Refurbishing Headliners -------- Converted
Recently, I've (re)done a couple of headliners, and am currently in the process of doing a 3rd right now. I wanted to do a little write up and share how inexpensive and easy it is to make your car look a lot nicer.
The first step is to remove the trim holding the headliner on. You want to get as much stuff as far out of the way as possible for this one. The trim around the sides of the windshield needs to come off, all the way back to the back of the car.
So far, I've only done hatchbacks, trucks, and minivans. Omnis, Minivans, H bodies, etc, should all be very easy, as the headliner fiberboard material should be able to come right out the back. Results may vary with other types of vehicles, but probably won't be too hard as they generally have huge doors and small ceiling footprints (thinking Daytonas and the like here).
Ok, once you have the headliner out, it's relatively cheap and easy to repair.
You'll need to go shopping first. So far, I've found everything I need at walmart, for about $20 even.
- Fabric - Thicker fabric, possibly with foam backing is the best. Just make sure you have enough fabric to cover one side of the headliner, with a good 4 inches (minimum) overlap on each edge
- 3m Super 77 Aerosal-Spray Glue
- Firm plastic bristled brush
- razors or scissors or something to cut the fabric.
Now that you have all that, the first step is to lay out the headliner on a large flat surface with plenty of room to work. A garage floor will work well, and with the right conditions, a driveway should as well.
Rip off the old fabric from the headliner. When dealing with cars of our era, this should come right off, with very little hassle.
Grab that little brush you paid $2 for and start gently brushing off the foam/glue mess that is stuck to the headliner. The reason headliners fail and the fabric ends up resting on your head is because over years the foam backing on the fabric the manufacturer used breaks down and seperates from the fabric. The foam and glue stick to the fiberboard, and the fabric sticks to the top of your head.
So, you brush off the entire headliner. It's important to get it nice and clean so the glue has a good surface to stick too, but not use too much pressure or the cardboard will get little rips in it that might be apparent through the fabric you bought.
Ok, now you have a clean surface. The next step is to lay your fabric out in such a way as you'll be able to slap it onto the headliner relatively quickly after you spray the glue. At this point, if you can have the headliner off of the ground, you'd be doing yourself a service.
Next, grab your glue bottle and shake it for a while, then pretend you're painting the headliner with spray paint. Just put a light even coating on the whole thing. You can tell where you sprayed, as the fiberboard will look wet.
After you spray the whole surface, lay the fabric down on top of it. You'll want to have it on even, with no ripples, and smooth it out from the center to the edges. You can stretch it a little bit if you want to get out some of the last little ripples.
Let it sit for a little while until it's good and on there, then flip it over. You definitely want it off the floor now, so the new pretty fabric doesn't get all dirty. You now want to spray the edges of the fiberboard and the fabric. You want to be able to fold the edges over and have them stick to the back.
At this point I'd recommend letting it sit for a couple of beers (or however you personally measure time) and then install. If you did it right, you should have a headliner that is prettier than stock, and will last you years to come...and all at the price of $20 and a few hours time.
Since I'm currently working on this at home, pictures will be added for the steps above in the near future.
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Originally Posted by Subliminal
Dave Tekampe
I had done several before I made this mistake.