Packard Forum Index » General

So the questions of the day:

1 ) Do I buy I presewn headliner?
If so, what vendor should I buy it from? (best fit ,etc)

1a) Should I installed it? At risk of having it look bad.

1b) Have a shop install it?

2) Or, do I just have an upholstery shop make me one and install it?

I guess what I am getting at, is cheaper to have an Upholstery shop make and install it, or pay the $200-$300 for a presewn one, and then pay a shop to install that?

Also I would need to have the sunvisors recovered in the same material, which would need to be done by a shop since I dont have a sewing machine that can sew through that thick of material (fabric and cardboard).

Comments? Experiences? Suggestions?

I've done both. A premade kit from Kanter on a 56 Patrician and installed it myself. Kind of awkward doing it alone but turned out OK. The kit had plenty of extra material and steam took care of some wrinkles that developed as it went around the curve near rear window.

At the time Kanters offerings were nowhere close to the original fabric so a downside. No idea if that situation has improved for the later cars -- although what he recently sent for consideration in the 47 is not bad and looking very tempting. I think it is cotton but not sure. It is considerably less than buying wool material from Hirsch and having his supplier make one.

On the Caribbean a local shop made a new one using the old as a pattern and also installed it. That old headliner was in good condition -- just thoroughly stained and polluted from a chain smoker. If you have something in decent condition to use as a good pattern, IMO, probably the best way. If the one for a pattern is torn and shrunken then unless the upholstery guy is familiar or at least pretty decent at filling in blanks, maybe not.

Finding a fabric to perfectly match the 54 original might be an issue.

I'm currently waiting for my headliner (and seat broadcloth) from SMS (- it has shipped they tell me, but is coming surface, by a container to Australia so takes a few weeks).

I decided on SMS because headliner and also seat broadcloth samples were an exact match and type of material as per original. I'm also getting my door trim panels made by them as no-one else anywhere could / would do the exact same 51 patterns. Broadcloth in door panels is now going to match seat material which is a big advantage.

I understand SMS has all the original Packard patterns so fit should be aok.

Hirsch probably had broadcloth but were unsure as to what colour when I enquired yet SMS said they knew the 51 colours & patterns etc 100percent. Me being way 'over here' in a 'foreign country', I needed certainty for that.

Kanter has gone away from having the same original cloths for Packards, which is a shame. They had nothing like original broadcloth type or colour for my '51 (- I got their samples), but did have a few choices for headliner materials so you might get a correct headliner for yours -??

Have heard of others installing their own headliners and it worked out ok. Should do, provided pattern is correct for the car. If pattern isn't I guess you can always send it back saying it doesn't fit!

big-k; u might check out acme top in s-ca, i think they make the head liners for a lot of suppliers. i think i have there number at my office if u can't find it. dell

Problem is that I have no headliner to even use for a pattern, it was torn apart by rats.

I have a couple of queries into a few different pre-sewn suppliers, and will report back.

I have installed 3 headliners from Kanter. They all fit perfectly and were the correct material. John