Knuckledragger
blowing chunks and grabbing porcelain
I have a factory headliner that finally gave up on keeping the fabric attached to the foam, which has disintegrated and was blowing about the cab as I drove.
Went to JoAnn's Fabrics and bought 1 yard of foam backed gray headliner fabric, went to home despot and bought 1 can of 3M #77 spray adhesive. I had a can of #80 which was advertised to be good for the project, but apparently was defective or way too old, because it did not spray when I tried it out. #77 worked just fine.
Looked in factory manual to see if there was instructions for taking out the headliner. Nothing. I was considering going to the local pick-n-pull to educate myself, but decided to give it a blind try. The metal pieces over the doors, windshield and rear window all snapped out with a window crank removal tool. the plastic corner pieces were mostly just hanging there, a couple had screws at the top but the tabs were broken from the moldings, kind of like the tabs on the headlight doors break off.
Unscrewed and removed visors and dome light.
Gently wrestled with cardboard backing for headliner and managed to get it out in only 2 pieces, a small corner piece broke off and was taped back for the reassembly. I used a wire brush to comb off all of the old foam, working in several directions and sweeping gently around. It worked quite well. I followed up with a bristle brush like you would use to clean a pool table. Nice and clean!
I laid out the new fabric on the cardboard and discovered that the fabric came from a 54" wide roll, a very standard size. Headliner cardboard width=55 inches. Crap. No matter, it will stretch as long as I can grow a couple more hands and arms. I laid the fabric on the cardboard and folded the fabric in half backwards, exposing the foam and half of the cardboard. Sprayed adhesive in two directions on both the cardboard and fabric, then started the exciting part. Held up the fabric with one hand and smoothed the sticky part onto the cardboard with the other. It is good that I am 6'3" and have long arms, because I had no other help. Having 2 other people would be way easier. When I got about 10 inches from the edge, I started pulling the fabric to stretch it while avoiding wrinkles and bubbles. I got it to within 1/4 inch in some spots, right to the edge in others.
Spun around the cardboard and fabric and repeated process on other side. Happy to report successful process, trimming and re-installation of the headliner in about 2 hours total, including learning curve and trip to local home despot. Not sure how much aftermarket kits cost but this was about $25, including $10 for adhesive and $15 for fabric.
A friend told me that the Chebby forum he frequents has people using thumbtacks to hold up the sagging fabric, sometimes making patterns with the thumbtacks. It would have kept my fabric up, but turned the cardboard into a bunch of small pieces with the perforations.
Did not think about taking pictures until I was almost done, but I was tight for time and would have not finished if photos were taken.
Went to JoAnn's Fabrics and bought 1 yard of foam backed gray headliner fabric, went to home despot and bought 1 can of 3M #77 spray adhesive. I had a can of #80 which was advertised to be good for the project, but apparently was defective or way too old, because it did not spray when I tried it out. #77 worked just fine.
Looked in factory manual to see if there was instructions for taking out the headliner. Nothing. I was considering going to the local pick-n-pull to educate myself, but decided to give it a blind try. The metal pieces over the doors, windshield and rear window all snapped out with a window crank removal tool. the plastic corner pieces were mostly just hanging there, a couple had screws at the top but the tabs were broken from the moldings, kind of like the tabs on the headlight doors break off.
Unscrewed and removed visors and dome light.
Gently wrestled with cardboard backing for headliner and managed to get it out in only 2 pieces, a small corner piece broke off and was taped back for the reassembly. I used a wire brush to comb off all of the old foam, working in several directions and sweeping gently around. It worked quite well. I followed up with a bristle brush like you would use to clean a pool table. Nice and clean!
I laid out the new fabric on the cardboard and discovered that the fabric came from a 54" wide roll, a very standard size. Headliner cardboard width=55 inches. Crap. No matter, it will stretch as long as I can grow a couple more hands and arms. I laid the fabric on the cardboard and folded the fabric in half backwards, exposing the foam and half of the cardboard. Sprayed adhesive in two directions on both the cardboard and fabric, then started the exciting part. Held up the fabric with one hand and smoothed the sticky part onto the cardboard with the other. It is good that I am 6'3" and have long arms, because I had no other help. Having 2 other people would be way easier. When I got about 10 inches from the edge, I started pulling the fabric to stretch it while avoiding wrinkles and bubbles. I got it to within 1/4 inch in some spots, right to the edge in others.
Spun around the cardboard and fabric and repeated process on other side. Happy to report successful process, trimming and re-installation of the headliner in about 2 hours total, including learning curve and trip to local home despot. Not sure how much aftermarket kits cost but this was about $25, including $10 for adhesive and $15 for fabric.
A friend told me that the Chebby forum he frequents has people using thumbtacks to hold up the sagging fabric, sometimes making patterns with the thumbtacks. It would have kept my fabric up, but turned the cardboard into a bunch of small pieces with the perforations.
Did not think about taking pictures until I was almost done, but I was tight for time and would have not finished if photos were taken.
