headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

[Ron T.]

Does anyone know what takes the glue off the plastic shell headliner when the vinyl is removed? headliner was sagging and I would like to clean off old glue and re-glue it. Upholstery shop gave up on it. Thanks

[Edward J.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

Ron, 3M makes a spray adhesive remover.

[Harry S.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

Ron, I think your trying to take the glue off of a reproduction/replacement liner.

[Ron T.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

Thanks Ed, I'll see if I can locate some tomorrow. R0n

[Ken R.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

Been there and done that. If the glue is really dried out, it is going to be slow going on removal. Then when you try to reglue a vinyl liner in, it probably won't stay glued with any type of heat from summertime in a garage. I ended up just spray painting the plastic liner and installing it after several tries at gluing a vinyl liner back on. Al Knock actually sent me 2 new ones way back when and they both came unglued over time.

[Frank D.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

The Corvette America 63/64 repro headliners are vinyl glued to a hard plastic shell. Mine failed on the FIRST day in the sun...my upholstery guy said trying to glue something permanently to that hard plastic shell would be a royal pain. He suggested roughing it up with a Scotch Brite pad and trying it. Never did try that though.

I wound up getting an Al Knock headliner instead. For the '63 AK uses a hard, textured, fiberboard which looks better anyway...

[Mike M.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

i believe both the 63 and 64 coupe headliners were fiberboard. not sure about the 64 roadster hardtop headliner. mike

[Harry S.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

I just checked a piece of a 63 liner. It is composed of woven fiberglass that is glued to 3/8" of a light brown sound proofing. It is very brittle and cracks easily after 53 years. The top appears to have been sprayed interior color as the last step.

As far as I know, no one reproduces a liner like the original all you get today is a piece of hard black plastic with vinyl glued to it.

[Ron T.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

Thanks Harry,I tried everything to get the glue off of the plastic shell without any success. I guess I'll do some research to see if any company makes the old school type. Ron

[Ron T.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

Mike do you know if fiberboard is available or are they all plastic like the one I have'Ron

[Mike M.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

ron: don't know the answer as the fiberboard headliners in all my 63 and 64 coupes have never had headliner deterioration. suggest u contact al knock for availability. good luck,mike

[Ron T.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

Thanks Mike

[Ken R.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

As far as I know from my previous hunt for an original headliner, no one makes one out of the fiberboard. Only way to find one is from another 63-65 coupe. They are pretty brittle from age.

[Frank D.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

My '63 headliner was original but the consistency of tissue paper at the front... It had delaminated and just fell apart.

The CA headliner is snooth vinyl fabric glued to ABS shiny plastic ... not even close to original and the piece does not have the rear 'ears' that fill gaps at the left and right rear halo trim corners.

The Al Knoch piece is indeed hardboard with an 'engrained' pebble texture and the correctly shaped 'ears'. No vinyl, glued-on, fabric covering. It does not have the subtle 'wave' pattern of the original headliner and the pebble texture is a little bit too 'pronounced'; if you placed them together in the daylight side-by-side. (I did).

However, installed in the car its hard to detect the missing pattern in the repro upside down a foot or so away - its the only repro even close to acceptable. I had wondered if some light sanding would 'knock down" the deeper pebble texture on the AK repro to look more original but was afraid to screw up the piece..and didn't want to have to redye it....

The first picture shows the AK piece and the ears; the second was me playing with various lighting trying to show the texture of the AK piece once installed. IIRC it passed judging with no deducts at Lakeland Regional in January. I suspect because the team may not know that there is facsimile repro out there. Once they do, they'll start hitting cars for the subtle differences from original, no doubt..

The (3rd) picture is the CA repro headliner after removal - typical vinyl glued to plastic and you can see where the rear 'ears' should be that there is just a flap of loosely hanging material (no idea what that was about!). Clearly not up to the standards of the majority of CA's interior components...

One caution; the AK piece is cut to about 1/8" all around in total dimensional fitment. It takes careful positioning to not have any gaps showing....

The 4th pic is of an original, survivor '63 headliner I know of -- to give you a comparison of texture (as best I could)..
The 5th pic shows the fit of the AK rear 'ear' at the corner of the halo trim... The last pic is from AK's web site and I would take some issue with the description - but, the product is the best repro currently out there...

[Ron T.]

Re: headliner plastic shell 64 coupe

Thanks Frank, I appreciate the pictures and the information you sent me. I guess I'll look into an Al Knoch headliner. Ron