Headliner repair update

[Rod in OKC]

Apparently there were a number of people doing headliner repairs at the same time that I was (about two weeks ago). I hope no one had the same problems that I did, but I'll throw this out in hopes of saving someone some grief.

My original headliner had sagging fabric where the adhesive had let go, otherwise it was in fine shape. I had checked out the new material at JoAnn's Fabrics and decided to repair what I had, instead of putting a new one in. I did, however, take their advice and buy (what they called) the "proper" spray adhesive for headliner material. It was Duro All Purpose Adhesive. Bad move.

I pulled out the original headliner panel (which was a rather loosely laid formed fiberglass piece), peeled back the old fabric, sprayed the adhesive on the panel and the fabric, smoothed it all out, and reinstalled it in the roof panel.

About a week later, I had the car sitting outside with the windows up for a couple of hours on a 70 degree day. When I went back out, not only had the fabric all let go from the headliner panel, but the whole panel had fallen off the roof and was sitting on the seats. Obviously, it was a bad choice of adhesives....no heat tolerance.

Upon inspecting the whole mess, I found that I couldn't get the old material off the headline panel without tearing it to shreds, so I was faced with having to put in a new one. Everything I found was priced at $149.95 and I'm too darned frugal to spend that kind of money, unless necessary.

In talking to the sales rep at one of the Corvette supply houses (he asked me not to identify him), he suggested making my own panel and had a few good suggestions. After walking the floor at Home Depot, I found 1/2" x 4' x 8' sheets of Owens Corning foam insulation for $8. I used the old panel as a template and cut a new headliner panel with a razor knife. (If you goof it up, the board's big enough to get three panels out of.) I went back to JoAnn's and bought a yard of foam-backed black headliner material for $10. This time I went to Pep Boys and found a SPECIFIC headliner spray adhesive...."Head's Up". I put the whole thing together and it looks great and is permanent.....so far. <grin>

Hope this saves someone some problems and a few bucks.

Rod

 

[rrubel]

Thanks for the "heads up." I too bought the same Duro stuff and had the same problem, though I hadn't yet put the panel in the car. I'll get the right stuff now.

I'm planning on using heavy-duty velcro tape (also from JoAnn's) to hold the foam liner to the roof panel. According to my manual, there was velcro there to begin with (which is no longer there, though the residue from tape is).

[RICHR]

 

[Moonunit 451]

Thanks guys, I've been thinking about doing this as well, just haven't gotten to it yet. I've been kinda looking with roof still on car and I can't see how it, (the head liner) comes out. My headliner is still perfect as well, so I'm hoping to save it and the labor to replace it and do it in one easy step some afternoon:Twist .

Man, doesn't it pi$$ you guys with 6 and 7 yaer old vettes to have this kinda BS problem

 

[Rod in OKC]

Hey Rich,

Toss that can of Duro as far as you can. That stuff is useless for this job.

A couple of points.....

With the Heads Up adhesive, get help!!!! That stuff HOLDS! If you accidently lay the fabric down on the headliner panel with adhesive on both surfaces as recommended, it's not coming off. With somewhat of a red face, both here and at the sales counter of JoAnn's Fabrics, I'll admit that I tried to do it myself and goofed it up royally. Yup, I made a second trip back for a second yard of headliner material. That was a $10 lesson. Glad I had enough foam board to cut the second panel too. With someone holding one edge of the fabric up in the air, line up the opposite edge and have them slowly lower it while you lay it out on the panel.

Second point, and I found this out on the first try....DO NOT press down with your finger tips while spreading it out on the panel. The foam backing on the material will absorb the adhesive and it will leave permanent depressions in the material. Use your flat palms to smooth it out. You won't need a lot of pressure.

I used the Heads UP to glue the finished headliner panel inside the roof panel. It's not coming out! LOL If it does, that means I'm going back to JoAnns a third time.

Seems like a lot of notes for a relatively small item, but, hey, we want all our jobs to come out right. If you look good, you feel good!

Good luck!

Rod

 

[rrubel]

Rod, many thanks. I'll definitely get a second pair of hands, and hope to do it this weekend. How much overlap did you use onto the back of the board, and how well did the curves come out? On mine, at least, there are some difficult curves to work around on the back edge.

Moonunit, the headliner is *supposed* to come out by gently prying around the edges with a putty knife or other similar thin item. Once you get the edge popped out of the frame, the rest just comes out. Mine happened to be glued on one edge (maybe more, but only one had stuck) so it was a bit more difficult.

[RICHR]

 

[Moonunit 451]

Thanks rrubel

 

[Rod in OKC]

Rich,

The way I did it was to glue the main surfaces, but not the edges or the "overlap" (the wrapped part). I think that I have the same contours that you do, so I know just how difficult it is. I left between 3" to 4" in most places to wrap around and made a series of approximately 30 "V" cuts in order to fit it around the curves. Some of them were cut right down to the edge of the panel, but don't let that concern you too much. Remember, the headliner panel is really sitting deeply inside the top panel and is pretty well hidden once the two are assembled. Are you using a black headliner? If so, it's REALLY hard to see anything once you're inside the car.

Once the cuts are made and you're confident that it will wrap neatly, go ahead and start spraying the "tabs" that you cut and the top side of the panel and glue them down a few at a time. Work your way around systematically and you should be fine.

Rod

 

[Moonunit 451]

Thanks for the good suggestions everyone ! I fianlly got to it last weekend and wanted to relate my experience. I pulled th top off and spent 20-30 min trying to figure out how I'd get anything in behind the liner to pry it off. Well, sure enough I finally grabbed a butter knife and just tried. Had it out in five min. The circular inserts in the outer panel through me for a few what the hell ever they actually do.

Anyway, the Heads Up was MUCH less expensive than the 3M. The cans are both industrial lifetime supply size for some reason. The way the Heads Up came out of the can kind of through me but I just ran with it. I got good coveage, maybe a lttle to much, but it was difficult for me to tell how much was actually laying down. I definately used all Rod's technical advise as far as getting help, and finger pressure.

What I'd do different next time. I didn't get new material and some of the foam backing was stuck to the material and some to the board. The color of the material was good and it wasn't stretched or torn so I reused it.

WRONG ! I was in JoAnn's anyway. I should have gotten new material and wire brushed the foam off the board.

Result. Some of the glue came through the fabric and dried a creamy white, not really that pretty with the black headliner. Addithionally, it wasn't the nicest smoothest finished product. But, no one's really going to be looking up there anyway. It's not all that bad and I've got some ideas to fix it up alittle better.

The main thing is it isn't hanging on my head everytime I drive anymore, and the fabric isn't going to blow out the hatch the next time I pull the panel out and store it in the back on a nice day:J

 

[JonM]

This is the stuff you should use below...and to get the old stuff off the old board...peal the material off and use a wire brush to get the foam off.