wristwister

So the headliner in the 95 XJ my daughter and I are building is trashed. The simplest solution would be to just slide in a good headliner from the doner XJ, but we had a crazy thought: wood grain. A couple ways to go about this:

Home Depot has vinyl flooring slats that seem to be the perfect size. They're 48" wide, which is perfect for pressing against the sides as it arcs up. They interlock together, and when they're arced like that the hold together great.

Or ... your basic 4X8 wood grain panel seems like about the perfect size. Again, it would press against the sides and arc up to hold shape.

Seems simple on the surface, but I've never seen it done and there's probably a reason for that. Any of you done anything like this? Pictures?

extrashaky

Not a crazy idea at all. Several people have done wood paneled headliners in the full sized Wagoneers and Cherokees. Here's a Google Image Search to show you some examples.

A better solution (if you decide the wood paneling is too much) is to buy headliner material at JoAnn Fabric and a can of 3M Super 77 adhesive. You just remove your fiberglass headliner board, scrub all the old foam and glue off, apply adhesive, apply material and trim to fit. There are numerous DIY threads and YouTube videos showing how to do it.

The problem with swapping in another old headliner is that it'll probably start to sag pretty soon after you do it. Might as well do it once and do it right.

wristwister

Thanks Shakey, it does indeed look doable.

I've found that most XJs, including both ours, don't have that headliner pan. Rather it's just foam backed headliner material that can't really be recovered.

EZEARL

Like your two mine didn't have the fiberglass board either. Been years w/o anything with no problem. But if you decide to go the paneling route please keep us posted. There's a lot of options besides the wood look.

Bugout4x4

This is what my wife and I decided to do. We have done some home work on this and figured rolled vinyl covering would probably work the best. It can be heated and it will conform to almost any cavity or bulge. We actually used to do whole interiors this way back in the 60's and 70's. And by whole interior I mean even heat shaping it over all the rounded metal door, door posts, dash, Etc. My wife likes the idea of wipe down clean up.

Absolutely! I like Camo but my wife hates it. So we came to a compromise, She is going to let me do at least just the headliner with a tan marsh grass Camo pattern to match the tan interior we already have.

This stuff is military grade but she picked "shadow grass blades". lol

http://www.mossyoakgraphics.com/

EZEARL

This could get interesting. Guess it would be best to put some kind of vapor barrier and insulation above the paneling?

Bugout4x4

I am going to contact glue some Mylar reflective air bubble type house insulation above mine before I put it back. Next time I have my doors and rear hatch apart I will do the same. I love that stuff... it has got to be the best insulation made for it's weight, thickness and form shaping. Be surprised what a difference that stuff makes if you line the inside of your hard hat with it.

EZEARL

Sounds good. So between that insulation and a thin (read cheap so maybe it's easier to work with?) 4x8 sheet of paneling with some sort of design a person would just need fasteners.

Bugout4x4

Pretty sure mine has the fiberglass tub. So I can glue the insulation to the roof metal before I put the tub back. And of course my tub will just have a vinyl covering layered on it.

Bugout4x4

Important note here... When I measured mine it looked like 48" inches was not wide enough to make up for the crown. It was a little shy and so I have been shopping for the other option width which is 53" inches.

extrashaky

If you don't have the fiberglass board, are you saying someone glued headliner material directly to the sheet metal and crossmembers? Can you post a picture of that?

Bugout4x4

I'm trying to visualize that myself. I wonder if it might be stiff foam pressed into the right shape rather than a tub?

Basslicks

FOUND IT!

Here's a guy that did a pretty killer wood paneling headliner. Turned out really good, IMO.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/cu...2/#post1048051

extrashaky

Now, you want a headliner idea that's actually pretty crazy...

Antique bathroom tiles.

I mean, as long as we're putting flooring on our ceilings...

Bugout4x4

Lol... and why not wainscoting? I'm actually wainscoting my coach walls. lol