commanderjjones

I bought a '92 with no headliner (entire panel is missing) and I want to replace it. I went and bought one from a local guy that was parting one out, but it has no metal in the panel.....only some foam covered fiber material that I'm not sure is even worth attempting to re-cover. I watched a YouTube video that showed how to re-cover an XJ headliner and was expecting to get a METAL panel.

I assume this is a change that happened in later years? If so, are the newer ones (say from a 2001) interchangeable with my '92?

I really don't wanna waste a bunch of work by re-covering this panel and then have it not hold up for any length of time.

Ralph77

I never did mine in '96 but did have my '00 done. Just fiber board of some sorts in the '00. Thinking you have what you need. As far interchangeable don't know. The dome light hole would be bigger in an '00. Then there is the cargo bay light. Might let you get rid of the speaker bar if you can hang the plastic the speakers go into. Some shots of my headliner, dome and cargo bay light I grabbed off the internet, and crappy shot of the plastic speaker bar under the headliner. What the wires are coming out of. Think I have an extra one and can take a better shot if you like of that.

LadyKenai

i just did my headliner and there is no metal, the metal is on the frame of the roof of the jeep itself, the domelight screws into that metal holding the headliner in place and so does the rear hatch domelight holding the speaker console in place and this on 94 xj maybe your model is differernt.

- Marc

Tbone289

The fiber board in my '00 is pretty durable stuff, the same as in Ralph's photos. I've never seen a metal headliner board in any vehicle I've owned, and not sure why you would want one.

moonsandals

I agree with everyone else. Never seen a metal one. A metal one would be too heavy, and it would not do a good job of isolating sound and temperature. The fibre panel lasts well enough if you don't have any major roof leaks causing it to rot. The fibre panel also keeps the car quiet and cool. If the fibre panel is cracked or creased, just repair it with fibreglass before you upholster it.

Take another look online. I found plenty of youtube videos showing me how to re-upholster headliner boards. It WILL last if you use quality materials and do appropriate prep. Key notes:

• Use a wire brush (not a wire wheel on a drill, do it by hand with a brush!) and remove all of the loose foam bits. The loose foam is from the fabric and is not part of the board.
• Clean the loose foam and dust off it. Once the foam is removed, clean it down. Blow it off with air. I wiped it down with a microfibre cloth and isopropyl alcohol. Just make sure you're not spraying adhesive on a layer of dust and crud.
• Use quality materials and spray adhesive. If you use bad quality spray adhesive, the result will be poor. I used the Permatex stuff (blue cap) with success. I know there are other suggestions (I have used Super77 for other projects and it works well in general. Never used it for headliner). And follow the directions!

So, IMO, if you do these things the board and the headliner will last. The foam board is fine and just do a good job of the work itself and you should not need to worry.

Tbone289

I felt like the wire brush was too harsh on the surface, even when done by hand. I used this to remove the foam and it worked incredibly well, with no damage. I highly recommend it:

moonsandals

Yea, good point. Wish I knew that when I did the headliner.

I used the wire brush to get the big stuff but I also used a plastic one for the final pass when things got delicate.

I essentially picked up one of these with plastic bristles at the dollar store. The one I got was very small, so took a long time to use on the entire headliner. A larger brush would have worked much better. The one you link looks like a much better option.

Rockhead

I've got a 2000. I pealed the material off which left foam on the backing board. Then took a stiff brush to the foam and got all of that off which left the backing board which I think looks nice by itself. It looks like its made of fiberglass.

LadyKenai

this is fun work doing on a jeep lots of labor but the eye will get something nice instead of a leaking seal underneath all that work and you dont even see it

marc