Anyone with headliner experience?

[Paul_]

I'm going to do the headliner myself. First, where can I get material? None of the area shops sell anything wide enough and Wal-Mart doesn't really have anything either. Secondly, any reccomendations on adhesives? My next concern is the sunroof opening. Does anyone know how that trim ring comes off? I don't have acccess to the right now so I can't look. And I was debating on relocating the switch for the sunroof as I will be doing a center console and with the headliner down, this would be the optimal time to move the wiring. Thanks.

[trwp72]

Go to an upholstery shop to buy the material. The material has a foam back on it so you can glue it on without bleeding thru the material. Buy some of the spray contact cement, I used the 3M stuff, it worked fine for me. They have some that is specifically made for headliners. I redid the headliner in my 84, by taking it out of the car while i had the interior out. Much easier to get the headliner board out of the car that way. Be very carefull removing it, it is made out of some sort of foam board, and breaks easily.

After you pull the board out, pull the old headline off, and brush any of the foam off of the board, before you apply the new one. Then apply the spray glue to the baord, and then roll the new headliner material inside out, so you can roll it out on the board as you go, and then spray a small amount on the back of the headliner materisal, and unroll it a little at a time as you apply the glue to the foam. Be sure to smooth it out as you go, as once it sticks, it STICKS! (Do it like you would a decal, to prevent bubbles in it) I used a bondo plastic spreader, and worked it just like installing a decal. Also you can use the edge of the spreader to insert the material into the "creases" in the corners of the headliner. then let it dry for a few minutes, then put it back in. I had my visors recovered at the same time, but i had the upholstery shop redo them. Gost me $35.00 for both.

Tom...

Here is a link to my website on the headliner redo...
http://www.geocities.com/trwp39/page10.html

[gadget73]

Holy crap, Paul is back from the land of the missing.

[Pirate]

Holy crap, Paul is back from the land of the missing.

Yeah, seriously.

Some notes....

Check some local 'womens work' fabric stores. A lot of them carry the headliner material, but it's usually called something else. However, it's only carried in maybe ten colors. This is also a good time to customize, if you are really bored with the existing material color, and want to switch to something lighter or darker. Just to be safe, you will want to get about two yards of material. Yes, you will probably have some left over....but you can't stretch this stuff. Cost is around $10-$15 a yard.

Concerning the trim ring holding it in....is this in a Fox-body Mustang or something? Usually with some Ford's, it's simply a crimp-in weatherstrip ring that pulls off.

Get a can of the 3M Super 77 adhesive, it's going to be around $10 for the can. If you can't find it...get the General Trim Adhesive, it's around the same price.



Second....a wire cup brush on a cordless drill will make short work of the foam backing on the headliner panel. This has to be removed, but if you have a thin, scrubby layer left, it's not that big a deal.

Third.... When you are ready to slap the fabric onto the board, work from one side, fold the material through the middle, and fold it over. When you spray the glue, spray both the material and the board...and give it a medium coat. Now, before you fold it over, hold 30 seconds and allow the glue to tack up just a bit. work from the center out, flattening it out with your hands (be careful here, you may have glue on your hands), or use a Bondo spreader as instructed earlier. Fold the excess over the edges (remember to overspray a bit on the cloth), and trim the edges when you are finished.

Repeat on the other side.

Now, here's the fun part...you need to trim the sunroof hole out...don't cut to the absolute edges, leave some material to fold over the edge. Cut an 'X' into the sunvisor holes....and this is the time to get an ice pick handy.

When reinstalling it....use the icepick to 'search' for screw holes, probing softly for the holes...and when you find them, punch the ice pick through the hole.

There is a possible problem here. I don't know what kind of car this is, and whether or not this has a sliding cloth moonroof cover, or is just a push-out sunroof. The reason why this is important, is because there are two thicknesses of headliner material; 1/4" and 1/8". the 1/4" fabric is the standard stuff you use...the thinner 1/8th" is specifically for cloth moonroof covers, like you would see in a Volvo 740/760.

[1987cp]

Check some local 'womens work' fabric stores. A lot of them carry the headliner material, but it's usually called something else. However, it's only carried in maybe ten colors. This is also a good time to customize, if you are really bored with the existing material color, and want to switch to something lighter or darker. Just to be safe, you will want to get about two yards of material. Yes, you will probably have some left over....but you can't stretch this stuff. Cost is around $10-$15 a yard.

