Headliner Project

I took my headliner out of my suv this week-end and got the liner and
foam padding all grinded out of the shell. I thought the shell would be
harder, but it is consists of layers of some paper/fibrous product. It
is the color of asbesstos and kind of fibrous but I don't think it is
asbestos.

I am ready to put the new headliner in but I have a couple questions
for those that have done it before.

1) on the headliner side there were some soft spots that got eaten up
by my wire wheel and I was wondering what I should use to fill them up
with.

2) on the ceiling side of the headliner i think I want to try to put
some fiberglass layer on it, or around the sides where a couple of 3
inch tears are and some other irregularities are.

Anyone have any ideas about what I can use to repair?

mike

Mike,

I did it on my Jag. Write-up is at
http://www.efsowell.us/ed/myJag.html

If your car is like the Jag in this respect, you have to be careful
not to over-thicken the edges
when it fits into the windshield seals.

Ed


"mike" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I took my headliner out of my suv this week-end and got the liner and
> foam padding all grinded out of the shell. I thought the shell would
> be
> harder, but it is consists of layers of some paper/fibrous product.
> It
> is the color of asbesstos and kind of fibrous but I don't think it
> is
> asbestos.
>
> I am ready to put the new headliner in but I have a couple questions
> for those that have done it before.
>
> 1) on the headliner side there were some soft spots that got eaten
> up
> by my wire wheel and I was wondering what I should use to fill them
> up
> with.
>
> 2) on the ceiling side of the headliner i think I want to try to put
> some fiberglass layer on it, or around the sides where a couple of 3
> inch tears are and some other irregularities are.
>
> Anyone have any ideas about what I can use to repair?
>
> mike
>
>

mike wrote:
> I took my headliner out of my suv this week-end and got the liner and
> foam padding all grinded out of the shell. I thought the shell would be
> harder, but it is consists of layers of some paper/fibrous product. It
> is the color of asbesstos and kind of fibrous but I don't think it is
> asbestos.
>
> I am ready to put the new headliner in but I have a couple questions
> for those that have done it before.
>
> 1) on the headliner side there were some soft spots that got eaten up
> by my wire wheel and I was wondering what I should use to fill them up
> with.
>
> 2) on the ceiling side of the headliner i think I want to try to put
> some fiberglass layer on it, or around the sides where a couple of 3
> inch tears are and some other irregularities are.
>
> Anyone have any ideas about what I can use to repair?
>
> mike
>

If this is a hard foam headliner like VW uses, do NOT!!!! use fiberglass
to patch/fill/reinforce it. I make this mistake ONCE... had to go to
the boneyard and get another headliner and start over. It just melted
the foam away before it set up.

Now if you used an epoxy-type resin, you might be all right - what I
ended up using to reinforce mine was just regular 5-minute epoxy and
brown grocery bag paper (seriously!) with some paint stirrer stickso n
the backside for reinforcement of broken areas where thickness wasn't
critical.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

"mike" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Ed,
>
> That is an awesome article on your headliner project. Thanks a
> bunch.
>
> Couple questions though:
>
> 1) So you think the backer board is fiberglass material with no
> resin
> added?
>

On the '76 Jag XJ-S it seems to be. It's not hard. I've heard from
other Jag
owners that the later models have even flimsier stuff.

> 2) If I only apply the fiberglass to areas with no holes or
> supporting
> areas then you think it is ok to do?

That would be OK, but it will have to be smooth. Any bumps will show
through, I imagine.

>
> 3) the B-Quiet Extreme that you put on the roof. Did you recognize a
> significant improvement?

Really hard to tell, to be honest. But I see this being done in the
restoration
shops.

>
> Thanks for all your help.
>
> Mike
>

Good luck, Mike.

Ed