Has anyone installed a woodie type ceiling in their regular steel bodied wagon? I need a new headliner in my 67 Country Sedan. I can swap the old one from the donor car ...maybe, but it has a small tear in it and is pretty grungy. A new one is more money than I care to spend for something so plain looking. The Woodie Ceiling looks georgeous and depending on the wood selected, should be fairly budget friendly figuring I do all the work myself. Although I'm not a Master Carpenter, I am pretty handy with woodworking.
That's a great idea . Remember to measure twice and only cut once . Take your time and you will be well rewarded .
Looks great. I don't understand all the fuss and expense of a headliner. Not a station wagon but I replaced the headliner in my 87 Chevy van and my later Dodge van with carpeting. Also a few friends older pick up trucks. I am not an apholsterer, painter, or body man. For the Chevy it was a grey and silver van with grey interior. Shopped around discount carpet stores and the Home Box stores. found a light weight light grey cheap. Using maybe 1"X1" stained wood strips for bows I did it in sections beginning at the front. Looked factory and with carpet there were no wrinkles. I've always messed with old cars and kept my late models running because I enjoy working on them . I don't enjoy paying others lots of money to do it. With this said, your plan makes sense to me. maybe Dewey will do the same. The slats can run either direction and many styles.
Sounds like a neat idea, but there could be some drawbacks - sound for one. No fabric headliner w/ insulation = more sound bouncing around the interior. The wood strips might deaden it a bit, but probably not much.
I was intending to put some sort of adhesive backed sound deadening panels up, a layer of insulation, and a layer of black fabric that will show between the slats. After saying all that, It probable wouldn't save me any work but it sure would look cool. Any idea how the wood should be secured to the roof structure?
I had been considering doing that for some time now. The ribs and slats will be easy to install, it's the ends that you need to work out. At some point the roof ends and depending on the shape of the roof... Well, lets just say that I have not yet figured out my '58 yet. Also, another consideration is how to install? Piece by piece or as a pre-fabbed one piece which keeps the varnishing of the wood OUT of the car till it's ready to install.
Not seeing your cars but from memory of some of mine there seem to be a lip along each side. Maybe make the bows slightly oversized then spring them into place, having a notch at each end. Or here's a great idea. Drill a hundred holes in the top and bolt those bows in place. Or maybe lag bolts from the outside. Chromed FLAT HEAD BOLTS WOULD LOOK COOL.
No. Stop being silly. Wingnuts cause too much wind resistance. Have to use the rounded stove bolts or lag screws. Or possibly Gorilla Glue or panel adhesive if you don't want to drill holes.
Oh come on now....use wingnuts and line them up to be aerodynamic...don't we have any other airplane people here....even the screwdriver slots are usually lined up "with the wind"....
The only airplanes I flew had only one wingnut. That was my friend who owned the planes! But I do suppose by adding a small air deflector under and in front of the first wingnut the aerodynamics would be fine. After all, most older station wagons travel under 200 MPH. By using a roof rack those retaining bolts could be used on some of the headliner bows. Maybe just add a second roof rack. I actually do line up screwdriver slots. But not always with the wind.
