ztim

Near the right rear side the headliner material is pulling away. Is there any kind of glue I can put on it and press it to stick it back down?

Or is there something I can shoot through the material and then press it down? It is way too floppy.
Thanks

J-(Chicago)

3m
spray 90
contact adhesive.

I'm not sure if it will ooze through the fibers or not though if you put it on too thick, so I'd try putting it on thin on some practice fabric first.

Great stuff. I use it all the time for fabric panels, but the delta 88 headliners are a lot thinner, like pantyhose.

joe_padavano

I assume this is a 70s or 80s vintage car with the hard-backed headliner. If so, the problem is the headliner is a foam-backed cloth that is glued to the backer board. The foam deteriorates and crumbles over time, causing the cloth to hang down. The only real fix is to remove the headliner board, remove the cloth, scrape off the remaining foam, and reinstall new covering material. It is possible to use spray adhesive to reattach the cloth, but be prepared for the crumbles of foam to rain down on your head when you peel the material back. Also, you need to get all the old material off before regluing. Consider that since the foam on the headliner is all the same age, the rest of it will start falling down soon. Also, regluing the old material will not be the best-appearing solution by any stretch.

J-(Chicago)

Joe is right.
The whole thing is like a giant 1/8 inch piece of hard foam, with glue backerboard.
That crumbly stuff is disgusting.

ztim

Thanks guys. I now have another project. I'm glad as heck I love that old car.

J-(Chicago)

It's a decent amount of work getting the panel down without breaking it. Remember it is styrofoam. I'd rather chisel ball joints off by hand than do that headliner project anyday

Your dome light will have to be the first thing to come off. and the sun visors.

joe_padavano

The backer board will almost certainly have cracks in it already. Just save all the fragments and fiberglass it back together on the backside before recovering it.

ztim

Thanks again

marzgtp1

Go on ebay type in headliner its like 40.00 I did my 1984 cutlass and it looks great.

Joeypete

I'm fixing this on my Custom Cruiser...luckily it's the rear headliner over the cargo area. It's a lot thinner than the thick padded stuff in the pax compartment. Easy fix really with some spray glue. For yours though you might be best getting a whole new headliner. The guy that redid my sim-conv top on my Toronado told me not to touch my headliner...literally. It's in great shape but like Joe said they start to fall apart.

kartmaster

No kidding! Anybody with one of these older cars that has the foam headliner and claims it "Looks brand new". Don't touch that thing! Ha ha. That foam starts off banana yellow, but by the time I redid mine 95% of what looked from the outside like good foam had turned burnt red and crumbled just damn near by looking at it!

ZTim, you might look into what local upholstery shops are charging. I removed and replaced the headliner myself in my car, but after about $100 in materials (I did the sail panels too) and finding out that a shop would have replaced it for not much more, I'd take it to someone else in the future, just to not have to hassle with it.

ztim

Thanks. I appreciate it and will keep it in mind.

csstrux

Might be B S but read, or was told that cigarette smoke was what caused the headliners either to come apart, or just faster. A friend used thumb tacs to keep the headliner up. You could tell we were kids cause we put a big arrow in it pointed at the drivers seat with a rather suggestive message above the shotgun seat.

Joeypete

I'd believe it...man my parents would smoke with the windows up when I was a kid! haha

What I think is hysterical (kind of off topic) is that in my Custom Cruiser wagon, there is an ashtray in the cargo area for the 3rd seat...LOL I assume GM thought adults would be sitting back there...or maybe that's where the juvenile delinquents are supposed to sit