Has anyone had to do a headliner yet?

[supercrackerbox]

Subtitled 'When did Mopar's interior quality turn to such junk?'

I just picked up an '09 Caliber SRT4 yesterday. 43,xxx miles. Overall it's nice, but has a lot of cosmetic flaws for such a (what I consider) low mileage vehicle. Most of the exterior ones I can easily fix. But there's a lot of interior trim pieces that need replaced already, including the headliner (and carpet for that matter). How hard is that to remove and recover?

For reference, my Daytona has 240,000 miles and overall is in much better condition.

[iTurbo]

Holy cow! Right on man.

I'm a little surprised you are having issues with it already as mine has worn very nicely (read: little if at all aside from some dust buildup). I rarely have passengers though, so the interior on mine is still near perfect after 35k miles. Not having kids and not using it as a daily driver has helped of course.

The only thing I've noticed on mine is that the left/bottom side of the seat boltser on the driver's seat is starting to show cracking/wear but that is it..

Any plans for mods? Mine only has Mopar S1 and is a hoot to drive. Just today I shot down an STI with injectors/tune/downpipe. I think he was kinda bummed when I told him I only had Mopar S1 and have not even bothered to change out the stock air filter yet..

[ajakeski]

Stockinterior.com sells headliner materials.

http://www.stockinteriors.com/autoheadliner.asp?Itemid=6729&ModelId=&MakeId=

[supercrackerbox]

It's got a K&N Filter kit (the whole box, not just a drop in), but that's it. As far as other mods, I haven't really found anything available yet with what little looking I've done.

It looks like the left lower bolster on the driver's seat may have been patched- either that or they used a severely scarred "cow" for the "leather". The lower trim pieces for the driver's side B and C pillars are damaged. The plastic handle for the sunroof cover is in the glovebox, broken, along with one of the trim pieces for the driver's seat. The cargo cover is bent. Stains all over the headliner in the back, along with the sagging cloth. Long story short, while it doesn't seem like it was abused, it certainly wasn't babied. Most likely had kids in it. Texas car all its life. Also has some crappy tint work, although that obviously can't be blamed on Mopar.


https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/q84/p296x100/1619287_1689478401277807_3095301596285262429_n.jpg ?oh=cb523f7d3d7bd108aa85c42cd2c6d226&oe=548E9F26&__gda__=1422480783_ce04c400b341ed003f477c56732cb72 c

See if the pic works. Yes, the color was a big deciding factor.

[cordes]

I would love one in that color. Keep us updated. Hopefully it was a good deal given all of the problems for a vehicle of that mileage.

[iTurbo]

Love the blue color those came in! Mine is Sunburst orange. Back when I bought mine, the blue was not available since it was an '09 color.

Does it have any upgrades at all as far as performance? Mine (bone stock) was only giving about 10-12 psi at WOT, but with the Mopar S1 I now see 16 psi at WOT consistently. There are a few ECU upgrades now including the RealTune MS1K and also the new tuners from Diablo. I don't have experience with MS1K or the Diablo tuners, but with Mopar MS1, it has no problem pulling the front tires loose through 1st and 2nd gear and barks 3rd gear a bit too (with TCS off of course).

I have several upgrades I will be installing this fall/winter. I have the TCS (aka driver mod) from NDperformance, and some stuff from Needswings (downpipe, cutout, and intake) as well as a couple gauge pods from Inline Carbon (formerly Gizmos Retrofits).

Other than the Mopar S1 upgrade, I have installed the Gizmos Retrofits lower splash shield (stock was flimsy and broke easily) and also their upper radiator cover. I also powder coated the valve cover. But that is about it. Very happy with the performance of the car and have been reluctant to further modify it because it just hauls --- already!

Edit: Part of why I have been reluctant to further modify the car is that it is so much faster than my other cars. I really feel that the only way that my Omni GLH Turbo or Shelby Lancer or Spirit R/T could hang with the Caliber SRT if they were converted to 16v and a big turbo with higher boost. I don't see a a bolt-on mods TII car keeping up with it at all, even an L-body.

[supercrackerbox]

I'll have to look into the Mopar ECU. I may look into exhaust too. After 5 years in the Daytona, I'm not used to a car that I can't hear running. I'm not going to go very far with it, because it will be daily driven. Boost gauge is reading 10psi WOT. I'm guessing that's an electronic gauge and not a mechanical, right? Amber thinks it will walk all over her ST, I'm not so sure. To me it doesn't feel that powerful for the few times I've gotten on it, but I am surprised where the speedometer is when I let off. It definitely doesn't feel faster than my Charger did, but that's fine as long as it's reliable.

Edit: Looks like the Mopar MS1 is long discontinued, so that's out.


I would love one in that color. Keep us updated. Hopefully it was a good deal given all of the problems for a vehicle of that mileage.

Mechanically it seems top notch. If nothing else just the clutch feels better than the orange one I test drove in Oklahoma (pretty sure that one was slipping). It rides great, brakes very well, and turns corners pretty fair. And the seats are super comfy. Aside from the headliner, worn spot on the carpet, and the damaged trim pieces, it really just needs a good proper detailing- not the hose it down with Armorall that the dealership gave it. Engine bay was dripping with it when I picked it up- even after being driven from KC to Lincoln. I took it straight to the car wash.

[going4speed]

how does one get stains on a headliner? I'm not sure I want to know. :hail:

[supercrackerbox]

Hard to say. Many of them look like grubby hand prints, which is why I'm pretty sure there were kids back there. Back seat itself is immaculate though.

[iTurbo]

I think my CSRT was giving about 10-12 psi when I bought it new. Ever since I had MS1 installed I see 16 psi consistently at WOT (ESP button off of course). The throttle response improved a lot too.

Honestly if I were you I would probably just get the RealTune MS1K or one of the Diablosport tuners and not bother with Mopar MS1.