1958 Buick Caballero

YES! Except he's Joe I do believe?

 

Thanks for the compliment, OrthmannJ!
Yes MotoMike, it's Joe.

 

These wagons were equipped with molded, perforated hardboard headliner panels.
Pete Phillips (Buick Bugle Editor) had previously posted on the AACA forum about the difficulties he encountered when trying to install the reproduction panels. He used a steamer to soften the hardboard panels, but they still cracked. He also shared that the plastic retainers also fractured when he tried to install them, even though they had been softened with a lengthy exposure to hot, Texas sun.

Based on Pete's experience, I asked around for ideas.
Larry Schramm and another restorer friend of mine both recommended steaming the panels in a steam chamber to soften them before trying to install them.


Here's the steam box I built.
In the plastic bag are 57BuickJim's panels from one of his wagons; I planned to use them as patterns.


I decided to use the steel retainers as patterns instead of risking any damage to Jim's parts.
I used the retainers to make a pattern to pre-form the headliner panels.



It's a piece of luaun underlayment, attached to a pair of 1X8 boards in the desired shape of the headliner panels.
I didn't worry about making a form for each panel; I knew the parts would be "close enough" if I used an average shape.

In this photo, you can see the relief slots I cut to enable bending the luaun to shape.
I cut through 2 of the 3 payers of the underlayment so it would easily flex, then screwed the luaun to the 1x8s.



Here's the form installed in the steam box.
I lined the box with 6 mil plastic film and layed a sheet of plastic film between the pattern and the part being steamed.


Lid on the box and steam nozzle inserted in the side of the box:


If you look closely at the far corner of the box, close to the roll of blue paper towels, you can see steam wafting out from the lid.

The steam generator is this little beauty:


It is marketed as a weed killer!
It will generate steam at about 300F and up to 65psi.
It worked great to supply steam for the chamber. After a few minutes in the box, the panels were quite flexible.

I loaded them into the car and help them in position until they dried, using a variety of implements.
The crutches worked great!







The soft pads helped protect the painted surface of the panels.
I also used spring clamps and short pieces of the plastic retainer to keep things in place.


After allowing the panels to dry completely, I proceeded to install the retainers.

When I looked at the way the panels and retainers are installed, it appeared that the installation sequence had to begin at the windshield and progress to the rear of the car.

To begin, I had to button up the dash and install the windshield garnish moldings and visor brackets.

Before installing the upper dash panel, I finished up the wiring and added redundant grounds to the instrument panel and radio circuits.

My previous experience has taught me that I can't rely on good ground connections through all the epoxy primers, powder coating and layers of paint on restored parts. I add terminal strips that connect the individual device or circuit grounds directly to the body or frame. In this case, the terminal strip is connecting the insturment cluster/gauges/dash lights/radio and antenna ground strap to one of the IP to firewall brace attachments, which was cleaned to provide a good metal-to-metal connection.


New speaker mounted to the upper panel


It took me a long time - and MANY tries - to install the upper panel to the IP carrier with an acceptable fit to the dash pad.
This is one of the early trials:


Getting close!


Before installing the first (front) panel, the exterior windshield reveal moldings must be installed.
The reveal molding clips are attached to the body by studs that go through the windshield header.
The attaching nuts are installed through clearance holes in the windshield header, above the headliner panel.

Here are 3 of the reveal molding clips and the flange nuts that are used to retain the clips.
You can see a little bit of black sealer on one of the nuts; that is how I kept the flange nuts from dropping off the nut driver and falling into the body structure.


Here's a close look at one of the clearance holes with the nut installed on the clip stud; not a lot of room to work!


Exterior moldings installed...


The front headliner panel is retained at the front by the rear view mirror bracket, the windshield header garnish molding and the sun visor brackets.
The sides of the panel are retained by the roof rail garnish moldings.
The rear edge is retained by the snap-on plastic retainer.

First step is to install the mirror support and the two upper header garnish moldings


The upper, outboard corners are also supported by the A pillar garnish moldings.
The garnish moldings are installed after the lower windshield base moldings.


Between each of the headliner panels, there is a metal retainer onto which snaps a plastic retainer molding.
I found new moldings from another Buick Club member; painted the back side to replicate the original appearance, and I am installing the first piece here:


These parts are quite stiff and need to be heated to allow them to follow the roof contour without breaking.
I have tried a home hair dryer and a heat gun to heat the plastic pieces.
I found it too easy to overheat the part with the heat gun, so I will use the hair dryer on the remaining parts.

Here, you can see the straight, plastic part hanging down from the headliner.
Heating the part allowed me to shape it tightly to the roof, and then I had to trim it to the proper length to fit tightly into the end cap at the roof rail molding.


Here's the passenger side of the completed installation.


And a look at the driver's side, showing the end cap above the roof rail molding:


Second panel is retained by the palstic retainer shared with the front panel, the roof rail moldings and another plastic retainer at the rear edge.
This is the panel that will hold the dome light.


Two panels down, 3 to go!

 

Yikes!!! That is a lot of work! I don't relish doing the headliner in my Ranchero, but I'd take it rather than yours. The steam box was a great idea.

 

Superb work!

 

I don't envy you that headliner install, the cloth and metal bow setup in mine is enough for me.

 

Yep!
I've re-covered molded fiberglass and foam core headliners, but this is a first for me.
I'm sure they had a better process in the assembly plants!

 

Sorry Joe

Great work as always. This is going to be a rolling masterpiece when it is finished.

 

What are you going to do when your finished? You won’t have anything to do!!

 

I was thinking the same thing! I was also thinking that when it's done it will be so nice if it were mine I'd be scared to drive it!

 

No Hangar Queens!

 

Don't worry, I've got plans that will keep me quite busy...
Next year, we'll be showing this car at the Detroit Autorama, the 2019 Buick National meet in Oklahoma and the AACA meets in Auburn, Indiana and Hershey, PA.
I plan to trailer the car to the first few shows, then I plan to start driving it...a lot!

As soon as this car is finished, I will be starting on my next project.
Not another wagon; I've got a 1933 Pontiac waiting on deck.



I won't be bored!

 

Oooooh, you must be a glutton for punishment! You and Grizz have something in common now: resurrecting Tin Indians.

 

And don't think I don't see all the tin (and fiberglass) in the background, either!

 

Grizz has the most modern version of the straight eight that'll fit into the older Tin Indian. That way, Grizz won't have to continue rolling dice on the matter