GTV headliner installation addendum

["dion fields" <noid@domain.elided>]

heres a little follow up to my previous two headliner postings.

1.  a digester warned me about replacing the old rusted bolts
used to mount the accessories.  he's right - if you use new
longer bolts, you run the risk of denting your roof from the
inside !  i was careful to use the same length or slightly shorter
pretty new bolts, and therefore had no problems.  i also found
out one of the reasons why my dome ( courtesy ) lights did not
work : the mounting bolts and the countersunk  mounting holes 
in the aluminum light castings were galvanic corroded.  this 
prevents the light to electrically ground and turn on when the 
switch is set to the 'on' position.  of course, my door switches
were also corroded, so that prevented the lights from working
automatically as well !

2.  there were a few drips, fingerprints, and seepages through
the snakebites with the contact cement.  i used a clean cotton 
rag ( old sock ) doused it with the contact adhesive remover that
i mentioned in part 1, and cleaned off the little messes.  with
no damage to the liner !

3.  finally, i used the "rope trick" to install the big windows.  with
the pre-assembled window/trim/gasket, i stuffed 3/16" synthetic rope in the slot of the gasket.  now here i messed up the first 
time.  it seems there are two grooves in the gasket besides the
ones for the glass and the metal trim.  use the deeper one !    i found out the hard way when the windshield was 3/4 the way on !
i also used a little dish soap between the glass and the gasket,
and on the flange of sheetmetal on the car to ease installation.  
without this, on my first failed attempt, i learned how the rubber 
sticks to the window frame and will not float around to allow 
proper alignment of the assembly.  i also used a string instead 
of rope the first time and found that it dug into the rubber 
severely.

so,  i wrapped the rope around the glass assembly in the
deep groove, with the ends overlapping at the bottom.   with
my trusty helper ( Dad ) we lifted the assembly into place while
holding the rope ends, and set the center of the bottom groove
over the sheetmetal flange.  then, while he pushed on the
ouside, i slowly pulled the rope out of the groove, which pulled
the gasket over the sheetmetal lip.  the top corners were the
difficult spots,  but with a little finesse and patience,  it all went
together nicely.


dion fields
'73 GTV
los angeles 




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