Headliner Removal

[Mr. Alligator]

I am considering leaving the headliner out, but I bet the sun would heat it up like an oven lmao

I also thought the heat would be a problem with simple removal, but it never ever was. Totally a non-issue. The greater problem would be the overhead lights and the overhead console (if you have ove). In the 1977 mercury, there was just one light, and I just took it out. In that car, it really was nice.

You could probably do that. Or you could redo the headliner. BKennedy really worked at removing the overhead foam.... I just sprayed adhesive right over it and that was not a problem either. As he mentioned, once you touch the fabric to the adhesive, it is attached for eternity. So extra help would be good. And if the fabric has a print pattern (mine was camo), you will not notice imperfections.

You can do whatever you want. Sort of a fun, artistic project.

Good luck.

 

[massacre]

Overhead foam? My truck doesn't have any that I can see. There was the 1/2" thick-ish foam board, with fabric covering the interior side of it. There is nothing above it just the steel roof and cross braces etc. I can make a mounting plate for the cargo light and no overhead console.

 

[BKennedy]

The foam is between the fabric and the headliner cellulose material. The foam is what falls apart and causes the fabric to separate. If you don't remove it, it will just fail again in short order. I used a big brass bristle brush that I got from Harbor Freight in a kit what had some welding brushes I wanted. It scrubbed the foam right off. Took some time, but not much effort. The new headliner material I purchased was fabric bonded to a thin foam pad. 410 mentioned the adhesive, and he is right. It needs to be the good stuff.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

I have a 1997... the headliner material was a thick woven matted insulation type material. Really did not seem to tolerate any attempt to remove the foam. Where I tried to remove the foam, the headliner really seemed to fall apart. If I could have removed the foam, I would have. Instead, left it on six years ago, and have not had any problem since. I think my headliner failure was disintegration of the thin top layer of fabric and that the foam was still basically sound.

Massacre... are you thinking of just removing the headliner? If so, heat will not be a problem. Where can you route the wire for the overhead light? Under the brace? Use some good tape to cover where needed?

Sounds like your project is ON.

 

[massacre]

I was thinking of making an aluminum mounting plate that would bolt to the pushpin locations on the rear headliner bracket.
When I bought my truck the headliner was ripped/torn above both front seats and visors, and driver’s visor has a piece of fabric missing.
No idea what the hell happened there, other than that the interior was perfect. Other than both front interior door handles breaking off and having to be repaired a couple years ago, the interior is in pretty good shape.

 

[massacre]

So get this-
I dropped my headliner off at a shop last week that said they would replace the fabric with new for $200. Kinda pricy but it is a big headliner lol. Dropped it off Monday, he said maybe Wednesday it would be done.
I hadn’t heard back so I called back today. They called me back and said that it was a lot more work than anticipated, that there were dents everywhere and that it was cracked.
Well it wasn’t cracked when I brought it in. He even said I probably cracked it taking it out. I call BS. I was very careful not to damage the headliner.
So now they are apparently adding fiberglass and smoothing everything out, etc. and it will now cost $300
Well I told him if it is that expensive, he can just keep it. If he said $300 at the beginning I would not have brought it them.

I feel like I am being taken for a ride, but I have never had a headliner restored before.
Does any of this make any sense to others here who have had this done?
I have the headliner out now and i’m OK with it, it’s a little noisier but I can live with it.

What would you do?
Thanks

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Sorry things have got like this. I know it is not pleasant. Unfortunate....

What would I do?

Paint the inside of the roof black, and leave it.... you will really like it when it rains... and if I did not like that (which you will), I would get a salvage yard headliner and do the project yourself. You will far prefer the satisfaction of the DIY completion to the nagging feeling of being cheated.

Good luck with the project. Really, you got this.

 

[massacre]

Anything I do will have to wait until spring

 

[allmyEXes]

Are they glassing the back or top side which looks like a bunch of raw fiberglass fibers IIRC? Or am I thinking about the "flimsy" GM ones? Just the headliner job IE removing the trim to get the HL board out, prepping the board, glueing the material on and re-installing could be $200. 20 years ago I would do this task on Foxbody headliners for $80-. So $200 sounds about right for just the headliner. I have 4 of my own that I need to do so I won't be getting paid.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

If I were you, I would pick up whatever parts you dropped off at the shop and not go back. Jacking the price like that and "sand bagging" like that are sure signs of a shoddy shop.

 

[massacre]

I am ok with the $200, but it seems like the botched the job and now they want me to pay for that.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

I was going to do mine when I had it out to clean the smoke smell out of it, the material was well adhered to the board so I just left it in place and vacuumed it with carper air freshener stuff, it still stinks but not as bad as it was. That board the material is attached to is so brittle it flakes off like pie crust, so I did not bother trying to remove the old material in fear of literally destroying the board.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

$200 (and then $300) for recovering, when you did the removal and the reinstallation? You did the harder work. The price sounds high.

 

[Eli Brown]

I took the headliner out of an Olds 88 barge that was once my long-haul ride to work. Got sick of the headliner hanging down on my head, esp. bad w/ windows open.

So one day I was mad as h*ll by the time I got home, and litterally ripped it out...for something that wanted down so badly, it sure was hard to take out!
Afterwards I regretted taking it out. Every time I shut the door, it sounded like a really foul-pitched Gong had been struck, and it resonated for what seemed like a half minute...grrr.

My then father-in-law showed me some wooden strips he made. Smooth, flexible wood (no idea what kind)...you put the ends under the lip of the overhead side molding, then push up. It had a bow effect, flexing up and holding the cloth up. Beveled edges of the wood fit nicely under the molding. He sure came up with some cool stuff!

 

[allmyEXes]

Oh, you dropped off the board??… I was saying $200 for the whole job. Removing trim etc to get the board out. Prepping the board (DA sanding or whatever is necessary). Glueing on the foam backed fabric. Trimming and reinstall.

 

[gmanpaint]

$200 sounds like HWY Robbery to me, if I can do it myself in a couple hours.

$200 isn't high for a shop that has overhead, and sounds about right. $300 and damaged your property, well that's a different ballgame.

I think that if you are able to remove it, transport it back & forth, then re-install it, you should just go to the salvage yards and find a good one, for a few bucks, and save yourself some dough. Might take time to find a good one, but there out there.

 

[massacre]

Well they honored their $200 price which was fine with me. And it came out good, too.
I’ll post a pic later am at work now

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

Well they honored their $200 price which was fine with me. And it came out good, too.
I’ll post a pic later am at work now

GOOD news, glad to hear!

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Congrats on your successful,completion of the project. Picture?

 

[massacre]

It still smells a little like fiberglass so ihaven’t Installed it yet. Plus I need to have drivers rear quarter window replaced before I put it back in.

You can see some spots in the back cargo area, i’m guessing they stopped smoothing it out at that point.
I want to rivet a thin piece of sheet aluminum over the headliner, to protect it against further damage. Plus it will cover up those visible spots.
Question on that-
I was going to drill holes for the rivets. Will this screw up the fabric? Would hate it if the new material got caught on the drill bit and tore the fabric. Was thinking a punch might be better but might be hard to find the correct size.

Any help on that would be great, thanks!