Thinkin' about doing the headliner... the right way

[ZackN920]

Hey guy's. I'm replacing the crappy stained sagging headliner in my Cherokee, and that got me thinking about the wagon. When I picked up new headliner fabric from JoAnn's Fabrics, I saw they had some that would look great in the wagon. Nice color match.

Right now the wagon has a bed sheet cut to shape, and thumb tacked to the headliner board/old foam backing. I did that right after buying the Jeep because I quickly became tired of the old material snowing inside the Jeep...

I'm posting here though because I can't figure out how i'm going to get the 2 headliners out without damaging the plastic molding/trim that holds it in. How would I get the molding that separates the 2 pieces out? Do I take out the thin trim work at the edges (above the door openings)? If so, How? Its just that trim work i'm unsure of for now. Really dont wan't to damage it all up if I make an attemp at doing the headliner in the Wagon.

[ShagWagon]

I only had to remove the very back trim to do mine. The headliner board bends, tucks, and snaps into the trim channels.

You do t remove all the molding. That's what holds it in.

[8man]

I just reinstalled the headliner board and the center "plastic" bar was in place. So reverse engineering would say that you can take out the headliner with the plastic center bar in place. There are metal strips on each end that unscrew, and you work the headliner away from the plastic center bar. At least that's how it worked for me.

[ZackN920]

Really guys?! That's awesome! So leave the side molding and the center bar alone... Ok, sounds good to me.
I can't remember, but I don't think there is a metal strip at the front by the windshield... Isn't that only held by the visor mounts, the visor pegs, and the center console? I think its only the back with the metal strip(held with screws).

I couldn't find info on this (that still had pics, or detailed description of the process) other than one that completely butchered the trim work. They broke apart that separator piece between the 2 headliner boards trying to get that out.

[SJTD]

Should be a metal strip on the front too.

The divider is two pieces. The inner part is attached to one of the metal supports and has a groove. The outer part has a rib that pops into the groove.

Shouldn't have to remove it but not a big deal if you do.

Are your boards in good shape? Mine were warped so I had to fab new ones.

[ZackN920]

There was a strip up front. I couldn't remember it beforehand.

My boards are in good shape.

So, guess what I did yesterday and today? I ripped out the headliners and cleaned my boards off. Got new material on them and them all set up to go back in. Got the front back in. Having problems with the back.

I NEED to get that outer divider out. I cannot get the rear headliner back in with it all together up there. The board will not go in between the pieces up there, and with the front being in, it is putting too much pressure on it to just slip the back one in. How do I get this thing OUT???? I tried light prying and I'm afraid of breaking it or putting some serious stress marks in it.

[SJTD]

Mines still out so I'll fuss with it tomorrow and see if there's some trick to it. I don't remember it being a problem but I may have taken it down with the inner piece still attached.

[Tripwire]

Be sure to replace all the roofrack grommets/nuts and seal the cargo strip screws BEFORE you re-do the headliner

Or you will have a nice new headliner with stains - ask me how i know

BJ's or TGW sells them

[ZackN920]

Looked like it only had them on the edges of the roof. I didn't find a reason to replace them. They were still nice and supple feeling, none appeared to be damaged and I had absolutely no signs of leakage. Not even from the screws going straight through the roof for the strips. I did caulk them screws up though. I then put insulation up there, so there is no going back and messing with it for now. ...Unless I want to take it all apart again.

So, I don't think, and at least hope that it shouldn't develop stains up there. No signs of previous leakage on the headliner boards either. Back is a little sagged on each side of the light, but not bad.

Hey, Where can I get new little washer/retainer things that hold the rear light up? I was surprised it wasn't screws up in there! Of coarse those 2 "holders/washer/thingamajigs" were destroyed getting them out...

Thanks SJTD. Just get back some time.
I think I do have a plan for it though. I'm thinking, that ill pull the rear headliner back a bit, and pry from the other side at an edge to see if I can get part of that barb set up, out of the track. May pry on the track a bit too, if I can get a small tool in there. If I can get it started, I'm sure I could work the rest of it out. Hopefully without damage.
I'm surprised the service manual doesn't have a procedure for this. It just says to remove it, if the headliner has to come out.

[SJTD]

So I looked at mine.

Looks like the inner piece straddles the forward edge of the center roof support and was held up by plastic fir tree fasteners. Since I'm doing something different I only have the outer two fasteners still on the inner piece piece right now but I'm pretty sure there was one every eight inches or so since I made new supports for them.

It looks like you could pry the strip out of the support but you might damage it so I would get up under the inner piece and pry out the fir trees and take out both pieces together. They should bow downward for this. Then you can straighten the side curves and slide the two pieces apart.

I assume that's what I did but it was quite a while ago.

[ZackN920]

THANK YOU!!!! So I can pull the whole thing out as one, and split the 2 pieces on the bench. That is great, and if any of those "fir tree fasteners"(ive never known what to call those things) break, I can easily replace them things. They are widely available at the parts stores.

[ZackN920]

Well, all right

That worked out pretty smooth... Once I knew what I could do. Didn't need any special tools either, just my hands. It pulled out pretty good when I made attempts to take the support out. Just them fasteners holding it. Then when on the bench I slipped the trim piece out of the channel in it, and put the backer back in.
I'm wondering if it wouldnt have held up without repair if i were to have just tried prying the trim piece out. Looked like it may have had some stress cracks allready in its mount...

So, headliner is all in now.

Heres a before and after pic for all of y'all.

I honestly don't think that was too bad, but I did that just as a temporary thing because I didn't want the old deteriorated foam falling on my head all of the time...Doing the Cherokee last week inspired me to do this one. Never done this stuff before. Not too bad of a job I guess


Some insulation in it now. Did the same with the Cherokee first and figured I had enough left.

Finished product


Not sure what I'm doing with the overhead console yet. I got it stripped off the old material right now because of the material already falling off of it and splatter marks on it
I have it sanded and I'm not sure if I should just paint it or try to recover it. Looks like it may be interesting to try to recover it with the bends... Don't want to find out it needs material that is already fitted, cause I could see it having fold marks in it if I use standard flat material.

[chrism]

That looks great!

I bought my cherokee from a guy who stripped the interior to paint then lost all of the parts in a move. Other than a junkyard (I have not been able to find any FSJ's locally) do you guys know if there is anywhere I can get the front/back trim pieces, center bow, and the side J channels?

[SOLSAKS]

chrism,

try watson and sons jeep salvage in pinetown, nc

ask for kenny watson

he is a member on this forum
either under his name or business name.

they are honest, fair and helpful.

dave in NC

[rang-a-stang]

Holy night and day difference! That looks awesome!