VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum 1937 Chevrolet Coupe

Hi all,
My name is Matts and I'm running a small car upholstery shop in Sweden (Europe).
I've agreed to mount a headliner in a 1937 Coupe for a customer before doing the rest of the interior.
This is a rod but headliner assembly should be stock I gather.

There are 4 headliner bows, and the first one counting from front window is mounted in drilled holes.
The second one rests on sort of a ledge, and headliner is held in place by hooks pushed through the sewn channels.
So far no problems really.

Bow number 3 and 4 - and here is my problem - hasn't got any mounting holes left in this car.
Has anybody got pictures of this part of the interior, whithout headliner mounted preferably?

I think the bows delivered to me are the wrong ones in addition but this is the next issue to be solved...


Pictures in gallery, bottom of page under title "work in progress" Galleri

Attached are some shots of the bows for my 1938 Coupe. I suspect they are almost identical to a 1937. I am hoping someone can tell me whether these are installed correctly. It's mainly the floating ends without a hole that I question as they could be positioned differently. I was also surprised there were only 4.

Hi Tim and Matts,

I was just looking at the 1937-1938 GM Body Service Manual. There is a section about the headliner. The information indicates that the front wires are only attached to the roof bows. The rear wires attach to the headliner supports and the ends go into holes in the top of the rear quarter trim support. The directions are for sedans and coaches which have 7 bows. So only 4 in a coupe seems reasonable.

You might have to use a small mirror and light to try to see those holes. Another possibility is that the holes might have been welded over or covered if there was body work required in those areas.

The information states that the wires are of different lengths at each location. They also state that the removal process is from front to rear. So I expect that means the process should start at the rear to re-install a headliner.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Rusty, hadn't looked in the manual yet. Just made sure I took lots of pictures as it seemed odd the way the bows were but they do seem to be correct based on your description. The loose ends of the front bows lead the headliner nicely down to the nailing/tack strip above the door.
Have to source some fresh paper to wrap the bows with.

Thanks, this helped (especially since I haven't got the manual).
I'll try to find the holes in the rear section tomorrow, these are usually easily found on later models so I thought that something was done, but if they're hidden this explains a lot.

If I understand this correctly the front bow ends hang free and are not attached to holes in the body.

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When mounting a headliner you start in the back and work your way forward.
Do one section /bow at a time, and tighten it sideways when you've got the front and rear end tacked/cemented in place.
Keep all screws for internal lights and visors etc mounted, this makes it a whole lot easier to cut holes in the right place when you're finishing up.

I cut my headliner away specifically so I could see the bow mounting so they have not been touched in my photos. The 2 rear holes on each side are obvious once you are in the right place. My rods are in the holes in the pictures showing the rear side windows.

What are you installing on the roof for sound deadener?