1935 Dictator Roof/Headlin

[ken-renda]

How many "wooden ribs" are supposed to be used to support the fabric roof and how many of the ribs are also used to attach the headliner. This was a project car that the previous owner gave up on and it came with five replacement ribs but it looks like two of those ribs are not used to support the headliner which leaves uneven "gaps" in headliner spacing. I do have pictures of a finished 35 Dictator that appears to support this uneven appearance. There was no sign of the original roof or support for the headliner. My past experience is with headliners of post war cars and they have mostly even spaces between supports. Ken, back in Deltaville, Va

[gthawkr2]

How many "wooden ribs" are supposed to be used to support the fabric roof and how many of the ribs are also used to attach the headliner. This was a project car that the previous owner gave up on and it came with five replacement ribs but it looks like two of those ribs are not used to support the headliner which leaves uneven "gaps" in headliner spacing. I do have pictures of a finished 35 Dictator that appears to support this uneven appearance. There was no sign of the original roof or support for the headliner. My past experience is with headliners of post war cars and they have mostly even spaces between supports. Ken, back in Deltaville, Va

The headliner in my 35 was replaced about 5 years ago so I can't confirm that it was done as original, but my guess is that it was. Which ever, it looked great. Five wooden bows in the roof. Headliner is attached at header, 1st, 3rd, and 5th bows and then the tailpiece. Hope this helps. If you would like pics email: threestudes@gmail.com

[ken-renda]

gthawkr2; Thanks, that's exactly the information I was looking for. I have performed frame offs on several post war Studebakers and they all had headliners attached more evenly, front to back, and I think it would look better that way on the 35 Dictator. But, having said that I will go with the original attachment. Ken