headliner repair

[George Selby]

At 11:51 AM 7/13/03, you wrote:
>I am the lucky recipient of the dreaded saggy hearliner.  I searched
>the archives and have read the various methods to try and fix it - 3M spray
>adhesive, thumbtacks, Tac-It spray adhesive as well as professional
>replacement.  I have also seen DIY kits for about $35.  Most of the posts
>are 2+ years old.  Has anybody had any recent experience with these methods?
>   I am especially interested in the DIY kits.

OK, it helps to explain what goes on when you have a saggy headliner.  You
have several layers of material above your head: starting from the top
there is a giant piece of thick cardboard/pressboard that everything else
attachs to.  Then there is a layer of glue.  Then a layer of foam, then the
layer of fabric that you actually see.  When your headliner sags, it is
generally the fabric pulling away from the foam as the foam disintegrates ,
and the remaining foam stays attached to the glue (which in my Audi is
particularly sticky.)  Then as the foam/glue is exposed it will start to
flake off, especially if touched.

To do a job equivalent to factory (one that will last more than a year or
so)  you need to pull the entire headliner, then pull the remaining fabric
off the cardboard, then scrape the remaining glue/foam mix off the
cardboard.  Then use 3M heavy duty upholstery glue (following the
directions to the letter) to apply the new piece of material to the
cardboard.  The material will be cloth with the foam already attached (foam
backed cloth.)  After the headliner is glued, I like to set it on the floor
overnight, fabric side up, and place a bunch of heavy books all over the
headliner to really make things set up.  Once this procedure is completed,
you will have a factory looking headliner again (depending on how well you
match the fabric to any remaining pieces such as the sunroof panel.)  I
recommend doing any other nearby panels that use the same fabric at the
same time, because fabric colors change over time, and if you try to do it
a couple of years later, it you might not be able to match it.  This
scenario happens because the side pieces seem to last longer (by a couple
of years,) so people only do the headliner, then in a couple of years see
the same thing happening to the side panels.  Generic fabric shops have a
limited supply of auto-type headliner material on-hand, it generally
matches a few common domestic interiors.

If you try to reglue the fabric to the foam, it will just pull away in a
short time, and the glue will bleed through the fabric, making it look very
bad.

George Selby
gselby4x4 at earthlink.net