GT Headliner

Hi,

Looking ahead at a headliner replacement for my 1967 MGB GT project. I stripped the car to a bare shell which means the original headliner (what was left of it anyway) was removed. I see that Moss offers some replacement kits but not sure if these are for later model cars. The headliner in my 73 GT is a thin gray vinyl material but the stuff I took out of the 67 is a think almost white vinyl. Additionally, the 73 had a hard molded shell that the roof section of the headliner was glued to. I really can't tell what was original in the 67 since it was torn out when I bought the car.

Anyone run into this issue with an early GT? Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks,

Ron

Ron, my looks like a vinyl covered foam, but I never had one out, so maybe someone who has will chime in. Mine still has the original in it, and it is in pretty good shape, but has few small splits in the vinyl, I'm thinking about getting it covered in place.

Ron I have a 67 GT, the headliner on mine seems to be as you described, its a thick white vinyl, its cracked alot, I believe it to be original

Mark

My '71 GT has the headliner you describe. I used the original fiberglass board and glued the black cloth covered foam headliner material I bought at Jo Ann fabric. I think it loooks better.

In my opinion the Moss kit is junk. Material is SO thin that spotwelds show up through the material covering the pillars. The kit includes a piece of thin foam that has to be glued to the roof then the fabric has to be glued to the foam. If you still have a fiberglass back you would be much better off gluing the material to the old backing. More than likely you will have to remove the rear hatch to get the fiberglass piece back in without damaging it. All in all, I'd suggest that you take your car to an upolstery shop and pay the experts to do this job. There's no room for trial and error with the Moss kit and it's way to expensive for what you get

The original headliner in the '67 GT was a heavy grained off white foam backed material glued to the roof. This vinyl was available in England for a while in the 90s, but haven't seen the right stuff in awhile. The 'slide in' (slide it out to the rear to remove it) headliner of the later GT has a molded fiber backing with vinyl glued to it...much easier to re-cover. The side rails were originally molded to shape and glue on.

The Moss kit will work, but you can't just 'stick it in'. I have found that the best way is to glue foam to the roof (using landau top dense foam from an upholstery supply store) and then gluing the vinyl to that. If you try to glue the vinyl down to the foam first and then stick it in, it seems to wrinkle. It is kinda like pitchin' a tent from the inside, but stay with it, it will look great.

Danger! Danger! Do not try to install the moss headliner kit on your own. It is one of the hardest jobs you will encounter. Take it to an upholstery shop and let them do it. Either with the moss kit or from scratch on their own. You will be glad you did.

Hmmm, maybe I should install the headliner with the shell still on the rotisserie. Should be easier upside down!

It sure would............

I forgot about those plastic trims - mine were so brittle they broke & couldn't be reused. I got some leather-grain black vinyl and glued that on instead - looks sharp. I went with a black interior. I didn't have any problem sliding in the roof panel - need to remove the rear trim piece to get to the rails though.
Yeah, Ryan - I bet it would be much easier upside down - make gravity work for you.

Be very, very careful if you have to remove the side pieces as the platic clips often break are are not easily found as replacements. (at least they weren't two years ago) I removed my fiber board liner by cutting it out, leaving the side trim in place. Then I glued vinyl over foam padding directly to the roof. The result was less cabin noise, better heat insulation in the Summer, and more headroom. I'm a stickler for originality sometimes, but this was not one of those times. The fiberboard headliner is a very difficult and risky job.

Steve....the fiber headliner comes out easy. Take the rear trim panel off (the one with the interior light) and pull down and back on the rear of the headliner....comes right out unhurt. Used to get them all the time when MGBs were in pick-a-part.

My roof components are original and pretty fragile. The headliner was crumbling apart as it came out! I didn't want to chance destroying the trim. Besides, I've come to feel that the glued-on version is better for a daily driver anyway.

I guess.........oh well, knee is much better so I'll be off and there'll be no devil's advocate.........

The later cars had a headliner that slides out (Like Lloyd says) and you only have to remove the rear cover (Piece with the dome light covering the hinges). That piece is very brittle so be careful if you are going to reuse. I bought the Moss kit and will not do it on the next GT. Like Gerry said, the vinyl is so thin you can see every little spot weld or seam in the metal. If you want to do it yourself, make sure to get a thicker vinyl to cover the rails. I found that Pep Boys sells a cloth head liner (Cut to fit) with foam backing, in several different colors. Unless you need the rear cover and side pieces, you would be better off, price wise and quality wise to source the materials your self.

One additional item about the Moss kit, the rear cover supplied doesn't work with the switch for the dome light...

I've been thinking about the headliner as well. I have a small piece of polyethylene foam that I was thinking would work great in place of the stock fiberglass pad. It's a plasticy kind of foam that is closed cell so it doesn't absorb moisture and it's stiff enough that it will stay in place, but also be able to flex to put it in without tearing/creasing. You can buy sheets of it for relatively cheap at www.mcmaster.com Look up part number 8722K74.

Obviously you would then glue vinyl or something else to this. I plan on going with black Ultrasuede.

I have a 67Gt. Opted to go to the junkyard. bought the headliner out of a cavalier. cut it to fit. (rather detailed) glued new headliner fabric over it and glued the material to the back section of the headliner and to the areas above the door and along the top of the windscreen. cuts down the cabin space just a bit but it works and looks great.

All,

Thanks for your input. I had purchased a headliner kit from The Roadster Factory for my 73 GT. Since the main roof section came with a foam backing already attached, I just glued it to the roof and kept the molded roof panel and will use on the 67 GT. As many of you have pointed out, it will be easier to attach the material to the molded panel and then put that back in place.

I found a website automotiveinteriors.com that carries a big selection of headliner materials. I think that I can find something that closely matches the original thick off-white vinyl. Fortunately I kept the old pieces that I took out and will send to them to see if they can match. I will have to make the side panels from scratch. It doesn't make sense to buy new ones and recover. I think my rear panel (where the dome light) is in good enough shape to recover.

Ron

The OE backing for the headliner in my 68 GT (which is still backing the replacement vinyl I put in in the late 80s) was a bonded fiberglass material very similar to, if not the same as, the "hard" fiberglass sheet insulation used for many types of HVAC ductwork and other industrial stuff. It is about 1/4" thick and has stood up to reuse very well. It looked to have been molded to the contour of the roof.

I don't know what other year GT's got for the molded fiberglass cover for the hinges at the rear, but in the 68 I have, it is very thin and delicate. Watch out for this when taking it off!

I had the same problem as Jim with the plastic roof rail covers and just recovered them with vinyl to look the same as the OE pieces, like he did. 20 yrs later, they still look good. I, too, used an off-white for these and the headliner, as the OE grey (in 68) was hard to match back when I did it. I like the white better as is brightens up the interior to my mind.

I have, what I believe to be, an original headliner out of a 1968 GT parts car. I removed it about 20 years ago, and it has been sitting in a box in my garage. It is off-white or gray, with some splatter spots. It has no rips and is in good shape, other than the spots. It has some type of insulation on the back-hopefully not asbestos. I can possibly provide pictures or be induced to sell it.