Headliner

[TwoWhels]

How do I fix my headliner?

 

[RobbieD]

What's wrong with it?

If the cloth is shot but the backing is still good, recover it.

 

[TwoWhels]

Cloth is getting loose ... like coming off the backing

 

[vladj]

do what i did. rip it off and paint it:

(al those marks are just dust and dirt)

 

[krugford]

If you want to recover it, now would be a good time to change the color/material if you want. Just get a can of spray adhesive, rip off the old, clean the backing, and put on the new.

 

[Natedog]

Cloth is getting loose ... like coming off the backing

Dang mine is finally doing the same! Is painting it really a good option? What does this do to it's sound damping ability? What kinda paint did you use? ANybody re-glue the stock velvet like fabric? Gluing a regular (non-stretchy} fabric is going to get messy and prolly leave wrinkles. Help...lol.

 

[ZMan]

the only way to fix it is to remove all the old material from the backing and glue on new material. The original foam pretty much just turned to just, and falls apart, so theres no way to fix the old stuff.

You can get headliner material at Jo-ann's, or here: http://yourautotrim-store.stores.yahoo.net/auothead.html

 

[RobbieD]

It's actually not that big of a deal to recover the headliner with new cloth, and well worth the effort.

The hardest part is removal and reinstallation (especially tough in the SC trucks) of the headliner. You pull the old cloth off, and use a good spray glue like 3M to bond the new fabric. Usually the foam rubber sandwiched between the cloth and hard backing is dry-rotted, but typically just the outer layer is bad, and brushing the unstable rotted stuff off with a stiff scrub brush leaves a smooth and good surface for the spray glue.

Pick a cloth that doesn't have a obvious "weave" to it, like a felt-looking or cashmere-like cloth, because it's a lot easier to not have to deal making the weave lines look straight when you stick it. The Super Cab is toughest, both for the R&R and because standard 36" wide cloth barely fits. I used a cashmere type cloth on my '94 SC, and was able to stretch it to fit. This job in the regular cab is really pretty easy, but if your headliner is shot doing a recovering job makes it seem like a new truck.

 

[skippy]

hey robbie, will will cloth like the confederate battle flag work?i have a dent in the cab roof that needs to pounded out first but i was just wondering.

 

[RobbieD]

It sure would, skippy, and I've seen before where people have done exactly that. The tough part about thin fabric, and especially the Confederate flag, would be sticking it to the headliner so that the cloth's weave and the design are perfectly straight. The thicker fabric I like using also does a good job of hiding imperfections in the liner backing, like dents and cracks (especially common with the fiberglass ones). But if you're doing your '83, at least the first generation headliner is basically flat panels, versus the contours of the later pressed fiberglass headliner. Tell you what; I work in Douglasville, and if you'd like to look at the recover job I did in my '94, feel free to PM me up and we can hook up.

 

[skippy]

where do you work>

 

[RobbieD]

In a business park right next to the Greystone power complex. 78 and Burnt Hickory, at the water tower.

 

[skippy]

In a business park right next to the Greystone power complex. 78 and Burnt Hickory, at the water tower.

10-4,know exactly where it's at.

 

[marc61]

just re-did my headliner, well thought i was gonna re-cover it but.....
it really smelled skanky and was very dusty and dirty, and i thought it was toast, so for the heck of it i just took the power washer to it, being careful to not put it on pinpoint spray. Done that on other stuff and put permanent lines in it...so....i put the nozzle on fan and methodically cleaned it, several times letting it drain, etc....i put it in the sun to dry , did that for several days. Dam if that headliner aint good as new. Honest. One small hole and i can fix it with excess material u find tucked under the edges. Its thats small..so im a happy camper , well only in the headlienr department~ still doing rest of interior...later~