GRAND PRIX Headliner

[buick7332]

Looks great! Gotta ask because I never remember...was it 3 or 4 clips for the rear upper trim piece?

Yeah, nobody LIKES doing them, even the auto upholstery shops.

But make sure that you can get someone who can refurbish or resew the visors for you with new fabric to give it that final good look as well if you can't get a spot-on match. Reason I say this is because it can be tough to find the exact shade to OEM you need. If yours do match, you're very lucky. My 87 442 is exactly the case in point as it had a few irritating blisters that surely weren't going to heal themselves.

Here it is after I reinstalled the newly refurbished headliner. Not too bad of a match at first glance. Those lines aren't wrinkles, it's just sun reflections. It's been 11 years now using 3M headliner adhesive and it's still looking great. So I have confidence in the 3M stuff. It's been at least 20 years ago (yikes) for the 84 H/O done with 3M glue and it still looks good as well. But keep reading.
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Samples are usually off with dark blues and maroons. The 87 442's original material is bottom right triangle looking piece without any foam on it. Nothing looks exactly like OEM here. This is just a few samples I had out of seemingly a dozen blues from various places.
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OEM on far right.
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I finally got something "close" but still, not exact. I don't look up much when I'm driving anyway. And this is why I said you have to have enough new material to redo the visors, just to keep things matching. You can see here it doesn't exactly match the OEM visor color. Redoing the visor makes it look "even" and in the case of the blue or maroon it would blend effortlessly where someone might not even notice. It was a bright day and the camera didn't capture the correct hues, but in this pic, there's no doubt there's a difference.
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That rear piece takes 3 clips, they are different than the front. They look like an arrowhead. As for the sunvisors, my wife was in the upholstery business for years and has the right sewing machine and equipment to get the job done. I was not concerned with an exact color match. I'll post a sunvisor pic when they are done.

 

[buick7332]

That rear piece takes 3 clips, they are different than the front. They look like an arrowhead. As for the sunvisors, my wife was in the upholstery business for years and has the right sewing machine and equipment to get the job done. I was not concerned with an exact color match. I'll post a sunvisor pic when they are done.

Now I see why auto upholstery shops want so much money to do this.

 

[69hurstolds]

That rear piece takes 3 clips, they are different than the front. They look like an arrowhead. As for the sunvisors, my wife was in the upholstery business for years and has the right sewing machine and equipment to get the job done. I was not concerned with an exact color match. I'll post a sunvisor pic when they are done.

I bolded the concerning part...she was in the upholstery business for years and didn't warn you about this endeavor??? Or was it home upholstery? I bet she loves to see a good train wreck, doesn't she? 🙂

Thanks for the refresh on the clip numbers.

Speaking of numbers- FOR MOST G-BODIES: Front windshield clips are GM p/n 20058837 disco'ed from GM, (aftermarket Car-pak 92-7045, Auveco 18398- still available aftermarket) and rear window clips are GM p/n 20061050. Rears are $6.46 list price EACH, shows still available from GM, but not sure. (aftermarket Auveco 17386 - these are discontinued). Imagine that. 2 door non-Elkys normally also use 6 side clips, GM p/n 20340201, also available aftermarket at places like OPGI, etc.

There's always the "kits" some people sell on ebay and the like. They're out there, but I always replace all the clips for the headliner stuff whenever possible. That nylon/plastic gets brittle over the years.

 

[buick7332]

I finally got to the sunvisors . I cut the stiching on the fabric to get to the original cardboard out. Flatened and taped up to make a pattern. I used beer box cardboard and cut a new pair. A piece of silver tape to sure up the screw hole, new bushings from opg , and my wife who nows how to sow stitched them up. Got them installed on the car today.