A while back I chimed in on a post about replacing/redoing the cloth headliner..I commented that the repairs rarely last for long the glue never seems to hold in the heat. A year or so I redid mine by totally removing the cloth part...cleaning it down to base foam/fiberglass..and then repainting it. I used the Rustoleum 4X deck restore . It is very durable and comes in almost any color. Their grey was almost an identical match for the original color. I put on 3 or 4 coats it only took 5-10 min per coat with a small 4 inch roller. They make this stuff in many thicknesses ...up to 10X and it is used for decks so it holds up well. Its only as strong as the foam liner beneath it so if you really jamm something in there it will give but you can repaint over it in seconds . Its also flexible enough to stand up to moderate bending during the liner reinstall. I like the way it came out and it was a hell of a lot cheaper than having someone replace my liner

 

Found some old photos of when I did the job....guess its been 3 years

 

Hey. I was also thinking of painting the headliner board in my Cherokee. Are you still happy with it? Do you remember about how long it took you to scrape all of the old foam off of the board? Thanks!

 

When I originally did mine, the foam layer was pretty crumbly and came off easily with a medium stiffness wire brush. Took maybe 20-minutes to get it nice and clean, but it was also a MJ headliner which only measures about 3-feet front-back. I just redid mine a few months ago after the old one got wet and stained from condensation from the roof. $4 medium grey felt (look more like wool blanket material) and a can of 3M adhesive. I alsopainted the roof and installed 8mm adhesive backed foam on the roof to fix the condensation.

 

Your project turned out pretty well. Looks good. Thanks for sharing.

I would dispute the claim that new headliner glue doesn't hold well or new headliner material doesn't last long. The trick (well, it really isn't a 'trick') is to get all the old crumbly foam off the headliner. a 5" round wire brush on a drill makes quick work of it. Use a good 3M spray adhesive for headliners. Headliners with white or tan foam backing probably won't last very long. Get headliner material with black foam (can withstand heat and UV). I've done at least 5 headliner replacements and 10 years later they're still holding great. I need to re-do my Jeep headliner now. I personally prefer a fabric which tends to knock down echo's and interior sound waves a little.

I've seen all kinds of neat headliner projects using different fabrics ..netting, you name it. Your project shows that there's more than one way to approach a project. There's a lot of creative ideas out there!!

 

"Get headliner material with black foam (can withstand heat and UV)." Now someone mentions it...Me running outside and looking at my headliner I did last year for spot's coming unglued...

 

3M Super 77 works best, in my experience.

 

Definitely get the old foam off first, and repair any tears in the backing board. I've used medium grey thermal underwear looking fabric which looking pretty neat. The last time, I used darker grey felt from Walmart that worked well. You want it a little stretchy to form into the corners without wrinkling. I also put 8mm foam on the roof which really helped with condensation ( I also had some leftover dynamat I stuck on first.

 

I’ve done headliners on several of my vehicles. First I remove all the old foam with a plastic scrub brush. Then I use polar fleece glued on with contact cement spread with a cheap paint brush. The contact cement likes to soak in quickly, and I think I used 2 gallons on mine. Just proceeded about 6-12 inches at a time, as I brushed on the cement, and unrolled and pressed down the fabric before it dried. When all done I go over it with a dry paint roller, and leave it to dry overnight. Then I trim the overhangs some, wrap them up around the back side and cement them down too.

My theory is that moisture causes the stock foam and glue to deteriorate. I believe polar fleece and contact cement to be water resistant. Well it’s worked so far anyway, every time. Even on my Celebrity which I did 20 years ago, it’s still holding up fine. Even after the windshield leaked on it for a couple years. The fabric is stained a little but it never came loose.

Another plus is the massive choice of fabrics, anything from stock looking to totally wild.

 

if nothing else its a great way to repair a slightly damaged biscuit. A good coat on both sides would be best

I have done a few.

"Headlining felt" is good, as it has no foam, is compressed wool, looks very similar, but as it has no foam to degrade, high temp glue can be used

Especially good where it gets hot and you have a dark vehicle, like mine, no regular foam/glue combo (that I know of) is rated to handle +70C

I used it in my dark blue '69 Jag, looks OEM, they had "West of England " cloth, not foam anyway

 

That came out great.

I'm looking into doing the same thing.
thanks for the tip.

 

Thanks...its still holding up well, except when I jam a fishing rod tip into it. I did some research for a friend last year and they don't make that paint anymore but the related post below this used Behr deck over paint and it came out nice too. Even better than mine, they put insulation above the headliner...I wish I would have thought of that

 

looks great, bud! I did mine, too, a few years ago and have zero complaints.