Proper way to fix sagging Headliner

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CSFJ

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Wow really? Well thanks I was about to try it.
Yep. Learned from first hand experience with my '79. Ended up doing my first headliner in red tweed after that.
 

shiftpro

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Yep. Learned from first hand experience with my '79. Ended up doing my first headliner in red tweed after that.
Have you tried to take it out of a crew cab? Fricken nightmare. Both seats I believe have to come out, and it had to be bent just right to get it out the back door. With a new headliner glued to the ... panel?... I can;t see how to bend it the way was required to get it out. Almost looks like removing a back door is required.
I only removed the headliner from my parts crew cab, and it was no fun.
 

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Agree that the stuff with melt the vinyl, ask me how I know.
 

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If your okay with auto glass, I've popped the back window out before.
 

RoryH19

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Is the backer board the foam underneath? Could mine be In okay shape? How can I tell if it's reusable?

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It's the board the headliner fabric attaches to. Similar to thick cardboard. You have to remove the moldings along the top of the cab in order to drop it down.
 

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Have you tried to take it out of a crew cab? Fricken nightmare. Both seats I believe have to come out, and it had to be bent just right to get it out the back door. With a new headliner glued to the ... panel?... I can;t see how to bend it the way was required to get it out. Almost looks like removing a back door is required.
I only removed the headliner from my parts crew cab, and it was no fun.
haven't ever needed to try on a squard crew, but have had to pull a headliner out of a first gen Honda Ridgeline before. Same concept though, you have to practically gut the ****** to get it out.
 

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Rock auto sells a plastic headliner replacement for about $120 when I got mine. No need dealing with the deteriorated foam board from factory.
 

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Well, yes but...

If you're good with throwing a piece of plastic up there then that will work great. I bought the Rock Auto replacement with fabric and it's the same foam-backed material glued to the plastic backer. Also, the plastic backer is molded fairly close to the original, but the cutouts for the visors and dome light are hand cut and will probably need modification to fit correctly so if they're off and you're you're using bare plastic you won't have the fabric to hide the sins.

Everybody's standards are different. Just be aware of what you are getting.
 

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Rock auto sells a plastic headliner replacement for about $120 when I got mine. No need dealing with the deteriorated foam board from factory.
What did you think of this option? Did you get it with the new headliner attached, or was it just the fiberglass and you attach your own headliner material? Asking for a friend.
 

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So if your headliner is sagging down and bothering you enough to do something temporary, you can get away with using the spray until your new headliner arrives or you have time to do it right. Remember, if it's vinyl, you will have.melting issues, but this can be done...if you have cloth, this might help even more.
Get about a 18 gauge syringe needle, 2" long is plenty. Actually buy like 3. A vet clinic is the best place to get them. Might want to explain what you are using them for. About 50 cents per.
Use a hot glue gun to glue the syringe to the spray nozzle. This is tricky and don't stick yourself! A helper is good. Make sure to do a practice spray to make sure it's glued on straight and the adhesive doesn't shoot out sideways because your hot glue job wasn't good.
Now poke the needle through the headliner. With the vinyl, you can slide it right through the perforated holes.
IMO, start where the liner sags the most.
Start spraying, a lot. Move your spray can around, up, down, side to side, so you can imagine spraying on both the liner and the backing board. Rotate the can around like a periscope to get as much coverage as you can. There's a video on YouTube of Ifa guy just putting a dime sized squirt every few inches. This will not work with our deteriorating foam. It will just fall down the first hot weather or driving with the windows down. If you have vinyl, some of the adhesive may drip through, have a cloth rag(not paper towels) available, and don't be shocked when you start to see wrinkles like freaking cat anuses wherever the vinyl kind of melts as mentioned . This will happen where there are the most drips so trying to get a nice smooth even coat especially on the foam backing while you spray is important.
Wait for about one song on the radio (ok, not freebird) about 3 min or so. Then start pushing the headliner back in place with the rag. Middle towards edges.
Your headliner should stay up. You will have places that you couldn't or didn't get adhesive on, just poke through and repeat the process with smaller amount but complete coverage.
With a cloth headliner, this might be a long lasting fix. Vinyl, because of wrinkles, it's just a temporary fix.
Oh, and like a spray can of paint, turn it upsidedown and spray the adhesive out of the syringe, put the syringe cap back on and you will be able to reuse it later on. I just redid a couple spots on my headliner and the can was sitting at least a couple of months.
Im currently deciding what direction to go for a completely new headliner, so this is a short term fix that keeps the headliner up and out of the way.
Good luck.
 

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it is plastic not fiberglass. It needs whatever material you want for a surface other than plastic to be attached. No worries about it falling apart like the fiber board factory one. For me, it's the best option for a replacement that I have found.
 

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I just bought some new tan headliner material and plan to just spray glue it.
Someone ripped the old fabric out, and there's a dirty foamish type material up there. Not sure how I'm going to to clean it.
3m adhesives work pretty well, though, so maybe it'll work.
Headliner fabric isn't too expensive.
 

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I just bought some new tan headliner material and plan to just spray glue it.
Someone ripped the old fabric out, and there's a dirty foamish type material up there. Not sure how I'm going to to clean it.
3m adhesives work pretty well, though, so maybe it'll work.
Headliner fabric isn't too expensive.
You want to get that old stuff off.
A stiff nylon brush will be very helpful, and then gently with a wire brush or a scraping device for the remainder.
 

trukman1

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You can go on You Tube and look up "The Lucky Needle" for a really good tutorial on recovering a headliner.
 

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Is the backer board the foam underneath? Could mine be In okay shape? How can I tell if it's reusable?

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If it's not cracked or broken.
 

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