UPDATE: see posts below starting with #8 for some remarks and points of recommendation on reupholstering of the headliner, with photos of the process and completed job. Hopefully I will have been able to offer some helpful incite, original spin, and additional perspective in the same way posts by others were helpful to me.

( I'm now less aggravated than my first post here - below - especially with the finished work coming out as nicely as it did.)




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I have looked through several of the headliner sagging/removal/repair threads, and this is not my first time in going about it, considering I have had numerous cars through the past 40 years that were afflicted with this virus. With that in mind... I'm just here to rant.

This issue has been going on since at least the first flimsy foam-backed polyester headliners fitted in cars of the 1970s. Why after 35 years could they still not get this right? I went out to my SRT-6 today to find the passenger side sagging down like a giant elephant nut-sack.

My car only has 32,000 on the ticker, is NEVER stored in the hot sun, always parked in a cool garage, or under a full-length canopy even when it is outside - NEVER parked or driven in the rain - EVER. I never drive it with the passenger window down except at suburban street speeds, and this didn't happen while driving the car last time. It happened at some time during the past week - just sitting doing nothing. The climate these past three months has not had one single hot day that would be an expected as a condition to cause this, so that wasn't it. Last hot day it was out was probably last October.

I think of all the cars I've had the aggravation with this BS through-out the years, I can't believe I now have to tackle this crap again, on what is a like-new car from as late as 2005.The embedded photo was taken last Thanksgiving weekend 2019.

Just a SHORT list of the cars I've had to tackle with this problem throughout the years; geographic location/climate not a factor as I've owned the cars of this list on the East Coast, the Midwest, and the Crossfire here in mild-mannered California, most all were garaged majority of the time. I hate to say it but I've never seen this problem arise in any Datsun, Toyota, or Honda. I've had 3 different 1st-Generation Datsun 240Z and a 280z, and a 2nd Generation 280zx, then later a 300Z - never happened. Sister's 1980's Celica - never. Parents 3 different Camry's - never, girlfriend's 1996 Toyota Pickup, then later a 2003 Solara - never.

1973 AMC Javelin SST
1974 AMC Javelin
1981 Buick Regal-T Type
1980 Pontiac Sunbird
1985 Merkur XR4ti
1985 Cadillac Eldorado
1985 BMW 525i
1986 Jaguar XJS
1988 Merkur XR4ti
1989 Ford Mustang GT
1990 Jaguar XJS
2005 Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6!!

I've got 3 other cars from the 1960s that I've owned for 35 years, 25 years, and 16 years respectively - and NOTHING ever simply falls apart, off, or sags on them just by sitting parked in a garage.

OK, I'm done. I know it's a simple job, but manufacturers should have been able to get this issue permanently solved by now. They have the polymers, epoxies, and seals to do it that should last a millennia without needing repair.



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It is the foam backing that fails, these cars are made with materials that are environmentally friendly as far as possible so perhaps the foam is not as durable as it could be and starts to degrade early.

 

I always go back with a material that has no foam backing and problem solved. Choose wisely.

 

"I've had 3 different 1st-Generation Datsun 240Z and a 280z, and a 2nd Generation 280zx, then later a 300Z - never happened."

Happened to our 300ZX, but the rest of the interior remained immaculate.

 

I've owned my Crossfire since Nov. 2005 and I've had my headliner replaced twice.

 

I guess I'm fortunate...In my 04 Coupe this never happened
I had it 11 years and 90,000 miles - Drove it on hot sunny days, through severe rain storms, and often with the windows wide open
Sold it 2 years ago for my Roadster ....now my concerns are hydraulics or glass separation

 

Just had the headliner replaced in my Gray 04, the stich shop that did it gave me a 12 year warranty.

Not sure why the arbitrary number..... but 12 years is pretty good!

Jared

 

Finally got around to replacing the headliner; here are some photos and notes.

1) First of all, big thanks to CrossfireForum member onehundred80 for his posts on citing the color/fabric used. I tracked down a fabric supplier for the '2349 Opal Grey' which was a near perfect match in color, stitch design/pattern/size, and texture (see photo). I looked at a lot of different options and textures and this was the closest near identical match to the OEM fabric in my Blue SRT-6. Anybody looking at the completed job, even the most experienced Crossfire owner, is not going to easily spot it's not factory/OEM. I got it as 2-yards from Albright's Supply Company in Corinth, MS.

