It’s time to order a headliner and I’m looking for some input on quality and price. I know AutoKrafter has them and I see a few sold on eBay for varying prices. I just don’t know the quality, originality and price. So, would those who have recently purchased one chime in on their experience. I will be replacing a black one in my ’71 and would like to retain the original appearance as much as possible. The old one has hung in there amazingly well with only one or two small tears. I’m going to repaint the car and get rid of the sunroof. Thanks,
I've bought one from SMS, in a custom color, it was excellent, but 4 times the usual prices, and I bought another from AK in standard Black, and it also looks excellent ( I haven't installed it yet) The one's from AK are licensed from Ford, so you know that they will be of some quality.
I replaced my headliner with a AutoKrafter liner. The guy doing my headliner told me that it is GM style material...not Ford. He said Ford used a cotton backing but he hasn't seen that type of material in 20-25 years or better. He also said that the Ford material will shrink whereas the GM stuff will stretch over time. Other than that we're stuck with what is on the market today. Be sure to use the factory style insulation between the liner and roof. I didn't do this and if I look up while driving down the interstate with the windows down I see wrinkles. The wrinkles go away when I slow down. My thinking is the insulation will take up some of the space between the liner and roof and not wrinkle as bad when the wind is blowing across the headliner. I put a layer of Peel and Seal on the roof before installing the headliner. This was a good chose as far as insulation/sound deadener. My car is very comfortable in the summer with no A/C. Just wish I also used the factory insulation to go along with it for the reason I said above. As far as eBay quality goes I have no experience in what you're getting into.
Well, so far, the majority is with Auto Krafters. How close was their pattern to the original? They always seem a bit expensive but if it is better, I'm OK with that. As far as insulation, I was going to use Dynamat to kill the resonance and Tac Mat for the insulation.
I didn't have a "real" headliner to begin with so I can't you how close. Here is a pic installing the roof rail weather stripping.
got mine from stock interiors because they have all kinds of different shades of colors and i know they will send u samples of the colors they have atleast on the carpet they will dont know about the headliners
The origianl headliner material is called "Tier". Used on all Ford's through the 70's. Most reproduction headliners are limited to what is avaiable in reproduction colors, most popular ones. Acme Auto Headlinig in CA not only has all of the popular correct Tier grain headliners but also has a limited amount NOS odd colors avaiable, light green, orange, etc. The quality is excellent, they make headliners for many other companies. Fred
I put an Auto Krafters head liner in my Comet It was the same Material as the original one that came in my one owner all original 72 Comet. It fit perfectly. It only took me a few days to install it working only in the evenings.
Not to hijack but I wonder if anybody put in a headliner without removing the front and back windshield?
I have saw on here that it has been done. I would say that normaly if you need a head liner that your windshield and back window gaskets would need replacing also. So it would be a good time to replace all at the same time.
