Missing headlining (Page 1/1)
PeterCurtis AUG 21, 04:24 PM
Hi guys

Total newbie here so please bear with me. I have purchased a very sad 1987 Fiero based 308 GTB kit car and I’m in the process of attempting to restore it. As I’m in the UK, sourcing parts for the car is not easy and is often uneconomical so I am having to be quite inventive! The car sat on a driveway for 10 years before I spotted it and convinced the owner to part with it. I’ve rebuilt the front suspension and steering, and welded the crossmember as it had almost disappeared due to rust!

Now I’ve moved to the interior and I’ve rebuilt the dashboard and centre consoles as they were in such bad shape due to a previous ‘bodge’ job! Unfortunately, my car had no headlining in it at all so repairing is not an option. Does anyone have a blueprint or template for the headlining please? A photo plus a few key measurements would be enough to work on, I think. The car has a sunroof but I can work out where to cut it if I have the overall reference sizes.

Any help or tips would be really great.

Thanks in advance.

Peter
87_FieroGT AUG 21, 09:43 PM
Welcome to PFF!

Any way you can swing on of these from the Fiero Store? It comes with an ABS backboard and is great quality. I've installed a few of them over the years.

------------------

1988 Pontiac Fiero GT, Black w/Beechwood interior
Featured in the 2018 Fiero Store calendar month of May
2018 Volkswagen Golf GTI S

dremu AUG 21, 09:57 PM
Photos are doable, I suppose ... but you may be overthinking this. The factory headliner, at least on my car, was not terribly precise.

Were it me, I'd just get a great bloody sheet of cardboard, and cut it to size. You want to go to the windshield in the front and the rear window in back, and then a bit over the side trims on the side. Cut out around the sunroof and the domelight switch cluster (assuming your car is so equipped), and you've got yourself a template.

Then you get some expanded-foam PVC or thin ABS from a plastics place, or something semi-flexible and water-resistant (like I wouldn't use hardboard unless you really had to) and do it for real. Pad it with foam, wrap fabric around it a coupla inches each side, glued with that 3M spray glue, et voila, good as new.

-- A
Patrick AUG 21, 10:32 PM

quote
Originally posted by PeterCurtis:

I have purchased a very sad 1987 Fiero based 308 GTB kit car and I’m in the process of attempting to restore it. The car sat on a driveway for 10 years... I’ve rebuilt the front suspension and steering, and welded the crossmember as it had almost disappeared due to rust!



Peter, I know this isn't the focus of your post... but I really hope you've thoroughly checked out the rear upper frame rails. The following video shows one poor guy's issues with this common Fiero rust location.
PeterCurtis AUG 22, 05:14 PM

quote
Originally posted by 87_FieroGT:

Welcome to PFF!

Any way you can swing on of these from the Fiero Store? It comes with an ABS backboard and is great quality. I've installed a few of them over the years.






Yes, ideally that would be the answer but the shipping to UK is nearly the same price as the headlining.

Thanks for the response though.
PeterCurtis AUG 22, 05:16 PM

quote
Originally posted by dremu:

Photos are doable, I suppose ... but you may be overthinking this. The factory headliner, at least on my car, was not terribly precise.

Were it me, I'd just get a great bloody sheet of cardboard, and cut it to size. You want to go to the windshield in the front and the rear window in back, and then a bit over the side trims on the side. Cut out around the sunroof and the domelight switch cluster (assuming your car is so equipped), and you've got yourself a template.

Then you get some expanded-foam PVC or thin ABS from a plastics place, or something semi-flexible and water-resistant (like I wouldn't use hardboard unless you really had to) and do it for real. Pad it with foam, wrap fabric around it a coupla inches each side, glued with that 3M spray glue, et voila, good as new.

-- A



Thanks for the tip. I think I’ll give it a go and see what happens. Got nothing to lose.
PeterCurtis AUG 22, 05:22 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

Peter, I know this isn't the focus of your post... but I really hope you've thoroughly checked out the rear upper frame rails. The following video shows one poor guy's issues with this common Fiero rust location.




Hi Patrick

I’ve not had a good look yet as the rear lid only lifts about 24” as the previous owner put ridiculously short struts on it.

It has a small amount of rust on the inner wings but the battery tray seems to be intact! I suppose I’m putting off the inevitable but hopefully it’s not as bad as the video. I’ll keep you posted.
Patrick AUG 22, 06:39 PM

quote
Originally posted by PeterCurtis:

I’ve not had a good look yet as the rear lid only lifts about 24” as the previous owner put ridiculously short struts on it.



Peter, the decklid doesn't even need to be opened! If you notice in the video, the rear upper frame rails are checked by looking up through the rear wheel wells (with the plastic liners loosened/removed to gain access).

Judging from how bad your front crossmember apparently was, I'm afraid you're liable to be in for quite a rude awakening.


quote
Originally posted by PeterCurtis:

I’ve rebuilt the front suspension and steering, and welded the crossmember as it had almost disappeared due to rust!




Please don't take this the wrong way, but repairing non-essential areas like the headliner before investigating something major that could end up being bad enough to scrap the car over doesn't seem logical. And it's not all that difficult to check out either. I'm just trying to save you from possibly wasting a lot of time and/or money for nothing.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 08-23-2020).]

PeterCurtis SEP 13, 05:46 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:


Please don't take this the wrong way, but repairing non-essential areas like the headliner before investigating something major that could end up being bad enough to scrap the car over doesn't seem logical. And it's not all that difficult to check out either. I'm just trying to save you from possibly wasting a lot of time and/or money for nothing.




Hi, I certainly appreciate your advice and understand where you are coming from. The front suspension and associated rust appears to have stemmed from a poor repair after a front end accident, possibly carried out before the kit was bought. There are a number of ‘extra’ welds that had rusted through completely and, as the car has sat unattended for over 10 years, the rust had spread!

Living in the UK, Fieros are extremely rare, and with the 308 kit, even rarer still. I’m not in any hurry and wanted a challenge. Well I certainly got that!

An ongoing search is for a 3800S/C V6, or even a 2800 V6, I already have the 5 speed Getrag gearbox. Even rarer than Fieros, I fear.