Headliner fix?

[casurfer911]

my headliner is hanging down quite a it, but it is in excellent shape. How hard would it be to just pull it out and reglue it, can i just take a hair dryer to hit and stick it back up there? I've read a bunch of other posts about people replacing the headliner, but i would rather not do that if i dont have to.

[AllanS]

If it's hanging down, it's not in good shape at all- the headliner is made up of a layer of fabric (what you see hanging down) attached to a layer of foam, which is glued to a fibreglass board.

What's hanging down is the thin layer of fabric, which has detached from the foam and glue. There's no way to reuse the old one, without problems at least.

Your 2 options are:

1Buy a headliner kit (40-60$) consisting of a length of new material, and glue it on the cleaned up old board.

2Buy a new headliner altogether (300$ from BMA).

I tried option 1 and screwed it up- one of the problems was that the high temperature of where I was working made the spray glue dry faster than normal, but the main reason is that... I screwed up. There are many "ridges and slopes" in the board that you have to work the fabric into, without really stretching it. The other problem is matching the color.

Getting the thing out is relatively simple, luckily. It just takes time to remove all the screwed on bits, and adjust (or remove) the seats to fanagle the thing out. Be careful not to bend it too much, as cracks can (and in my case DID) develop. Also, be careful not to scratch or press too hard on the board when removing the old foam, because some sports are soft and have foam in certain areas, that can be scratched off, leaving deep gashes which show up when new fabric is put on.

So now I'm driving around without a headliner, waiting for my new one to arrive. I'm also doing the rear shelf, which has the same problem. The rear shelf is hard to find, and that's what I'm waiting on basically.

[Mr Project]

Option 3 if you screw up option 1 (I did too!):

Remove all the parts and pieces, and take them to you local upholstry shop. They even did my parcel shelf in special carpeting, which I think is much nicer than the headliner material. This will SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the $$ since they save so much time removing and installing. They did all of my parts (including pillar covers) for $125, including materials.

[Elekta]

boat uphostlery guy matched my wife's 535ia's near perfectly, and r&r'd the headliner turnkey for $350. One day, and it was done and out of mind.

This is a tricky job and a screw up will catch your eye for the remainder of the life of the car....like a bad door ding next to driver's door key.

Consider outsourcing this job very seriously to a professional. It won't be worth saving even a $100 dollars if your eye catches that "wrinkle" in the fabric for an eternity

[AllanS]

Woah, that's pretty damn good... I think I should have done that. Oh well, too late now!