Headliner replacement

[opethmike]

I am reupholstering my sagging head liners over this winter. Took the headliners out of the car today, and I've got the cloth removed. Is there a trick to removing the foam backing that's stuck to the card board liners, or is it just a tedious matter of scrape scrape scrape?

[sdg3205]

Scrape scrape scrape with a spackle paddle. Careful not to take too much cardboard with it.

[opethmike]

Figured as much. Thanks for confirming. I happen to have a plastic putty knife sitting right next to me that will do the job, I think.

[dustybarn]

I did mine 2 winters ago. Lots of scraping and I believe I may have tried to lightly moisten the foam and adhesive with acetone. Not sure it really did any good. The foam had well and truly disintegrated and was only really present in a few places.

[fnzen]

You really dont have to scrape too much if you apply fiberglass resin with a paint bristle brush

imo you should do this anyway as it firms up the "pressed" material and makes them really nice to apply the adhesive and headliner onto

[David T]

You really dont have to scrape too much if you apply fiberglass resin with a paint bristle brush

imo you should do this anyway as it firms up the "pressed" material and makes them really nice to apply the adhesive and headliner onto

All of the work ecessary to remove all of the old stuff is the main reason the vendors use new backers made from fiberglass. It is possible to reuse the old cardboard ones but it does take all that work.

[sdg3205]

All of the work ecessary to remove all of the old stuff is the main reason the vendors use new backers made from fiberglass. It is possible to reuse the old cardboard ones but it does take all that work.

It is not much work. It's easy, you don't have to lift up the car, climb under the car or wear a chemical mask. It's easy and goes a long way to improve the appearance of the interior. I can understand why DMCH would want to produce something new, but for a DIY it's a no brainer.

[opethmike]

It is not much work. It's easy, you don't have to lift up the car, climb under the car or wear a chemical mask. It's easy and goes a long way to improve the appearance of the interior. I can understand why DMCH would want to produce something new, but for a DIY it's a no brainer.

Especially considering how expensive the new fiberglass units are! I was floored when I saw the $550. Considering how cheap headliner reupholstery material is, I'm willing to spend a few hours scraping to save half a freaking grand.

[sdg3205]

Especially considering how expensive the new fiberglass units are! I was floored when I saw the $550. Considering how cheap headliner reupholstery material is, I'm willing to spend a few hours scraping to save half a freaking grand.

A couple years ago when we did the headliners, we bought a roll of the headliner fabric off eBay for $50 and there was enough to do three cars. The colour was so close you could barely tell a difference.

[dn010]

I did mine a few months ago. I guess I'm lucky that someone at DMCH didn't use a lot of adhesive to hold the foam on the replacements I purchased back in '02. The headliner didn't sag but it did come right off the board and I only had to scrape a few areas. I decided to re-covered mine since they were nasty looking with water stains from leaking seals.

It's not a bad task, the hardest part is doing the door headliner with the dip in the middle so you don't get any wrinkles or creases. Also, I decided to trim areas of the door boards where they seemed to overlap the stainless and catch the door seals - good time to do it if you have that problem too.

[Lou and "Boo"]

Especially considering how expensive the new fiberglass units are! I was floored when I saw the $550. Considering how cheap headliner reupholstery material is, I'm willing to spend a few hours scraping to save half a freaking grand.


+1

I am about to do the fiberglassing of my boards as well. The headliner fabric from Amazon was very inexpensive.
My rear board was a cut to shape piece of pegboard. If anyone has a rear headliner board they would part with, please Pm me.

[todd1561]

Hey buddy, I haven't been on the forums in months but stumbled across your thread. I did this 10 years ago but I do remember I used a sanding disc attachment for a drill to aid in the process. Might be worth the few bucks, have fun!

http://1561project.com/?page=headliner

Todd

[opethmike]

Hey buddy, I haven't been on the forums in months but stumbled across your thread. I did this 10 years ago but I do remember I used a sanding disc attachment for a drill to aid in the process. Might be worth the few bucks, have fun!

http://1561project.com/?page=headliner

Todd

Right on.

[Carliannewman]

Dear experts, sorry to ask a novice question...

I'm replacing the headliners on #1704. Clearly the door liners have already been replaced so just the two roof pieces need done now. I bought this car 20 years ago from a dealer who took it in on trade (so I don't have access to records). My question ... I have a black interior, it appears the headliners are light gray, but I am now sure. Did black come with light grey? And/or dark grey?

I purchased the window sticker, but it does not identify trim other than black. I'm presuming the headliner is light grey based on color. I ask because I'm am not going to replace the door liner and just the roof. I'm just looking to generally get the base color right (even if not a perfect match).

Picture attached. Thanks very much in advance.

Carl

[sdg3205]

Carl - yes they did not have black fabric headliners.

[Lwanmtr]

Ill have to buy headliners for mine when I get the money, since they werent with the car when I got..so unless I find a super cheap (or free) set, I'll be forced to shell out the $550 that DMC charges for them.

[Morpheus]

Dear experts, sorry to ask a novice question...

I'm replacing the headliners on #1704. Clearly the door liners have already been replaced so just the two roof pieces need done now. I bought this car 20 years ago from a dealer who took it in on trade (so I don't have access to records). My question ... I have a black interior, it appears the headliners are light gray, but I am now sure. Did black come with light grey? And/or dark grey?

I purchased the window sticker, but it does not identify trim other than black. I'm presuming the headliner is light grey based on color. I ask because I'm am not going to replace the door liner and just the roof. I'm just looking to generally get the base color right (even if not a perfect match).

Picture attached. Thanks very much in advance.

Carl

On your early 81 car, the original headliner material was a much darker grey than what you have now. Does the door headliner match the rest of it?

[axh174]

Dear experts, sorry to ask a novice question...

