headliner install 101

[sweatybetty]

well i bought a headliner on ebay from this guy
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BARR...007QQitemZ170142648125QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

excellent product and fast shipping. lots of extra material around the edges for trimming and even an extra square yard of material. i highly recommend this outfit.

anyhow first step was to get the bows in and get the bows hooked in the car. the bows are color coded front to rear and only fit one way. make sure to mark the if you remove them and the paint is gone.
the front bow should be tilted toward the back of the car. this allows the liner to be pulled tight to the hooks along the wind shield. start in the center, working toward the doors, back and forth. also, heat is your friend. i used a quartz heater and rolled the side glass up trapping the heat inside. the liner was warm to the touch and this helped alot.
once the front is hooked, start on the rear. the rest of the bows are loose in their sockts allowing the liner to be pulled to the rear. starting in the center, pull the liner TIGHT, going side to side. i pulled with 1 hand and used a 3" putty knife to hook the liner on the pins.
now for the sides. alternating from sise to side, pull tight and hook maybe 2-3" at a time. i started in the middle of the window opening and worked out from there. dont trim yet!
the front pillars and rear sail panels are the pain. DO NOT TRIM ANY MATERIAL until you get these parts glued and the glue is dry. dont ask how i found out!
i used pliobond contact adhesive. this is a commercial type and works great. $4.95 at ace hardware.
i pulled the liner kind of snug to the edges and marked with a sharpie to give me an idea where to put the glue. brush the glue on the body, and on the liner and let dry. when its dry to the touch brush another coat on the liner and let that tack up. while its still sticky, pull liner tight and press into place. the glue will hold it now. this took me a few times until i was satisfied and got most of the wrinkles out. on my car, the window seals cover the liner along the edges, so make sure to glue these edges also. take your time. it wasnt easy but wasnt as hard as i thoght it would be.
while there are some wrinkles, im satisfied with the outcome. heres some pics.
also i used a hooked blade in my razor knife. this worked better than a straight blade and helped prevent any oh *****.

 

[sweatybetty]

heres the glue

 

[65s]

That's awesome Sweatybetty! So you glued it along the back window at the top, right where it hooks into those hooks? Or did you glue it just before the hooks on that flat piece of metal back there?

I had a guy do my headliner a few years ago with the glass in, but I'm convinced you can't it that way. The back part has always fallen down. I glued it, pulled it, and eventually screwed a piece of trim up into the sheetmetal to hold it, which now holds it but doesn't look the best. I will eventually do the headliner again.

Thanks for the photos!

 

[sweatybetty]

That's awesome Sweatybetty! So you glued it along the back window at the top, right where it hooks into those hooks? Or did you glue it just before the hooks on that flat piece of metal back there?

I had a guy do my headliner a few years ago with the glass in, but I'm convinced you can't it that way. The back part has always fallen down. I glued it, pulled it, and eventually screwed a piece of trim up into the sheetmetal to hold it, which now holds it but doesn't look the best. I will eventually do the headliner again.

Thanks for the photos!

thanks. i glued it all along the very outside edge. the one thing i didnt like was the liner is perforated so the glue kind of oozed through the holes in a few spots, not real bad but i can see it. i think the best way would be to pull the glass because the window seals cover the liner edge.

 

[rumblefish360]

WOW! Dude. this is great. Thanks for the posting on this.