removing fabric from fiber headliner board

[92 5 oh]

so i'm having trouble with my 98 ranger. my original head liner got a terrible water stain so i removed it in an attempt to clean it or replace it. it got damaged when i attempted to pull off all the material myself. the headliner board is some kind of compressed fiber board and my old headliner was not falling down. so when i started pulling the old material, chunks of the fiber board came off too and then it wasn't all smooth and ruined it.
so, now i've finally found a good board in the junkyard but i'm in the same boat. material is holding up fine but it's got some stains and i would like to recover it. any idea how to pull off the old material without tearing up the board? i thought about using one of those cat claws like you use for removing wall paper and making small holes in the material then spraying it down with goof off or something?

 

[mike150]

it should just peel right off that what i did with my 2000 ranger

 

[92 5 oh]

i wish it went that easy. did yours take off a layer of the yellow fiberboard?

thanks for the quick reply

 

[RobbieD]

Just the cloth should come away; or, the thin layer of foam rubber, between the cloth and and fiberboard backing, should be what's separating and allowing the cloth to be peeled away. Don't pull the cloth straight up and away from the backing; pull the cloth back on itself, like you would do when removing masking tape from a painted area. Go slow, and allow the cloth to let go, or the foam to tear. If you're breaking the backing, you're not pulling it just right. Slow down, and good luck.

 

[CSyd77]

i just took mine out like 30min ago.most of it was hanging down or barely hanging on, which made it easier to pull off. however, the darker parts of the fabric that were still glued on fairly well just ended up pulling the foam up with it. IMHO your best bet would to just buy a new one, itll probably run you $230

 

[RobbieD]

As long as the fiberboard is OK, go ahead and use a stiff-bristle brush and knock off the remaining rubber foam, that which will come off. Then, use good spray glue and recover the fiberboard with relatively thick, felt or cashmere like material. The result will lay flat, and it makes a good looking headliner.

When recovering an original backing board, thin material, or material having a visible weave pattern, will be very difficult to get smooth, flat, and straight.

If I get the time, I'll take some pics of mine.