Took the headliner out of the parts car figuring I could repair the crumbling fiberboard and recover it in preparation for wiring in Homelink and Gentex mirror. It popped out and the first thing I thought was, "boy, that was easy...I'm sure it just broke". Turns out, it didn't break because it's (I think) an ABS board. Is this the one TFS sells? It still needs to be recovered (the material isn't sticking to the "head holes"). I can just rip the old material off of this, right? Pretty pleased, TBH.
Don't know if it's the TFS or not, but definitely not factory.
I found a guy here in Texas that would recover a headliner for $25 including the material. It only takes him a few minutes so I guess he figures he's making money.
I redid one once. I probably had all day in it but I had to brush off the fiberboard powder, coat it with resin and let that dry before I could recover it. This should be a snap.
The Fiero Store has an ABS headliner but I have no idea what it looks like. The only pics on the TFS site are covered (and not very good). I'm just pleased I don't have to fix/restore an original fiberboard headliner. Like I said, I restored one once. Once was all it took to realize I didn't want to do it again. Of course, I bought some resin (expensive crap) the other day in preparation for the restoration.
I would like to buy the ABS, but I am not sure I want one that is covered. I would want it to be done right and the color matched to my visors. Hopefully you can get just the ABS. That Is definitely the way to go.
I have the TFS ABS headliner, but mine is for a sunroof car, so it doesn't look exactly like yours. That said, I'd bet that's a TFS headliner. Other than sound deadening, I think ABS makes a lot more sense than fiberboard for this application.
I had problems getting my headliner material to stay up on the ABS panel. I ended up using a different contact cement type adhesive because the 3m spray just would not work..
I had problems getting my headliner material to stay up on the ABS panel. I ended up using a different contact cement type adhesive because the 3m spray just would not work..
Well don't leave us hanging. What did you find that worked?
Yep, I have that same Fierostore non sunroof ABS one. In my case they were notorious for not staying stuck. I returned two of them that were detaching upon arrival and finally kept the last one. Its beginning to show signs of detaching but not enough for most people to notice. Those head coves must be tough to get something to stick in.
I've had good luck with the 3M "Headliner Adhesive" (part number 38808), rather than the other, more common 3M glues like 77 or 9077 or whatever they're called. But I'm spraying it on the stock fiberboard headliner if that makes any difference. Not plastic.
Not sure why the ABS plastic boards would be so troublesome. Given a choice, I'd rather be working with a plastic one if all things were equal otherwise.
Lowe’s Formica counter top adhesive it comes in a quart can one quart is all you will need. Use the small cheap sponge roller kit to roll it on both the abs and onto the back of the headliner material. You will need someone to help lay it onto the base. You will only get one shot at putting it down. Once it sticks you will not be able to get it up to correct. It has been in my car for 12 years still up holding up great. If your car has a sunroof don’t cut the hole out for it until final install back in the car. The hole in the abs base is about 2 inches larger than the sunroof. Cut the hole out after everything is back in place in the car. If you don’t you will not have enough material to pull into the channel for the rubber holding strip to lock in.
