T44 Avant Headliner Options

[Mark J. Besso]

As Kent mentioned, be sure to take the headliner card out of the car 
before trying to remove the material. 

I had the misfortune of not knowing the headliner had started to 
separate from the card.  My car--like yours--had sat for a long time and 
it never occurred to me that might happen.  I hopped in the car and was 
all kinds of happy that it started right away after sitting for a 
month.....or so.  Since it was a very hot day I did the natural thing 
for someone sitting on the black leather seat of a car without 
functioning A/C.  I opened the sunroof and all (4) windows as far as 
they could go.

The first mile of backroads didn't give me any trouble.  It wasn't until 
I pulled onto the highway that the full gravity of the situation 
presented itself.  The headliner material waited until I was shifting 
from 4th to 5th before it "came away" from the backing card.  It did so 
without a sound, but it wasn't something you could ignore.  The ENTIRE 
interior instantly filled with remnants of the foam backing.  It clung 
to everything except the headliner card......which includes yours truly!

If you've never tried to use a commercial shop vacuum to remove foam 
from your hair, skin and clothing I don't recommend it.  It's not fun at 
all......and really not all that effective either.

~Mark



Kent McLean wrote:
> urq wrote:
>   
>> I'd really like to get something solid like the
>> headliner on the urq, but I don't know if anything like that was available
>> for the T44 Avant.  I'll appreciate hearing what sort of options folks have
>> found out there.
>>     
>
> The fabric headliner (with foam) is glued to a cardboard-like molded panel,
> which comes out in one piece.  *DO NOT* try to peel the fabric off until
> the whole panel is out of the car. The orange foam under the fabric crumbles,
> is sticky, and will get all over the nooks and crannies of your car.
>
> Once the panel is out, you can peel off the fabric and clean up the orange
> sticky confetti. Then it is a question of applying new fabric yourself, or
> letting an upholstery shop do it. And if price is no object, let the
> upholstery shop do the removal of the liner, too.
>
>