visor rebuild?

T

Torque

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Oct 9, 2023
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Texas
Vehicle Details
'96 Bird 4.6
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My visors are just about as wrecked as my headliner at this point, so I'm considering options.

Has anyone here rebuilt/recovered the '96 stock visors, and if so, do you have pics and/or tips on how I should do it?

I know some people swap them out with lighted mirror ones used on other cars (e.g., Mk. 8, if memory serves), and I guess that could be an option.

I have a roll of new headliner material in saddle color, and it would be simple enough to use spray adhesive with the headliner material for a perfect match of the visors to the new headliner, but how would I hide the glued edges/seams? They'll look pretty bad w/o some kind of edge treatment. I guess a serger machine would make it look pro, but I don't have a serger. I have a sewing machine, but not sure how well it would handle something like this.
The mirror flaps are thinner, so I'm not sure headliner would work on those; maybe if I remove the foam backing (and manage to not destroy the fabric).

Are there any OEM visors (any make) with built-in extenders that fit the '96 Bird? I use my chintzy plastic aftermarket extenders frequently, because the sun is in the exact wrong spots between the visor/rear view mirror and visor/pillar. I need the drop down tint panels, too, because I often find myself stuck behind somebody with super bright brake/parking lights (e.g., pharmacy drive-thru).
I would like to have built-in ones for a cleaner look. I seem to recall one of my relatives had a Ford minivan a long time ago that had visors with built-in extenders, but I doubt they'd fit my car.
 
Rebuilding the visors shouldn't be too hard actually. You should be able to pull them apart. It's really one big piece, with fabric on just one side, folded over the edge, then stitched along the edge, and then the big piece is folded in the middle and glued together to create one visor with fabric on both sides.

I think you can make it look good without the stitching.

The mirror flap is a bit more tricky. I just replaced mine (which were literally turning to dust) with thin foam sheets from Michaels:

20220824_182058.jpg20220824_182140.jpg
 
The visors from A cougar are lighted, with mirrors. They are snapped together plastic frames, with the material stretched over the outside, and held in place by sharp protrusions. you remove the old, after carefully, snapping the halves apart, hook in the new material, and snap it back together.
That sounds easy, but it was a bitch to keep it all together as you snap it back together. The material wasn't glued to the frame, just stretched.
Mine were not that type of material, or stitched, iirc.
 
Seems like you have to remove the material in order to see the way to unsnap it. Was this in Matt's build thread? I saw it somewhere.
 
Those little hooks for the cloth are as sharp as cat's claws, lol. Also, 77 spray adhesive will let go in the heat; get the stuff from the material supplier that's guaranteed not to fall off. Don't let the headliner fold in half; it leaves a line. I'm going to glue some balsa strips on the back, and iron it flat.
 
In the snapped together lighted visors from the factory there isn't any adhesive used at all. It's a little tricky but you just push the fabric in with a screwdriver inch by inch working your way around one clip to the next before it's "closed" and the fabric is held taught . It's hard to explain.
 
Which years of Cougar lighted ones fit the '96 Bird and what's a good price on them? Do you source power for them from the dome light, or are there existing harness connectors meant for non-LX Birds?
 
Torque said:
Which years of Cougar lighted ones fit the '96 Bird and what's a good price on them? Do you source power for them from the dome light, or are there existing harness connectors meant for non-LX Birds?
Click to expand...

89-97. They're moonroof/non moonroof specific though. 93-96 Mark VIII ones are "double visors" which are a bolt in fit but you need to change the electrical connector.

Tapping off the dome light is fine, in fact I'm pretty sure that's the factory source
 
If I were going to hunt down a set, I'd go for the Mark ones. That's a nice feature.
I always said I wanted a job that didn't involve driving east in the morning, and west in the evening, but I always did that drive.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Oh, there's another project for me.
Click to expand...

I'll add one related, find a newer than 1998 Lincoln and grab the homelink module to swap out the one in the Mark double Visors. Older homelink models don't operate in the same frequency range modern garage door openers, but 98+ do.
 
I never even considered the visors from a mark 8. There are two of them in my local yard right now. Hmm..
 
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