Headliner Replacement
 

Hey guys! Hope all you father's had a nice holiday. For my day, my wife and kids left me alone to work on my 85.

Someone gave me a fiberglass top from a late 86 in the same color as my car so I spent the day swapping out the brackets and replacing the sunvisors, etc. The "new" top had a sagging headliner and foam dust was coming out of it left and right. I pulled the material off and removed the backing board. It came off really easy but it looks flimsy, like if I go to clean off the remaining foam the board will fall apart. What have you guys used to replace the backer board for the headliners? I'm open to suggestions.

I just pulled the old one out of my headliner and put in one i got from Ecklers. This is what it looked like when I was done. Good enough for a 31 year old car.

As long as the backerboard is cleaned of loose material, it is very usable.

I had the same thing on my 1984 and I cleaned the backing board to remove any loose material. I then recovered the board and reinstalled and it is holding just fine. I did this in 2012 and still looks new.

I bought the headliner material from a seller on ebay who is or was a member here on the forum.

Not just good enough, looks great! Love the socks by the way. :)

Lol thanks. I did it on my wife's dining room table last winter......hence the socks!

I need to do mine, bought the material from a member here as well I believe. Seems easy enough, but any particular tips? Or is it just simply buy the adhesive from auto store and go to town?

If you bought from me, you received instructions

I just installed my second headliner in my Z; first attempt only lasted 3 years. :mad:

But, in the interim I learned how to use contact cement "mo bettah" now.

I believe in 3M spray adhesive for light weight materials like headliners. But, 3M makes a couple different formulas, I discovered: one specifically says NOT for use on headliners, and the other included headliners in their list of uses.

The issue is, before the two surfaces are pressed together, the glue may become too dry, especially in certain (hot/dry) conditions. What happens is there is less than idea adhesion between the liner and the backing. After a short while (and heat cycles) the glue looses its hold and the dang liner starts to come down (again).

Well, the trick is to spray a third layer of adhesive to one of the surfaces (the backing), and while it is still wet, press the liner to the backing, and I used a stiff, long-bristle brush to smooth the liner in place, working from the center to the edges.

As a matter of fact, I may have read about this "third layer" method on one of the 3M contact containers/tubes I have. Well, regardless, it really works - especially on large surfaces (like carpet and headliners).

:cheers:

Do you sell it in other colors? I was thinking of doing the headliner in Saddle to match the interior.

just black right now