Can someone help me? I have a 1988 coupe and the liner on the
targa top is falling down. Any suggestions for repair? I can't seem
to figure out how to get material off to reglue or is there a trick
one of you guys can help me with? Thanks, in advance

 

From Richard Newton's book "101 Projects for Your Corvette 1984 - 1996". "Once the fun is over (ripping out the headliner) you realize that eventually you're going to have to do something about all that old hardened glue that was put there over a decade ago by some highly paid union employee in Bowling Green.
Removing the old glue is quite a challenge. There's a product designed by 3M that's made just for this type of situation. However, oftentimes, even that won't always do the trick. I'll share one way I decided to tackle this problem. One day, I fired up the compressor, got out my orbital sander, and put some 100-grit paper on it. The 100-grit paper made fast work of the glue. It was also a bit tough on the hardtop interior. Eventually I had to do something about the sanded fiberglas on the interior of the car.
One of the problems with the C4 is the resonance that is set up from aftermarket exhaust systems. This is a particularly loud sound at certain rpm ranges. I never had any resonance until I bumped the compression ration up in the engine. Then the noise became intolerable. I figured the bare roof panel wasn't helping the situation any.
That's when Lowes come to my rescue. The retailer sells cork sheeting in the roll. It actually fits the roof nicely. I made a pattern out of a piece of brown craft paper and then instantly had a pattern for the cork. The main thing you need to do is make the piece a little bit larger that the exposed roof area. That way you can insert the edges the way the factory did with the original fabric.
I used the spray can of 3M adhesive to seal the cork to the roof and all went well. The next trip was to the local fabric store for some black material to cover the cork. Once I found a lightweight fabric, I simply used my paper pattern again.
The trick here is to get enough adhesive on the cork so that the fabric will stay in place. The best tool for tucking the fabric into the edges is a large drywall puttyknife. You may have to use a smaller knife to get the edges tucked in, but I'm sure you have a couple of those around the house already. When you're finished with this project, only an NCRS judge will be able to tell that it's not original."
By the way, this is a great book and well worth the $29.95 I paid for it in a bookstore. I've seen it for less on some discount bookseller's web sites. Good luck!

 

I removed all the old adhesive and used Nashua spray adhesive, put up new material, and it only lasted about a year.

I use my old credit cards for putty knives btw. Work great for gettting that fabric tucked under the frame.

 

Don't know how the corvette top is, I have the see through one myself. However, the cloth fell down on my son's '86 gmc headliner. He removed the headliner and took it to an upolstery shop. They fixed it good as new for about $40. The upolstery shop didn't want the old material cleaned for fear something would be used by a do-it-yourselfer that would keep their glue from sticking. If it's like other headliners, it's not simply fabric. It's special material that comes already glued to a foam rubber backing. The foam degrades and turns to dust over the years leaving the fabric to hang loose. If it were me I'd remove the panel and take it to an upolstery shop and let them fix it. Should be cheep, easy, and done right that way.

 

Thanks, Guys!! I'm thinking I probably should let someone else do this
job. Upon closer inspection I have noticed some cracks in the inside
of the liner and some cracks on the outside paint. Perhaps I'll take
it to the Corvette shop I deal with and have it done professionally
albight expensively!