Headliner install in a non-sunroof car???

[Duc Hunter]

I’ve been doing some reading of old threads, and struggling to get my headliner installed. I was very careful to take the old headliner out and not get the order of the bows messed up. I did clean them up, and give them a nice coat of black paint so they’re protected. I got a headliner from Stutgartt Classica , which looks great. The challenge I’m having is that the #3 three bow, from the front, seems entirely too long. Like in some of the old threads I’ve seen, it just looks bent and curved once up in the roof. I saw some news in old threads that Porsche had a bad batch of bows that were just simply too long, and that’s what this seems like. The #4 seems perfect, so does #2. #1 is a little curved and strange, but seem manageable. On. A bench #1 & #2 are the same shape, #3 is longer than 1/2, and #4 is the longest. I even tried mixing the order around, and thats just worse.

About the best thread I found talking through putting a non-sunroof headliner in a car was back in 2008. I wonder if anyone has any newer information on how to do this easily, well actually had to do this at all, LOL. I am confident that once I get the bow in the right place the rest of the process is pretty self-explanatory. Right now the Bose, I have, when flipped up vertically towards the roof, the outside edge of the Bose is heavily smashed into the roof. This doesn’t seem right, I can see the middle of the bow, touching the roof, but the outside edge makes no sense. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

[75 911s]

Mike's video is pretty comprehensive.

Mike's Restorations

The two bows that are the same length go in the first two positions . The shortest one goes in the rear most position, and the one that's left goes in the third position.

You are using your original bows from your own car right? When I did mine, I tried new factory bows from Pelican. They were all too long and didn't fit at all. I found a good used set and the bows fit perfect and did not touch the ceiling. They are held upright by the tension and the grooves in the roof metal.

[Duc Hunter]

His video is great….but he doesn’t really show how the bows look without the headliner. Yes I am using the bows that came out of my car, with a great looking headliner (removed for rust repair). I dont know if they are original Porsche bows from 1975, but the old headliner looked great.

As I said above, the #4 (rear) bow snaps into place without the headliner, sits vertical and is straight across the roof. It touched the roof in the middle and not the sides. At the sides it’s very close to the roof. This is how I would expect them all to look. the #3 appear to be way too long.

Porsche had news ones I can get but everyone seems to think they are too long. That said I have not seen someone say that in 2023 or 2024. Stuttgart Classica makes their own, and from pictures on their site they look different than what I have. I am waiting on them to send me measurements.

I just dont understand what I’m doing wrong that my old headliner fit great with these bows, and I can’t seem to make them work now.

[Dpmulvan]

I just did a headliner with bows from pelican/porsche.if I remember correctly 2 whites a green and yellow?
The ones in the back where tight but once you put the weight of the headliner on them they settle into place and come off the roof. Headliner came out perfect no complaints.

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by Duc Hunter

His video is great….but he doesn’t really show how the bows look without the headliner. Yes I am using the bows that came out of my car, with a great looking headliner (removed for rust repair). I dont know if they are original Porsche bows from 1975, but the old headliner looked great.

As I said above, the #4 (rear) bow snaps into place without the headliner, sits vertical and is straight across the roof. It touched the roof in the middle and not the sides. At the sides it’s very close to the roof. This is how I would expect them all to look. the #3 appear to be way too long.

Porsche had news ones I can get but everyone seems to think they are too long. That said I have not seen someone say that in 2023 or 2024. Stuttgart Classica makes their own, and from pictures on their site they look different than what I have. I am waiting on them to send me measurements.

I just dont understand what I’m doing wrong that my old headliner fit great with these bows, and I can’t seem to make them work now.

Fitting bows with and without the headliner on them are two different animals. Install the bows in the headliner and hang it I’ll bet you’ll be ok.

[eastbay]

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

Fitting bows with and without the headliner on them are two different animals. Install the bows in the headliner and hang it I’ll bet you’ll be ok.

I did the headliner in my 74 slick top coupe and was not excited about the funky way the front bow fit.

Two years on can't tell by looking at it.

And they were all original bows marked to be in the original locations. The original roof foam made it slightly harder to fit the bows, but on the positive side there were nice witness marks in it so the bows went in the correct spots.

[Duc Hunter]

I believe I solved my problem. In these pics the silver bow’s are new Porsche Factory Bows. The old ones are the ones that came out of my car, and were giving me problems. I trial fitted the new factory bows and they fit great, and look like they will be perfect. I thought get the headliner installed this week, and will report back. I am pretty sure this solves the “are the Porsche bow’s still too long.” The answer being no, they are right now.

[75 911s]

Cool. Thanks for the follow up Chris.