BY Chuck VranasImages BY THE AUTHOR

ne of the best moments in reaching the end of a new build is when the business office finally starts to take shape. It’s a time when you can delve into the endless stream of options available from the aftermarket to help you decide on just the right parts, colors, textures, and materials to use when you’re ready to freshen up your interior and add a bit of a punch. Simple things like the headliner and carpet should never be overlooked as they frame the vibe of the interior, offering a solid base to work with.

Many readers of All Chevy Performance have seen the evolution of this 1971 Camaro laid out across our pages, being the subject of numerous tech articles over the past few years. Its evolution from a bare shell has introduced us to all aspects of the build, including suspension and brakes, LS driveline, cooling, exhaust, sheetmetal, wiring, insulation, and more. With a hopped-up 5.3 LS underhood nailed to a T56 six-speed transmission, it’s easy to see that it’ll be a beast once it hits the streets. This time we’re stepping deep into the interior to look at updating it with a fresh headliner and carpet set.

We recently stopped by Procision Industries in Taunton, Massachusetts, where shop owner Pat O’Brien was ready to move forward by designing the interior and taking on this very subject. With the body restored to its original factory Code 11 Antique White complemented by a black vinyl roof, it opened the door to many different color combinations. After making the decision on the carpet and headliner, he contacted Classic Industries to check into their extensive interior restoration offerings. For the headliner, a PUI reproduction Premier perforated vinyl material in black featuring their exclusive pre-sewn headliner body along with enough extra material to recover sunvisors, if needed, was selected. To complete the installation, he chose their reproduction headliner bows along with 20-piece headliner clip set, matching sunvisors with mounting brackets, interior headliner molding kit, dome lamp kit, headliner installation tool, and HH-66 Vinyl Cement. It’s imperative when taking on a headliner installation that you take your time in following all the steps highlighted.

Wanting to give the interior a lift, away from your standard black carpeting, an OER, two-piece, pre-molded carpet set in gunmetal gray was chosen, along with a pair of stamped steel sill plate wiring harness carpet guards, stamped aluminum doorsill plates, reproduction rear seat trunk partition divider with jute padding, and rear seat shelf package tray.

As with the headliner, it’s important to take your time through these steps, especially when fitting the carpet sections. This will include cutting access holes for the center console mounts, rear seatbelt mounting holes, rear seat mounting brackets, and floor shift. If a particular area of the carpet needs additional finessing, a heat gun can be carefully used to help shape it back to the needed contour.

The completed installation is flawless, getting us closer to home plate with plenty of adrenalin moving as we venture into seating next time. Let’s follow along as we get a start on the interior!

2. The Premier Perforated Vinyl headliner from PUI, sourced from Classic Industries (PN F8321501), was laid out on a flat padded surface to relax any wrinkles to the material from shipping. O’Brien then measured to locate the center of each headliner bow pocket from the outer edges of each inboard and set a mark using a Sharpie.

4. Trim the excess from the end of each bow pocket. Note that the headliner is wider toward the rear of the material.

6. To prepare for installation, the outer perimeter of the inner headliner material was given a spray coating of HH-66 Vinyl Cement. It was also sprayed on the inner front and rear headliner retainer strips as well as the sail panel areas.

8. For ease of installation, O’Brien trimmed the bow pocket material from each row while proceeding using a standard screwdriver to help snap each bow into the clips.

10. O’Brien then set the front headliner retaining strip (PN C95250) in place. Note there is a coating of previously applied HH-66 Vinyl Cement on the inner surface both front and rear.

12. The excess headliner material was carefully trimmed on both the driver and passenger side.

14. The freshly installed headliner looks awesome, accented by a new reproduction dome lamp set (PN R358).

16. To prepare for carpeting, the cabin was vacuumed clean followed by a wipe down with a damp cloth to remove any remaining dust. An OER two-piece molded carpet set in Gunmetal Gray from Classic Industries (PN K219035) was unboxed to relax to its form. Here is the rear section set in place.

18. The console mounting bracket was then brought through the carpet opening.

20. The carpet set is extra wide at the sill plate area allowing it to be custom trimmed to suit the application.

22. O’Brien followed by sliding the OEM-style die-cut reproduction rear seat shelf package tray (PN F3821001) into place.

24. To allow access for the shifter, the boot and handle were first removed to determine the size hole needed. A razor was used to cut the opening, allowing for perfect placement of the carpet.

26. The icing. O’Brien installed new OER stamped aluminum doorsill plates (PNs 9819034 and 9819033) from Classic Industries.