Redo a headliner with me (Page 16/17)
johnyrottin NOV 08, 09:52 PM
Motivational thread! I need to do this to the 86 GT!!! It has "diaper sag".
1MohrFiero JUL 17, 07:18 AM
Bump to bring it back to life.
rogergarrison JUL 17, 07:50 AM

quote
Originally posted by FieroFiend:

Is there a good way to do this with vinyl? Ive tried and It doesnt seem to conform to the shapes without wrinkling horribly its a pretty strechy vinyl too but im getting beyond frustrated with it any tips or links to guides to redo headliners in vinyl?



Its almost as easy as doing it with foamed cloth. If you never done it before, might take a few extra hands to help hold the glued vinyl or leather up off of the board. Let the center drop in till it touches, then work it gently out towards each side while they hold up the ends. DONT STRETCH IT, just let it fall and press it into the nooks and crannies. MAKE SURE you let the glue dry till its dry to the touch before you try to put them together. Im so proficient at it now, I mostly do it all by myself. If the glue is wet, it wont stay. Like Ive said already, Ive done this with cars, custom motor homes, planes and boats for many years without a single problem. The DAP glue is permanent and will never come down if you follow the instructions. AGain, dont stick it down wet...it will fail. Ill also say again, even doing headliners in heavy carpet it works perfect. Ive done everything from bookmobiles, police mobile offices, Red Cross bloodmobiles, mobile medical buses, to stars custom built RVs. Ive never had a single failure. To the poster who says this glue pulled his vinyl apart...the glue worked so well, it pulled the backing off of the cheap vinyl he must have used. Ive never had that happen. Ive seen cheap carpet and vinyl that you could pull the cloth backing off of without any trouble. A lot of customizers are now using the coarse tweed like fabric on panels, mostly because its amazingly formable to all kinds of shapes...even dashes and consoles, without bunching up or wrinkling.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 07-17-2012).]

carbon SEP 27, 08:47 AM
1+ year bump! Hey, it's in my favorites OK?
a_bartle SEP 27, 09:36 AM
I just did my headliner about a month ago, yeah it was a nasty job (my backer board was in 4 pieces, patched it with the the fiberglass resin and then went all around the outside of it with the resin to beef the board up).

There has been all kinds of debate about what glue to use, which gets confusing! The place I purchased my material sold me the 3M 77 product, but after reading what others used, I didn't feel confident with that product. Others have said the 3M 90 is great, along with lots of other products from various manufactures. I ended up with 3M Headliner And Fabric Adhesive, Part # 38808. I figured 3M is a trusted brand, and this product is "called out" specific for this application, so it must be what they recommend. Who knows, it might be the same as what you'd find in the 3M 90 or even the 77, but at least the #38808 is specific for its purpose.

Anyway, it's not been long enough for me to say how well the #38808 glue is holding up, but thus far it's good. I followed the instructions to the letter (coat both the material and the backer board, then wait a little while for the glue to set up, then carefully mate them together....) and it turned out well. The project sure took me a long time, getting all the molding off and then repairing the backer board (and filling in where the sunvisor mount crushed the backer board...etc., etc.). So my advice is go slow, allow the project to spoil your weekend; you'll be happier with the results if you don't try to rush it.

I've got two more cars to do down the road, might go faster now that I've done it, and I'm "hoping" that the backer boards are in one piece this time...(even so I'll still re-enforce them with the fiberglass resin so they'll last).
84fiero123 SEP 27, 11:34 AM
not over here much so I never saw this until now, but I will second the contact adhesive for the headliner material, that's what we used at the factory when I did headliners, long ago and far away, think late 70s.

those days just the outer edges of the headliner were glued the center hang from wires that were supported from clips on the sides if I remember right, remember this was decades ago.

anyway we would hang the headliner on a board half and half on each side of the board that swiveled so we could spray the outside of it that need to be glued with a spray gun, then let them sit until the car it was going in came by. then another guy up the line would go around with a bucket of contact cement and brush it on the areas would come in contact with the stuff we sprayed on the liner, allowing some time for both to set before they were to get used.

then we would hang the headliner by the wirers and stretch the outer edges to the glued part of the roof that had been previously been contact cement.

so use contact cement.

great write up by the way.

Steve

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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't



Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

1MohrFiero OCT 21, 06:51 AM
fresh bump

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Ponnari OCT 21, 03:58 PM
Great write up Dwayne, and all the others that added info. I'll be doing my headliner this winter and after reading this I feel confident that I can do it the right way
1MohrFiero OCT 21, 07:18 PM
Thanks Lou. Its hard to believe this is 11 years old!
BrittB OCT 31, 04:28 PM
Don't forget to check out the Buddy Craig videos on YouTube. Lots of good hints the helped me through mine with good results!