There isn't a hardboard period I've had the headliner completely out and I reupholstered it, it's just insulation and it folded once I put it back in...

 

Went through the same discussion yrs back. Seems you and me got ripped off. LOL

 

The MJ is shortened XJ. Buy a XJ headliner & cut to fit. The last one I bought was $25 from the junkyard & it looked perfect.

 

I just replaced my headliner. Once you get the old foam wire brushed off, you will see that it is fiberglass (98 xj). So it would be real easy to beef it up with some fiberglass patching if you I want. PS if you buy your replacement material on eBay, may sure it's at least 82" long. They sell some on there that says it fits an xj but is only 72" long!

 

The newer 97 plus headboards are a hell of a lot stronger then the older models. When I redid the gf jeep I used a older board and fiberglasses the ends and around every hole, then I poured resin to strengthen it out. It worked really good but she wanted more light and the rear speaker so back to the jy got it out of one that was smashed up pretty bad but everything was there. Cleaned off the board fixed areas that I didn't like or needed repair sanded it down and applied the material.

 

XY97XJ, is your Cherokee a special model or option package out of the factory? I ask, because I just picked up a 95 "country" edition for my daughter that we're going to gnarly up together. The headliner is toast, and like yours there's no fiberglass pan, just headliner with insulation. It looks like it came from the factory that way. This particular "Country" model has all the electric whiz-bang goodies, none of which work any more. So I'm wondering whether the panless headliner with heavy insulation may have been part of the option package.

I'll grab a headliner pan from the junkyard for this restoration.

 

I was under the impression that all '96 and older Cherokees had the soft headliner (mine did) and all '97 and newer XJ's have the solid core headliner. I know for a fact that all the models with a molded sound bar in the rear have a solid base to them.