It has taken me two years to find a headliner for my 2003 Z06. The one in it is absolutely pristine. It is an '03 model with the bump space which I don't prefer and so I have sought a 99 frc to 01 z06 replacement.

This I finally have in my hands. I scored one for $200 nearby. It is about a 7 or 8 out of 10. Like many, the car clearly had a leak above the window. I have aftermarket replacement window rails ready to go for when I complete this little project - which won't be until warmer weather.

But I thought I would start here by seeking reupholstery guidance.

I intend to reskin this headliner with UltraSuede R #5709.

What I am seeking solutions to, and openly welcome advice on are the following:


- How to clean up the cardboard where it has split from exposure to water and/or human aggressiveness when it was removed from the visor mount areas.

- How to remove the existing skin without excessively damaging the underlying cardboard (or whatever this weak material is)

- And I am wondering to myself if there might be a way (wise or not?) to spray this thing on the backside and/or front once the existing liner is removed to better harden or seal it for greater long term durability. I don't want to lay fiberglas on it and get into that mess. But if there was an appropriate spray product to apply I'd be interested to learn more.

 

I recently had my Z06 headliner reskinned in black Alcantara. My headliner looked about the same as this one! I had my upholstery shop simply lay the new Alcantara on top of the factory fabric, as we all agreed trying to separate the old fabric from the cardboard would absolutely destroy the cardboard. The results are fantastic and you cannot tell the existing fabric is still there. I also had the sun visors redone in the same Alcantara (I had already done the A pillars). IMHO, save yourself the hours and frustration and a destroyed headliner!

 

Your car looks great. That was exactly what I've been considering as far as coverage - to do the pillars, headliner and then possibly the panels at the rear of the cabin.

The approach of leaving the existing fabric in place sounds good to me. My interest in removing it has been from the perspective of it being 22+ years old now and possibly itself separating from the cardboard in some areas. I didn't want to do the work and risk later experiencing the old GM sagging headliner.

I had not thought to redo my visors. Mostly because I have no sewing skills. I did watch a video on it but did not like the end product I witnessed. So I've been running occasional searched for C7, C8, Caddy suede visors. The C7 arm angles look the most correct for fitment to a C5 after someone else on the forum had pointed that out. The last time I saw what I consider a fair price on these was over a year ago. Now people will ask a mint for C7/C8 pieces when almost the exact same part exists in the Caddy lineup for maybe sixty bucks a pair.

 

I had the headliner, B pillars and sun visors all redone in Alcantara by a local auto upholstery shop at the same time. Price was not too bad -- around $500 as I recall. They also fixed the floppy sun visor ends that are common on C5s.