Yup, that's where I found mine, at the local JoAnn Fabrics. They actually called it headliner, though. Decent stuff, very similar to the original except for the super-limited color selection that you already mentioned he'll almost certainly find. Thankfully for me, my whole purpose for the project was to change color, though I wouldn't have minded finding something in between tan and bright red. I ended up spending about $45 on enough headliner fabric to do the wagon.

DEFINITELY don't waste your time with cheap adhesive. I got some stuff by Duro because it was cheaper than the 3M Heavy Duty they had there at the fabric store, and it basically didn't work and contributed to some weirdness in the end result. As I recall, Duce said he got some adhesive that was brush-on or roll-on and so avoided the mess and potential for uneven coverage from the spray adhesive.

The worst part of the job was just removing old foam backing from the cardboard after peeling the fabric layer off. It was a lot like removing old glued-down carpet padding they glued to wood floors in the '50s!

[DuceAnAHalf]

We avoid the 3M stuff. it smells like urine and doesnt tend to hold too well for us, but we do boats mostly so it is a little harsher on stuff. what works best is industrial contact cement (the stuff you would use to glue formica down to a counter top) but pretty much what Tom said.

we dont use any rollers or spreaders, but we have done so many i can do them in my sleep.

here is the one i did for my 85.

[Paul_]

Thanks guys for the info. I'll put it to good use when the time comes.


And Pirate, the car is a box GMQ. It has the cloth covered piece you pull forward. I should've mentioned that in my original post.

[CheeseSteakJim]

Is there any difficulty in removing the headliner from the car? I'm going to have to at least dye my Town Car's at some point.

[1987cp]

Not other than figuring out how to remove every single piece of trim adjascent to the headliner. Wagons aren't that bad, but in my opinion the sailpanel trim on sedans could be a good deal easier to get out.

[Pirate]

Thanks guys for the info. I'll put it to good use when the time comes.


And Pirate, the car is a box GMQ. It has the cloth covered piece you pull forward. I should've mentioned that in my original post.

That's okay, I was trying to cover everything, lol.

You are going to have some difficulty finding some 1/8" material. That's what you are going to have to use, unless you think you can get by with 1/4" cloth....and usually, you won't find that at Jo-ann's fabric (I have those near my house, but I'm not sure what's near you....thanks, Mikey, for reminding me of the name). However, if you could get me some pictures of the offending headliner....

Concerning the use of 3M....back when I was doing a lot of headliners, I bought industrial goo in 5-gallon buckets. The 3M Super 77 holds just about as well (for me, anyway), but I use the General (08088) when I can't find either of the other in a hurry. I haven't had either of the 3M products lift on me, but that's why I wait 30 seconds for it to tack up, and also why I spray as much as I do.

So far as the 'urine' smell....I haven't ever detected anything like that, but I admit that I don't have much of a sense of smell left after all of the cocaine I snorted in the early 1970's.

[87gtVIC]

So far as the 'urine' smell....I haven't ever detected anything like that, but I admit that I don't have much of a sense of smell left after all of the cocaine I snorted in the early 1970's.

or septum for that matter.

[gadget73]

Is there any difficulty in removing the headliner from the car? I'm going to have to at least dye my Town Car's at some point.

Fairly easy. Pull all the trim around the top, the B and C pillar trims, and work it out. Towncar headliners just sit in place, and you may find a couple of christmas tree type plugs around the perimeter that the headliner board is sitting on. They don't go through it or anything, they are there to hold the thing in place with the trim out. Factory manual says to pull it down in the front, sort of roll it, and out through the rear door. I've seen them pulled through the front door. Whatever is easier for you.

[1987cp]

I found it easier to pull it out through the tailgate.

Actually, I forgot, mine was in two pieces, which were pretty close to the same size. That would suggest that your materials cost should be roughly half what mine were, possibly about $23.

[DuceAnAHalf]

I found it easier to pull it out through the tailgate.

Actually, I forgot, mine was in two pieces, which were pretty close to the same size. That would suggest that your materials cost should be roughly half what mine were, possibly about $23.

normally costs me $16 since we pay $8/yd. since we get commercial pricing

[torquelover]

I use 3M's Super 77 all the time and never noticed any foul smells. The Super 33 is great stuff too, but not for headliners.

This stuff sucks: