I'm wanting to change my headliner to black. It's currently dark grey, and the fabric has been replaced within the last few years. It still looks great, no rips, stains or sags. I know I could just pull the thing out, strip the old fabric off and recover the board, no big deal.
But on Mr. Mike's site, in the common questions section, he mentions that Krylon (the spray paint for plastic) works on headliner material. Has anyone tried this? I would assume the fabric would hold the color, but do you end up with a stiff, crusty piece of fabric? Just wondering if anyone has tried this.
u will find out soon that the headliner board is brittle as hell and will crumble in your hands if you're not careful. Therefore, its a bad idea to spray it with anything besides glue for a fabric liner. listen, unless your headliner is plastic (the after market type)., then i suppose you gave it a try.
------------------ 1986 GT Fiero Owner & Enthusiast For Fiero updates, visit my site and don't forget to click on the ads! http://educatorstop15.we.bs/fieropage.htm
IP: Logged
09:40 PM
GT86 Member
Posts: 5203 From: Glendale, AZ Registered: Mar 2003
u will find out soon that the headliner board is brittle as hell and will crumble in your hands if you're not careful. Therefore, its a bad idea to spray it with anything besides glue for a fabric liner. listen, unless your headliner is plastic (the after market type)., then i suppose you gave it a try.
When I had the headliner out last time to replace the fabric, I reinforced it with fiberglass. Should still be in one piece.
IP: Logged
09:45 PM
Daredevil05 Member
Posts: 2345 From: South Jersey 08077 Registered: Oct 2006
I bought a new fiberglass headliner (sunroof type) from the Fierostore. I recently covered a fiberglass non-sunroof liner w/fabric and it was easy to do and looked good. But I didn't want to attempt the sunroof liner. So ....I went to Home Depot and searched the rattle can shelves until I found a can of grey textured paint. I painted the liner and the finish texture is somewhat like an 80 grit sandpaper, with a light sprinkling of flecks of white and black. I think it looks pretty good. When installed it rattled a little, so I stuffed some ductwork insulation (bubble wrap w/foil on each side) in between the metal roof and the liner.
IP: Logged
05:26 AM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
You can buy fabric color spray cans. You can also buy a bottle of Ritt dye and spray it out of the car, wipe it around with a sponge, let dry. Krylon will work, but it will make the cloth feel stiff and hard. I kryloned the vinyl headliner in my Coronet black, same as it was.
The best material is a cloth felt they use to carry it at Wal mart fabric section I do not frequent wal-mart so do not know if it is still available it looks great you can get red black grey ,, you do not remove the headliner ,just loosen ,,you need to fold the material around the sides ,, you use a top quality construction ahesive you spread it on as you go ..I cut applicators from plastic soda bottles they are your spatulas or putty knife you apply the adhesive with your custom plastic spreaders ,,then press the cloth against the head liner using your hand to smooth it out you keep a rag handy to clean your hands the felt covers many of your mistakes,, The construction adhesive helps keep the head liner together ,, I used duct tape to hold one split,, the contact adhesive will hold the material so it does not sag. you cut out the holes for the rear stop lite and sun roof or interior lite... you need to cut a bit more than you need for the headliner ,, mistakes are easily covered by applying clear dry glue and placing pulled material from your material roll(you will understand when it is in front of you ) this is a real neato fiero install looks better than factory and is easy to do ,,You do the whole project with out removal of the head liner .. measure twice it is the measurement that is the most critical part ..Hmmmm wonder how I know this !! this is a project any one can do ,,only the most pastic among us can not do this .. the most difficult part of the actuall install, is holding the material up that you have not glued,, I did this alone,, a companion to hold the lose material would be an asset. If you just eyeball the material you will see the custom look this will add to your present ratmobile.. sewing the visors is more difficult,, if you can do this you can easily make and sew your own steering wheel cover or shift knob from a old leather coat,skirt or piece of leather if you do nor wear leather skirts check with lady friends to see if they have one to worn to use If done alone a wooden T can be made to assist in holding up the material before it is glued the fancy specialty headliner glues do not work as good as the construction adhesive you apply it with a caulk gun spread it with the spreader you made Ive done one fiero and 2 fords,one a a taurus that changed the interior much the better..(use to buy and sell cars,,lost my brass a neato jet upgrade tho yes there will be a few lumps in your first attemp but they are not really noticible
Ahem--back in 2002, my wife Jane announced she wanted to change her interior to black. 84SE. Black carpet, black door panels where the carpet is, black dash, black headliner. Ok I said--it's your car. Imagine my surprise a few days later when I come home one evening to find she is all done with it. Took 6 cans of Krylon and sprayed the whole interior--in the car.
Imagine my suprise a few weeks later, when the headliner cloth suddenly fell completely down. The lacquer thinner in the paint had dissolved the adhesive on the back of the headliner cloth and it came loose from the headliner board.