2) On the shell coming out and going back in; much easier than many have made it out to sound. Sheets, blankets, padding, and tape - on EVERYTHING. I left nothing to chance for scratches or damage, and thereby didn't have any. Ito took me less than 2 minutes to drop and "roll" it out of the car. As a prep, like others found to be an advantage; I moved the seats all the way forward, reclined, telescoping steering wheel pushed all the way in, and when it came to rolling the shell past the Automatic shifter, I shifted it into drive for clearance. I put a thin piece of poster board over the dash/radio/control face in that area under the blanket to avoid scrapes/scratches. I think doing all this helped allow me to remove it in one fell swoop, literally just down and out in under 3 minutes. I also threw small dishtowels over the sharp corners of the two back panels while going out and back in, so they wouldn't scratch the back corners or hang up on the fabric of the headliner.

3) Another good recommendation was to remove the garage-door opener AFTER the shell is out; rather than leveraging it out of the hole where it resides in a way that could damage the thin rail of the shell that retains it, remove the torx screw to "de-clam" the two halves.

4) I did not need any special tools. On the two black post retaining pins on the back, I found I was small and agile enough to get in the hatch and reach in with two fingers and simply pull the pin-retainer down to remove them. I was prepared with various needle-nose extensions, paddles, and interior removal forks, but didn't need them at any point in the process.

5) I absolutely recommend installing Dynamat on the roof - as CrossfireForum member waldig recommended. Figured the need for that to be exaggeration, it wasn't until I got the headliner shell out that I realized that roof is like a giant timpani skin. The wadding Karman/Mercedes/Chrysler used just isn't enough. That really deserves some butyl-rubber sound deadening. As a roller for the Dynamat, I used a gym single pulley attachment; this allowed me to really roll it on and give it some good pressure.

6) To remove the deteriorated foam goo, I first let it lie in the hot sun for a while to soften it up. I then toweled and brushed of the voluminous gobs with a scraper, towel, or simple brush. From there I used 91% alcohol on the mile areas, and Acetone on the more aggressive areas, and for the orange 'film' that remained, I used a 3/8" thick chunk of butyl-rubber from a floor-mat to "erase" off the remnants. This rubber chunk trick worked much better than a brush or a cup-brush in a drill as some have shown. I didn't want to use anything like "Goo Gone" with its citrus solvents, or petroleum-based solvents like mineral spirits, as the shell is like a sponge. I can only imagine if one uses that, it would soak into the shell and later cause the 3M adhesive to fail faster. The alcohol and acetone kept this dry and oil-free.

7) When installing the fabric on the adhesive and spreading it out even, I used a pliable bondo spreader at first, then wore white cotton gloves to spread in and around the concaves. I had several pair and swapped them out or turned them inside-out to continue use if they got dirt or smudges on them, as I continued to handle the newly upholstered shell. I did this from the moment the fabric was down until it was fully installed in the car. This helped to keep the fabric spotless while handling and avoid stains/spots/smudges. (And the gloves are cheap.)

8) While I did not have any deformation or damage to the shell removing it, I still took onehundred80's thoughts and reinforced potential weak spots with fiberglass resin. I had some surplus from a patch-kit in the garage so I figured what the hell, I'd put it to use. I then also used it to reinforce and re-seal the corners and edges. This helped retain the fabric well when wrapped later along and over those edges.

9) Instead of clothespins as one video recommended, I already had dozens of paper binder-clips in various sizes, and used those. The various size-range worked better to crimp along the very edges, and in curves and angles however required, as I assembled and smoothed out the fabric and to pressure it along the more sculptured edges and corners where otherwise the fabric may not have wanted to hold while the adhesive was drying. They also provide better clamping hold than clothespins would have supplied.

10) Speaking of adhesive, I bought two cans of 3M "Headliner Adhesive" - I used one can on the fabric layout, then maybe a 4th of the second can on the back-side edges and polyester "ribbon" I laid to make a nice retention ban at the fabric ends for extra surety in holding those fast. This gave a nice qualitative aesthetic appearance to the job rather than ragged loose ends, which would also prevent those fringe from getting tangled up on something while re-installing. Even if nobody is ever going to see it, I would know it's there looking shabby, so it's got to look tight and polished. ( I DO hear trees falling in the forest even when I'm not around when they do.).

11) When putting it back in, just before re-fastening the back, I reached in with a brush dabbed in clear E-6000 adhesive and applied it to the upper backside of the Velcro retaining swatch. ( E-6000 is very strong, durable, high-heat resistant, no odor, with a thick viscosity to hold it to the brush and in place so it doesn't run off or drip as you reach through the separation to dab in on the Velcro fastener. )

For those that may soon be afflicted with this sky-is-falling pandemic, below are links to very helpful threads that helped get some precognition prior to my own endeavors.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...er-fabric.html

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...r-removal.html


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GREAT write up!