Has anybody replaced theirs? The common answer is to use the 3M adhesive, but the equally common answer is that it doesn't really work long term.

I have a car with a dark interior, and that stupid looking light colored headliner, which fortunately needs replacing. If you've done your headliner, and were successful, what stuff did you use?

Thanks

 

The foam backing turns to a fine dust, hence the failure.
no lining material will properly adhere to the backing board with a dusty foam residue as a base.
You need to remove the backing board complete, strip it down clean and affix new headlining material with integral foam backing using a suitable spray adhesive.

 

Photos of the process would be greatly appreciated.

Rspi, where is the video ????

 

I intend to swap to a grey S70 headliner once I find a good donor in a wrecking yard. I prefer the grey, plus want the high-mount light as well.

 

I pulled mine and stripped it down to the panel and got the material a Joannes fabric for $9 , I used Landau top adhesive ( I have a 5 gal drum) the stuff will NEVER let go. I used SEM Vinyl spray to match the plastics an visors( at a later date, not pictured)

 

There's a junk yard near me that has a fairly regular supply of Volvos, fortunately. I thought about pulling a good headliner, but I don't recall seeing a dark headliner in an 850. I assume they were all light, and I really don't like the light color in the car with a dark interior. It just looks goofy to me to have black/grey, with a tan headliner.

I also have a foam and fabric store near me, and they sell lots of automotive fabrics. I wanted to do something with a cool pattern, but I talked to the owner and he suggested against it. He said the problem is the weight of the fabric, as opposed to the weight of the foam backed stuff that's made for a headliner. He said it would be tough to get it to stick, even with the good (expensive) spray adhesive he sells, and it would start to fall fairly soon.

Then we covered the typical stuff....it's the foam that breaks down....gotta scrape the backing...etc, etc. All the basic stuff.

I don't suppose anybody has done any custom fabric headliner, have they? I still would like to, but I don't want to have to tear it down in a month when it starts falling. I assume the guy knows what he's talking about, but I also assume there's gotta be some way to do pretty much anything, right?

 

you can do any type of fabric you want , first you would have to lay down a 8th or 16th closed cell foam padding and then do the fabric. I have done a ton of headliners (I install custom car audio) the trick is the glue! I only use Landau top contact adhesive.You spay each surface , let it dry just past tacky and then join the two.

 

Awesome. Thanks.

Any suggestions on adhesive for somebody who isn't setup to spray from a bulk container? Is there a spray can version of something you think might work?

 

I've never tried their headliner adhesive, no personal experience but I like all the other 3M stuff I have used so far as far as lubes and body work stuff.

Adhesive Experiment - Defying Normal

 

3M makes a headliner specific glue , works pretty good. The yellow super trim is good also

 

Fine . . . OK, I missed one .

3M PN/38808

 

Groovy. Thanks for the info.

 

I came up with a couple of ideas for how to tighten up the headliner on my '89 740 GLE, until I can re-do it properly. For the edges, I used 1/8" wooden dowels, about 1' long, pressed into the space between the headliner and the trim. For the sag in the back, I used 8 white plastic panel fasteners pressed into the sides of the recess over the rear seat. The 1/8" dowel was $.63 for 48". That was enough to do over both front doors, and the windshield. The panel fasteners were $.55 each. Total cost was about $5, including tax. Time to install was less than half an hour! Cheap and easy! Ronzol61's Story by Ronzol61 | Photobucket

 

The headliner in my car is absolutely hideous. I'm not talking tan on black here, the last owner took couch fabric and used that for the headliner (covered in flowers). I really want to get it out but I feel that there's gonna be a few days gap between taking it out and putting the new one in. So my question is, are there any long wires that will hang over me while I'm driving? And will the sunshades and handles and such need to come out as well?

 

Well, at least it isn't a "Red Green" flannel custom job with duct tape
.


I haven't done one so I don't know. Just couldn't resist a red green moment.

 

My headliner was also very dirty and had some holes in it...I choosed to glue to it tan suede to match the rest of the car.
Here are the pics from the action 9 months ago. Still holding strong

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pxb101phygza66y/E-9Z1deg0P#/ (scroll to the end of the gallery)

Cristian

 

Stripping the old material off and gluing the new material on only takes about an hour. The entire job can be done in 3 hours. I have done a sedan and a wagon. I need to do mine so hopefully one day soon I'll post details. Haven't done any since I started shooting videos.

 

Oh, I used the heavy duty 3M stuff. About $21 per can. I used 2 cans. The entire job cost about $90 in material.