I have gathered what I think will be necessary for a headliner redo. 3M #38808 headliner adhesive, 1/8 in Volara foam and a leather like material for the headliner. The Volara foam is supposed to have good sound deadening properties, along with good insulating ability and is mechanically strong. Also a good pair of scissors, a roller and a table large enough to hold it all. So here I go trying something I've never done before. Any one who has any tips to pass along, I'm all ears. Call me Dumbo LOL

 

When I did mine I had trouble keeping the edges down while the glue dried so I used strips of card board from a cereal box and clothes pins just using clothes pins applied to much pressure to a small area and left marks on it after it dried... Across the top of the windshield where the problem seemed to start i left the material hang over a few inches after it was all dried i turned it over shaved off the foam and glued just the fabric to the top of the liner so it couldn't fall again! I also had one of the cardboard? corners crushed pretty bad from removing the headliner so to fix it I used PVC pipe glue also used it on some of the edges that I couldn't get to stick worked awesome! PVC pipe cleaner seemed to help remove the old head liner too.. I bought my headliner material from Joann fabrics it looked and felt exactly like the oem liner I was amazed! Good luck on your reinstall!

 

Did you use the 3M headliner adhesive? I tried a small sample and sprayed both pieces, let it dry for 1/2 hour then put it together. Instant bond, nothing came loose, it seems to be a very strong bond.

 

I used a spray adhesive I'm thinking it was 3m but I don't remember it was close to 3 years ago it worked very well on the flat surfaces just not the edges if I did it again I would have left the material hang over on the entire thing and trimmed it after it dried.

 

I just used some off the shelf headliner spray adhesive that I found at Advanced Auto Parts. My words of wisdom is be careful with how much you apply. I went a little crazy in my rear hatch area and even after it dried it still looks wet in a few areas due to there being excess glue there

 

Mine is at the shop right now. $125 labor and materals. I had to remove and install. Not bad for New York prices.

 

When I helped my son do his headliner we used Popsicle sticks instead of cardboard to spread the clip pressure. I also recommend not pressing down too much with your fingers. Use the roller or palm of our hand. We did one side at a time.

 

Thanks all. I did watch a Utube video and they did it one side at a time, they also recommended gluing the foam to the fabric first and then the whole thing to the headliner. One of the reasons that I am doing this my self is my local auto upholsterer wanted 275 bucks for just a suede like fabric and I wanted something a little different. As it stands I have invested about $120 which includes about $40 in shipping fees but the fabric is very nice and unique. It should be finished in plenty of time for the Carlisle meet.

 

If you haven't already removed the headliner consider placing something like a thin bed sheet on the top of the dash, especially on top of the instrument cluster. The headliner board can scratch the soft rubber trim around the top of the instrument cluster when attempting to wrestle it out of the vehicle.

I replaced my headliner last year but was not able to smooth out a few wrinkles near the edges and wsa not satisfied with the result. I plan to remove and redo sometime this summer. I think I would have been better off if I trimmed the width of the material close to the size of the board before gluing. I hade a little too much extra material overhanging the edges making it more difficult to get the material to conform to the curves along the edges and corners of the board. The middle of the headliner actually came out looking nice, but once I had a couple wrinkles that I could not get out as the adhesive was starting to bond the materials together there was nothing I could do without deforming or crushing the foam lining. At that point I just made sure everything was sufficiently glued so that the liner wouldn't fall and then hastily trimmed off the extra fabric and reinstalled. I try not to look up at it but most people would probably think that it wasn't that bad. I also plan to set up a more suitable work surface the next time.

I useed 1/8" titanium colored "flat knit" material that I purchased here:

Flat Knit Headliner

The high temp spray adhesive they sell seems to hold up great so far. I'll be buying another couple yards and a can of adhesive in the near future.

For anyone that is considering replacing their falling headliner, the "flat knit" material is the european style fabric that is more of a textured pattern fabric unlike the fuzzy headliner material that was typically installed in domestic models until recently. The titanium colored fabric I've linked to above matched the original headliner fabric very closely. My local JoAnn Fabrics only carries the fuzzy style.

 

A little update on the headliner redo. I found out that the labor of removing the adhesive residue is probably where the cost of redoing it becomes so expensive. It is a necessity to get it all off, I used a 2 in putty knife, a brass wire brush and 220 sandpaper and it took about 4 hours. I'll probably wait until Monday to do the new foam and liner, it's supposed to be nice here.

 

I'm a do it myself guy also. But my headliner came out perfect and has been back in the car for over a week now. Some things are better left to the professionals. I didn't trust them with my car to pull it and reinstall. So I did that myself. The shop told me that they have never done a Crossfire before. I did a flat headliner in my 87 Jimmy years ago and it is still holding up fine. All the curves in th CFs liner had me a little worried. My hats off to you for the guts to give it a try!!

 

I used a fillet knife to get what I could off I still had a bits here and there I tried to get it as flat as I could mine turned out fine the new foam was thick enough to hide all the imperfections.

 

Thanks. I will try almost anything once and sometimes twice, if I screw up the first try and think that I can still do it. Like most things, it's a matter of preparation and having the right tools. I try to do some research before I start and go over it in my mind until I feel confident about what I'm doing.

 

That thinking causes problems with my wife, when I am sure that I have got it all solved in my head I quit right there. Why bother? I have got it licked and there is no challenge.

 

Another reason that I'm no longer married, if I did that, I'd be driving without a head liner.

 

Back to the drawing board!!! I got the foam on the headliner, that went well. When I laid my chosen material on the liner to see how it would look and check the fit as there are some compound curves, I discovered that it wasn't going to work. There is not enough give in the material to stretch over some of the curves, I would have had some wrinkles. So now I am going to have to go with regular material but I'm still going to do something different.. Oh well, a lesson learned!

 

What if you use normal headliner material get it glued on then go with a more workable thinner leather material and glue it on top of that? I was amazed at how well the headliner material covered up imperfections!

 

This material was thin, only about 1/32 it's just that it couldn't stretch enough to accommodate all the curves. Our standard material, while foam backed, is quite elastic in nature and very forgiving at corners. It's too bad, it would have looked phenomenal, it had an ostrich print to it and was a close match in color to the original. I have already ordered some new headliner fabric and I have some ideas to make it unique. I may screw up but I never give up.

 

Ok, I'm making some progress. Ready to install headliner.

 

Looks real nice!!!