Today, the Headliner. Tomorrow, the World!

Jay and I attacked and conquered the headliner installation today. I've always heard that this was a job only for those with the patience of the Dalai Lama and the dexterity of a brain surgeon, but it was not nearly as bad as I suspected. It does require patience and a steady hand, but it's very much an achievable goal for an afternoon with a helper....just save the beers for when it's done. This headliner is the older style that gets glued in underneath the window seals (that must be removed prior to installation), unlike modern cars that just have a fabric-covered piece of molded cardboard that is secured by plastic trim.

We glued 1/2" upholstery foam in over the QuietCoat to help with even more insulation.



Here's how to do the install:

First, install the bows across and slit the fabric loops to hang it properly. Then start from the rear and clamp 1-1/4" binder clips every 6" or so at about 3/8" depth with no glue. You'll see how it's going to fit. As you go, cut slits in the material about a centimeter apart at the curves. Cut the slits to just where the lip will meet the headliner.




Then, add more binder clips until you have all the wrinkles stretched out. I have heard of people using hair dryers to make the material more pliable, but ours seemed to work in 75F temperature. Once you have all the wrinkles out, begin with the contact cement. We worked with Jay undoing 6" of binder clips at a time while I brushed the contact cement on both the headliner and the lip. Jay would then re-stretch the material and place binder clips along the entire length.



We worked across the rear window, then the C pillars, then the tops of the rear 1/4 windows, then moved to the center of the front windshield and moved back. The whole process took us an afternoon. We left it to dry overnight. Tomorrow, I'll install the new window seals.







Not too shabby. I have to admit that I expected it so be a lot more painful. I bought 540 1-1/4" binder clips and used less than 300 of them. I suppose that I'll save them for the next person that needs to do a headliner.