headliner material

[84Waggie]

Hey guys, I am about to put on some new headliner material, which I picked up at the local fabric store, 5x9 peice for $21!, and was wondering if anybody had any good tips? I know I got to get the boards clean, but any other good tips would be appreciated. Luckily the boards are in good shape, so I hope this will be kinda easy.

[HD_JEEP]

Pics of it.

I am about to do the same. Could you please post up some pics of the progress you make on it.

I found this....

Please remember, this is a general set of instructions and every different make and model of vehicle will be different. You can easily adapt these instructions to your particular vehicle.

1. The auto headliner is attached to a headliner board that has to be removed from the car. First remove all the trim around the edge of the headliner board.
2. Remove dome light, hanger hooks, and seatbelts that are attached through the headliner board.
3. There may be clips that hold the automotive headliner board up in the front of the headliner board. Unclip them, and carefully remove the headliner board from the car.
4. Once the headliner board is out of the car, remove the old material from the headliner board. You will notice that some of the foam is still attached to the headliner board. Scrape the headliner board with a bristle brush or light sand paper to obtain a smooth surface. The smoother the surface, the nicer the job will turn out. Be very careful not to damage the headliner board!
5. Next lay the new automobile headliner fabric over the headliner board to make sure the material is wide and long enough to cover the entire headliner board before you apply any glue.
6. You will be using contact cement, therefore, once the two surfaces make contact, you can not remove the material from the headliner board. If you have any concerns about applying the material, contact you local trim shop and have them complete the job for you.
7. Fold back the front half of the fabric and apply adhesive to both the headliner material and the headliner board. Working with 1/2 of the material at a time makes the process easier. Lightly stretch material over the headliner board and press lightly with the palm of your hand to secure the fabric. Once finished, repeat the process with the back 1/2 of the fabric.
8. Allow adhesive to dry, then carefully cut any holes for visors, hanger hooks, etc. Usually these holes can be cut by simply making a small X.
9. Before reinstalling the headliner board, trim the excess fabric from the edges. If possible, you should leave 1/2 inch extra around the edge and tuck the excess under the trim.
10. Carefully reinstall the headliner board in your vehicle and all trim to hold the headliner board in place.

[BamaDrew]

I think BJ's Offroad has a headliner replacement kit that can be used to eliminate the board completely because as is the case with my Jeep, the board has suffered water damage due to leaking roof grommets and is warped beyond repair.

Ryan, can you confirm that?

For my project when I get to the headliner part I plan to install some Dynamat-type sound/heat insulation that I found in the LMC truck catalog (sells stuff for Chevy and GMC trucks) then put the headliner in below that. I do wonder how eliminating the board would be and let it be completely foam and fabric. If it's done right I could see how one might never have sagging or pulling away problems anymore because its not having to adhere to a hard surface and be folded around the edges.

Any thoughts?

[710 Burner]

Its been many years since I have done one. IIRC I rolled it up after I cut it oversized so I wouldn't be trying to start at the middle and work my way out because I did not want to wrestle with it. I lined it up carefully and rolled it out a little at at time smoothing it from the center across to both sides as I moved along.

[Tripwire]

I did my headliner and messed it up

I used the wrong contact adhesive

There is a special adhesive you use that wont soak into the foam backing. if you use regular adhesive it soaks in.....looks just fine till the first time you press on it with a finger and it leaves a permant dimple cuz the foam stuck together internally

Trip

[palexand]

"Contact Cement", ehh? I thought it was regular 3M spray adhesive for such a job. I'll be doing mine next month.

[Brizio]

Interesting! I'll follow this post, because I need to do the same work.

[billyrb]

Drew, right now our kits are fabric and padding, but don't include the board. But, we are in the process of having the headliners remade from ABS plastic, which we'll list on the site when ready.

[crazy8s]

Drew, right now our kits are fabric and padding, but don't include the board. But, we are in the process of having the headliners remade from ABS plastic, which we'll list on the site when ready.

Awesome! An ABS headliner sounds great since mine is missing completely.

[FSJ Guy]

Drew, right now our kits are fabric and padding, but don't include the board. But, we are in the process of having the headliners remade from ABS plastic, which we'll list on the site when ready.

Shipping is going to be the killer on this. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

PSSSTTT!!! My FSJ has the factory sunroof.

[BamaDrew]

Drew, right now our kits are fabric and padding, but don't include the board. But, we are in the process of having the headliners remade from ABS plastic, which we'll list on the site when ready.

Cool. That might be the way to go. I'll keep an eye out for those. I still wonder about doing it without a board though...insulation on top then foam and material on the bottom....

[84Waggie]

OK IM DONE!!!!!! It wasnt too bad, about 3 hours in all. I had to scrape the old adhesive off the headliner, which luckily were not to warped so I could re-use, then I cut my fabric, I did not cut to fit yet. I then sprayed the adhesive on both the back off material and then the headliner itself, in about 3 different sections per headliner, waited 2 minutes for adhesive to get tacky, then rubbed it all down. After it was dry I cut the excess off, left about a half inch all the way around, and where the was a hole, like the visor holes, or any lights, I cut "X's" so I could fold the material back. It turned out AMAZING, its kinda chilly here so tomorrow when the sun hits the top it should smooth out the few places my hand left prints of smoothing it out. All in all very pleased, looks factory and definatley makes it quieter in the truck. I will try to upload some pics in a bit, it was dark when I finished so they turned out ok I guess. I will get more tomorrow, I did not get to take as many while I actually was installing it, I was by myself and was "in th zone" I guess.

[84Waggie]

ok so I got the pics up, here they are,

http://s933.photobucket.com/albums/ad177/84wagoneer/Headliner/

[palexand]

I like that color combo. Nice job on the headliner. Mine is going to be done in 2 weeks.

Can you please post up the product brand/type you used for adhesion? I'm reading about lots of diff products.

[stonehengeheels]

Try this guy for headliner boards. The one I bought worked great and because it was rolled up freight was not bad.

http://www.smsheadliners.com/