For People Who Have Recovered Their Headliner Themselves

92GreenGT

PEAT
Founding Member
Jul 18, 2002
2,085
1
46
Big Stone Gap, VA
My headliner has been falling for sometime, so tonight I pulled it all apart and pulled the board out. The car is a factory sunroof car and that has me puzzled, do you remove the sunroof glass then pull the trim molding up and that releases the headliner material? What about when you go to install the new material on the board, do you just leave like an inch extra all the way around the sunroof hole that tucks up under the molding?:flag:

What color material should I go with and does anyone know how much it takes to cover it?
 
I just redid mine.

You are right. Take the sunroof off, pull the rubber seal off and then just peel the liner material over the lip and remove it.

I used 2 yards of material. They vary in width. I beleive the liner board was 32" wide or something like that. So 2 yards of material is what i got.

I posted pics in my progress thread, but nobody liked my choice of black felt with some "highlights" :)

For adhesive, i got 3M Super 90 spray adhesive from Home Depot. Was like $12 for a can. It's STRONG stuff. Make sure you have help. Glue the fabric to the board first and let it dry. Then trim the edges and save trimmin the sunroof hole for after you install it in the car.

I didn't glue it to the lip. I merely folded it over and put the weather seal back on. It's held fine and it allowed me to work around and trim off excess material and remove wrinkles.

Also, make sure you have a SHARP razor or exacto knife.

Not that hard to do.
 
Thanks Mike.

I was going to edit my post because I went out and removed the sunroof and pulled the trim off and saw it. Thanks for the tips, I guess I'll go fabric shopping and see what I want. I was thinking about going black with mine because I plan on installing new black carpet sometime but I'm just not sure yet.
 
Meh ... yank it all out, mask off your dome light, trim, and sunroof, and then rattle-can the whole underside of the roof with satin black. Save some time, money, and bit of weight. Then again, I'm lazy when it comes to things like that, sooooo... :shrug:
 
Hey, most good, large size fabric stores actually carry automotive-specific nylon headliner or upholstery in various colors. I just redid mine, I got headliner from Jo-Ann Fabric, it was like 12$ a yard, but I got it for 50% off on sale. I believe I used 1.5 or 2 yards. I used marine grade, its supposed to handle heat better, and has a moisture control backing. Its better quality than the factory stuff, and much cheaper than what you'd pay for replacement factory stuff anyway. I was going to do a thread on it, but I'm lazy and the pics are just from my cell, anyway. Here are a couple of shots.

BTW, Mine is a T-Top car, but the fitment is similar to a sunroof in how you have to stretch it around and tuck it in.

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Here you can see the cut lines for where you have to stretch and tuck for the roof openings.

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A rolling pin works really well to get out the bubbles and make for a smooth surface. But I'm a dude, I don't own a rolling pin. So I made do with a beer bottle. :nice:

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I glued the backing board and the liner together, but I also stapled the edges that would be covered by interior trim for extra hold. It works pretty well, just make sure the staples get covered up. Sorry about the crappy cell phone pic.

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If anyone wants more pics of the completed project or during the job, just let me know. I know some of you guys have already done yours, but just in case...
 
Thanks for this thread! I need to recover the one in my 90 GT.

BTW, Jo-Ann fabric store is the ****! That's where I got my vinyl for my door panels.

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The lady that cut it for me said that they get a lot of car guys that get their interior fabrics from there. Then she gave me a coupon sheet with 40% of per yard.
 
Thanks for this BTW, Jo-Ann fabric store is the ****! That's where I got my vinyl for my door panels.

The lady that cut it for me said that they get a lot of car guys that get their interior fabrics from there. Then she gave me a coupon sheet with 40% of per yard.


Lol still doesn't make me feel better about the fact that I was the only guy in a packed store of women....mostly grandmothers with granddaughters :(
 
I ended up doing mine in black since I plan on adding some black carpet in the future. Not sure how it'll look, I'm going to install it today so I'll get pictures. The question I have is, I have two clips stuck that hold the black trim on. What's the best way to get those stubborn things out? It's like half the clip is in the wrong spot and won't pull out to save my life? Going to mess with it this morning and see if I can get it out without bending anything but was looking for some tips if anyone had any. Thanks!