Headliner Sticker Shock

[alexwolf1216]

So I took out my headliners, and dropped them off at a local headliner place. They called me with a quote:

$275 to recover, not including material
$325 to recover and reinstall, not including material.

I nearly fainted. For some reason, I was NOT expecting it to be this expensive. I could buy brand new ones for a few bucks more.....

[OverlandMan]

So I took out my headliners, and dropped them off at a local headliner place. They called me with a quote:

$275 to recover, not including material
$325 to recover and reinstall, not including material.

I nearly fainted. For some reason, I was NOT expecting it to be this expensive. I could buy brand new ones for a few bucks more.....

Yup - this is why I dread tackling the rear trim panel and armrests, which need re-covering for my car at some point. Upholstery work can be labor intensive. I remember several years ago I got quotes to get my 1948 Jeep seats re-covered. They wanted $500 per seat.

[Patrick C]

I nearly fainted. For some reason, I was NOT expecting it to be this expensive. I could buy brand new ones for a few bucks more.....

I recommend going with new. You'll get the nice fiberglass backing boards too and eliminate the original cardboard that holds odor/moisture.

[DMCMW Dave]

I recommend going with new. You'll get the nice fiberglass backing boards too and eliminate the original cardboard that holds odor/moisture.

And sags.

[vps3922]

Yup - this is why I dread tackling the rear trim panel and armrests, which need re-covering for my car at some point. Upholstery work can be labor intensive. I remember several years ago I got quotes to get my 1948 Jeep seats re-covered. They wanted $500 per seat.

OR you can do it completely yourself with some headliner fabric from eBay and some work. Ask Dave (sdg3205); he did several, including mine. It is looking great. It all depends on the condition of your molds.

2874428745287462874728748

[NightFlyer]

For comparison purposes, I paid $300 nearly 20 years ago to have the headliner and 'a' and 'c' pillar panels done on my '85 Buick Electra Park Avenue at a top quality upholsterer, as I'm only decent at performing such work myself, but wanted a stock/OEM appearing job for that car.

Thus, I'd say that the prices you were quoted were pretty decent, provided that they perform top quality work.

As you're looking at new fabric anyway, might as well go with the new and improved ones IMHO.

Or, you could attempted to recover the existing backing boards with self sourced material (Jo-Ann's or even re-use your existing material if it's not stained or faded) yourself and save some cash. If I were doing this, I think I'd look into trying vacuum forming the material onto the boards. If it works for vinyl, I don't see why it wouldn't work for fabric.

[Citizen]

Mine may be the only odd response in this thread, but I think those prices you were quoted are high.

I won't try so say this is a fair comparison, but I just had my headliner redone for my 96 Saturn. I removed it myself and brought it in to a headliner/window tint shop. They charged me $100, and they provided the exact match material, and it appears perfect. He said it would have been $150 if I had brought the car in and asked them to remove and reinstall, so I saved $50 by doing that part myself.

Again, not a fair comparison I know, I mean good-grief it's a DeLorean already. But I still think the price you were quoted is high.

Thomas

...

[PB Co]

For that price you would hope they strengthen the original cardboard with a resin before recovering. Might as well replace entirely with the new fiberglass version.

[OverlandMan]

OR you can do it completely yourself with some headliner fabric from eBay and some work. Ask Dave (sdg3205); he did several, including mine. It is looking great. It all depends on the condition of your molds.

2874428745287462874728748

I was talking about the trim panels... did you recover those? I think they were vinyl wrapped with glue.

[NightFlyer]

I was talking about the trim panels... did you recover those? I think they were vinyl wrapped with glue.

I'd try vacuum forming new vinyl to those.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2lN2LfqqLg

[sapphirexae]

One of our other cars needed a new headliner about a year ago. It was in a Mercedes SL and the Removable Hardtop's headliner started sagging badly in the front. A new headliner panel was over $1,000 from Mercedes and all of the local shops wanted to charge me around $600 for it. After hearing that, I looked up some info online, made a trip to the local Fabric Shop, a and a trip to Home Depot for some 3M 90 Spray Adhesive. After about an hour, I had a flawless new headliner and in a material that was better then OEM. I think doing it myself cost a total of about $50. The result was flawless, no wrinkles, tucks or sags. That was over a year ago and it still looks brand new.

Our DeLorean's headliner is flawless but we've been talking about changing the color of it. If we do decide on that route, I'll be doing it myself I'm sure.

[alexwolf1216]

I agree, but I do think there is some value in the fiberglass backing boards. I did want (no flaming) the suede headliner, I really like the look.

[David T]

I agree, but I do think there is some value in the fiberglass backing boards. I did want (no flaming) the suede headliner, I really like the look.

Doing the job yourself is not difficult. It is just messy and time consuming, especially if you reuse the backers. Takes a lot of work to remove all of the old foam and glue. You do have to be meticulous about applying the new fabric so it looks straight with all of the curves on the door panels. A can or two of the spray adhesive, a roll of foam backed headliner materiel from the fabric store and a lot of time. Some sandbags come in handy to work the fabric into the curves as it dries. if you are into instant gratification, buying them already done is fast and easy. Just don't try to reuse the old fabric. It can be done but that is even more work. You have to get all of the old foam off, get it dry-cleaned and then attach foam to it. if you are into authenticity then I guess it is necessary since you cannot get the original fabric anymore.

[vwdmc16]

Step by step just for you:


http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?7566-How-To-Recovering-Headliners-60-photos

[alexwolf1216]

Yeah, I must have read that thread 10 times.....that nasty old foam....its just so....nasty haha.....

[jawn101]

Clint did my headliners as well and they came out amazing, using the same techniques in his writeup. I removed the old stuff myself and had the boards cleaned when he got here though, and I would say getting them free of dust and foam took twice as long as installing the new material. Oh well...

[Denverdelorean]

re-covering these is super easy. I got a nice roll of slate grey suede for my headliners. I am darkening some of the interior to go more with the 'black' option in my car. It's much nicer than the original fabric and should look fantastic. All you do is strip the old fabric, get a can of spray upholstery glue, spray down the backing board and apply the new fabric. trim to fit and wrap it around the corners. Las one i did took less than a saturday to finish. looked fantastic afterward and is still on that car 7 years on.