I'm replacing the headliners on #1704. Clearly the door liners have already been replaced so just the two roof pieces need done now. I bought this car 20 years ago from a dealer who took it in on trade (so I don't have access to records). My question ... I have a black interior, it appears the headliners are light gray, but I am now sure. Did black come with light grey? And/or dark grey?



#2234 is a 1981 black interior as well. Using a headliner sample board from www.yourautotrim.com, I matched the color of the headliner under the weatherstripping to part PH1810 Medium Dark Grey. I say "under the weatherstripping" because the central headliner is original and faded (matches FN2005 Medium Grey) while the door headliners were replaced by a previous owner (and appear too dark), so I was looking for a good original reference. Hope that helps.

I'm curious, though. What thickness of foam backing does everyone use when they replace their headliners, 3/16" or 1/8"? I was thinking of using 1/8" to make sure the ridges/central oval in the central headliner board stand out better.

[dn010]

The headliner I used was backed by 3/16" foam.

[Morpheus]

#2234 is a 1981 black interior as well. Using a headliner sample board from www.yourautotrim.com (http://www.yourautotrim.com), I matched the color of the headliner under the weatherstripping to part PH1810 Medium Dark Grey. I say "under the weatherstripping" because the central headliner is original and faded (matches FN2005 Medium Grey) while the door headliners were replaced by a previous owner (and appear too dark), so I was looking for a good original reference. Hope that helps.

I'm curious, though. What thickness of foam backing does everyone use when they replace their headliners, 3/16" or 1/8"? I was thinking of using 1/8" to make sure the ridges/central oval in the central headliner board stand out better.

Thank you so much for posting this. I need to do my headliners soon and I had no idea where to go for the correct color match. How many yards did you end up using?

[dn010]

I purchased 3 yards just to be safe and have probably a yard to spare.


How many yards did you end up using?

[PJ Grady Inc.]

Dear experts, sorry to ask a novice question...

I'm replacing the headliners on #1704. Clearly the door liners have already been replaced so just the two roof pieces need done now. I bought this car 20 years ago from a dealer who took it in on trade (so I don't have access to records). My question ... I have a black interior, it appears the headliners are light gray, but I am now sure. Did black come with light grey? And/or dark grey?

I purchased the window sticker, but it does not identify trim other than black. I'm presuming the headliner is light grey based on color. I ask because I'm am not going to replace the door liner and just the roof. I'm just looking to generally get the base color right (even if not a perfect match).

Picture attached. Thanks very much in advance.

Carl
That is closer to the grey interior shade of the later cars. In any case you'll never get an exact match on 20 year old headliners and it's past the end of it's foams design life anyway. I'd suggest replacing all panels in the correct darker shade. We carry fiberglass backed headliners in the correct colors in case you're interested.
Rob

[axh174]

Thank you so much for posting this. I need to do my headliners soon and I had no idea where to go for the correct color match. How many yards did you end up using?

I haven't actually done the recovery yet. I estimated I'd need about 2 yards, but just as Dan said, 3 yards just to be safe. At the moment I'm looking into the type of glue I want to use. I remember a plethora of discussions on the old .com site about whether one should use a spray can adhesive or a special type of headliner adhesive that came in a bucket that you'd have to thin yourself and use in a spray gun. I think the consensus at the time was the special type you thinned yourself lasted longer.



The headliner I used was backed by 3/16" foam.

How were the results? Did you get some nice definition on the center board?

[dn010]

I use this for all my upholstery needs: http://www.lowes.com/pd_142569-68-00272___?productId=3819177&pl=1&Ntt=contact+adhesive

It can also be found on Amazon if you don't want to leave the house. Get a can of that stuff and half a dozen cheap 1" paint brushes. I've been using this stuff for years, even on my '25 boat I did the headliner in the cuddy and it has held up just fine even after being slammed around in the Gulf. This stuff instructs you to coat both pieces you want to adhere (in this case it would be the board and the foam) but I only did the boards with a bunch of coats - just brush it on and wait, brush more on and wait, etc. Then I laid the headliner and worked on the contour which can be a PITA especially with the door boards with the recess but I've been doing this for so long it is just another day. If you use this stuff, one word of warning - if you pool it up anywhere make sure it is tacky or almost dry otherwise it will seep right through the foam/headliner and ruin your job.

I am very satisfied with the results, I'll post some pictures of the completed job once I return home work in about an hour.

[dn010]

See the whole process with pictures here:

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?13191-Headliner-recovery&p=190418#post190418

[axh174]

Looks good, thanks for the pics!

If I read that right, you still have the original backing boards and not the new fiberglass ones from DMCH, right? I've still got the originals and just want to make sure the glue isn't going to be an issue with them.

[dn010]

The boards I have are fiber/cardboard as original, I suppose they were NOS back when I purchased them 14 years ago long before DMCH was making the fiberglass ones. The only thing you may find is the fiber board may try to rip up with the upholstery where there was more adhesive or a pool of adhesive but I really did not have many issues with this. The foam on the new headliner is pretty forgiving if you have a slight rip underneath or over a few spots of old foam you cant get up.

[Rodney]

Hi all,

I am preparing to reupholster the door panels and noticed the fur trees don't really have a big slot to pull them out of. I don't want to damage the card board. I would like to install new fur trees before reassembling. Any suggestions on how to remove and replace the fur trees? Thanks, Rod.

[Rodney]

Hi all again,

Okay I answered my own question. I got the fur trees out. Where is the best place to get them? Thanks, Rod.

[Lwanmtr]

DMC sells them, I think 13 cents each. I got mine from SpecialT Auto when I ordered a couple other things and they're cheaper there. You could try Autozone or Oreily's (or whatever your local auto store is called), but I wasnt able to find the right ones there.