare.

     I make my windlace on all custom cars.  That way it matches the interior.  The after market vinyl is really stiff but if you use steam it will become very workable.  The sedans also have the light cardboard tack strip sewn to them above the doors and up the pillar area.  Only the corners and the post behind the door have tack strip to staple to.  How to attach the wind lace to the kick panel bracket really confuses a lot of new comers as well.

    One more thing on the hardtops windlace.  At the top of the quarter panel there is a black rubber cap that is finally being reproduced.  The problem is they don't put the metal mounting tab in the pre-made kits.  I cut mine open, graft the new rubber with metal attached, sew up as close to the metal as possible then supper glue the end shut around the metal tab.  They were originally stapled.  Wouldn't it be nice to have that stapler, along with the one they staple the tack strip above the front window with.  Right through the body metal, what a time saver over screwing or riveting on new.

[stitcher_guy]

the windlace in those cars is something that I've waffled on over and over through the years. I make most of my own also to match custom interiors. But you see most backyard and home builders stuffing just about everything back behind the metal tabs to act as a tacking strip. I've always gone the original route and sewn the cardboard strip to the windlace listing and tucked in. It does a very nice job that way, but really, so does staping to tacking material. When the tabs are too rotted and broken to use or other circumstances require, I use the 3/8" roll tacking for convertible tops up in the channel. It can even be riveted to the back support if it feels loose. When you compare, I can install the tacking material and get the windlace stapled and pulled in place almost as quickly as I can measure and sew on the cardboard mounts. To save the customer some money, it almost seems worth it to adopt the home builder method all the time.

[baileyuph]

Restoration, more than routine maintenance work does require creative solutions.  I can identify with that point.

Doyle