Well my head lining has the usual brewers droop, its more like being in a tent.
Ive pulled it down, and taken the lining off the paper-mache backing and glued it back up. Its not great, but for the time being its up.
I rang AutoPontiac, about £250 for a kevlar backed copy, or about £400 for a new GM one, eeeeeeeek.
Anyone made a fiberglass mold? Or done anything to replace one?
By my reckoning, apart from age, using steam cleaners on the lining, or close by, probably weakens it no end.
My backing is on its way out, so recovering is not really an option.

 

I know this sounds like I'm being an ****, but I'm sure I've seen a few threads about headlinings in Body & Interior. It might give you some ideas.

At those prices it may be cheaper to get a decent s/h one from across the pond

Best of luck,
Mark.

 

Now dosen's Merry ole England have such a thing as Motor car reupholstery shops that do that kind of work. This isn"t just a problem for 3rd gen cars. I'll bet the the price is cheaper then trying to ship over a bare plastic headliner board. And you will be amazed at how they can reinforce the stock board. I know because they repaired mine before covering it. Nice factory stock look after completion.

 

Cheers i forgot about that section, doh.

Lol. Well its not quite the middle ages you know. It just seems like it.
Yeh i know an upholstry guy about 5 mins drive away, he took one look at the decomposing backing and he gave it a thumbs down, be dead easy if it wasnt for the way it flares at the back, where the belts pass through to the roof mounting points.
I'm still thinking about fiberglassing over the original before it dissolves totally.
I can easy cover it with fabric at a push, i used to work at a place that did VW camper van conversions, just wondered if there was a better alternative.

 

Not checked Ebay me pold mate,ive seen new ones on there all the time for a lot less than the price youve been quoted.

 

Its too tricky to ship, a few people have told me its dodgy, ie it breaks and its yours,, so i'm buying one from Wisbech, they quoted me 190+ plus vat.
Thats original pattern but in abs placcy and the proper light sand colour.
I used a whole bl**dy can of that spray glue on the original, and still it looked like a tee-pee only 2 days after doing it. The cars are nice, but the guy who designed the headliners wants stringing up imo.

 

I know what you are say!. Those prices are crazy!. Most of the Thirdgen suppliers in the States charge a fortune to ship overseas. In a lot of cases it's more than the part you are buying. I stated to look to Germany for parts now. It's seems to be a popular place for thirdgens. I found a guy there who I bought a seat cushion off a few weeks ago. I checked ebay in Germany and anyone selling thirdgen parts I contacted them with the part I was looking for. PM me and I will dig up his email address. He seems to break thirdgens. Maybe he might have a good headliner or at least the foam. You guys in the UK have a good exchange rate against the euro.

 

I really cant understand how this myth prevails,i havent bought anything in the UK for 2 years.Theres a good reason for that,you can get it much cheaper in the US and quite often quicker.The USPS rates are very good for shipping.I have spent thousands in the last few years,and would have got a lot less for my money if i had bought it here.Granted some very large items are pricey to ship,but lets face it, it's not always a wing or a bonnet size thing you need to ship.

 

The headlining is going to be the largest thing [i bl**dy well hope] that i'm going to order via the UK.
But to be fair Wisbech are doing brand new single piston calipers at £33+ vat each, even buying from the US its not cheaper.
I'm not turning this particular car into a hotrod, in fact i'm putting it back to fairly standard, basically cos my 2k4 Blade will see off 99.9% of cars, and if i wanted something tricky, i would buy it as that then make it faster.
Mines a base model with few extras, so i'm starting right at the bottom.
But i intend to get more stuff direct where possible.
Its amazing really, if you ever bought Jap bike parts, you would realise how dirt cheap these Pontiac spares really are.

 

I hear you over Jap bike parts

Mark.