VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 1948 fleetmaster headliner

Last year I bought a 1948 Fleetmaster 4 door sedan. The headliner had been stripped out but the bows were in the trunk. There were seven bows, 4 with loops to attach with screws and 3 without loops to attach to hooks on the roof crossbars. It looks to me like there should be a fifth bow with loops to go in the middle of the car. Can anyone tell me if there should be 7 bows or 8?

I have a 41 sedan set of bows still in their original liner. I counted only 7 bows in the same configuration as yours.

Good luck, Mike

Hi Mike, Thanks for the pics. I am still puzzled though. The previous owner said he pulled the bows from the headliner that was in the car when he got it, and there were only seven. I have cleaned the bows and mounted them in the car and they all fit, but there are mounting screws for one more bow in the back where they are close together. I also found a pic of a '48 4 door that looks like eight bows. I am starting to think that at some time in it's life this car had a new headliner installed, and whoever did it used one from a '41 and he ended up with one bow left over. Also the bows in mine are all made from round wire unlike the flat type in your pic. I am still hoping to find someone with a '48 fleetmaster 4 door to see if they have 7 bows or 8.

All the bows in my 48 Aero are rods..The rods are curled in a circular pattern at one end and have a removeable screw bracket on the other...All could be different for the Fleetmaster though??

My '48 4 door Fleetline has 8.

Thanks, That is exactly the type of rods in my Fleetmaster. There are 3 that have no clips or loops on the end, and these 3 go into the roof supports over the drivers seat. The others are just as you describe.

That looks like what is supposed to be in my fleetmaster. The third one from the back is missing, but the screws are there so somewhere along the line one has evidently been discarded. Thanks everyone for the help.

My 47 Fleetmaster has 8 bows. I wish you luck my friend!!
It was THE worst thing I have ever attempted while refurbishing my car. Cant think of anything I did to the car that was worse and I did everything myself besides reboring the cylinders. Ughhhhh just thinking of it............

No pain No gain...Just look how nice Russell's turned out!!

P.S.with the correct measurements the missing bow should be real simple to fabricate...I have not seen any on e-bay in a while

Yes, a simple part to fabricate, and the clip for the end is an available part. I am going to give Ida a call first to see what she has. She is a real good source for hard to find Chevy stuff.

IDA is awesome used her so many times!!!

Latigo I may be able to help with your clip.Send me a PM

Fleet, I sent you a private message.