thinking of tackling my sagging headliner this week. Can I re-use the current headliner material? or do I need to purchase new fabric. thanks

 

Get new.

If it is sagging, that means that the foam backing has seperated. You can buy material specific for headliners, but most any material will work. I used a heavy felt myself.

 

ok thanks

 

The headliner sags because the foam is disintegrating. If you try to glue the same fabric down again, the foam will just come apart again, and the fabric will sag again.

There are numerous threads on here about fixing your headliner, and there are several videos on YouTube showing the process. The headliner material is glued to a fiberglass board that you can patiently pull out in ten minutes. You have to scrub the old foam and glue off with a brush. To replace it, you can buy foam-backed headliner material at any decent fabric store like JoAnn or Hancock for $10-15 per yard, or you can order it online. Then get a couple of cans of 3M Super 77 adhesive at Home Depot (don't buy it at the fabric store, because the fabric store cans cost more and are smaller).

As was mentioned, you don't actually have to use the foam-backed headliner material. You can put anything you want on there. Some people have actually bedlined it instead of using fabric. People have used everything from camo to carpet to superhero bedsheets. I prefer the foam material, however, for the sound deadening.

Keep in mind that unless you buy an exact match for your interior, your headliner won't match your visors. Many people re-cover their visors at the same time.

 

The headliner material as Extrashakey said is about 30-40 bucks total. I prefer 3M 90 adheasive over the 77. About 15 bucks a can and you will need 1.5 to 1.75 cans. This is a nice Saturday job. Having an extra set of hand to put the material is almost mandatory.

Ron

 

Removing the headliner/board is what will take you the longest pulling all the trim and replacing. When out work on a flat surface like a 4x8 sheet of plywood on sawhorse's to clean it. Then take it off and clean your work area very well before you start to get rid of any foam laying around.


It is a good idea to let it dry in the sunlight for a few hours before you reinstall it so no accidents happen while pushing the headliner back in place and replacing trim, lights.

 

I used this as an excuse to go buy a nice rolling canister shop vac and sucked up the foam as I went. That way, when I was finished, there wasn't that sticky foam everywhere in the garage.

 

I had the sagging headliner problem in my '00 XJ. Was toying with the idea of fixing it myself. Just figured I would buy the fabric and glue, go through all the work doing it, and then have it start sagging down the road. There is an place in my town that handles this type of work. Been around forever and is the go to guy for all the classic car upholstery needs. $125 with me removing the headliner and bringing it to him. Probably could have had it done cheaper a couple towns over but figured why bother. If you are not too tall you can fit a '00 headliner in a '96 XJ and kinda drive. Just one of those instances that I think it is sometimes better to let the experts handle it.

 

Truth. I had mine off and started scrapping the old foam off. 5 min in I said eff that. Found a place that does professional boat and car upholstery a few towns over. $125 as well, and they did the mirrors too. Well worth it.