318ti.org forum - Headliner DIY: In Progress

318ti.org forum (http://www.318ti.org/forum/index.php)

- Interior and ICE (http://www.318ti.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=21)

- - Headliner DIY: In Progress (http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6886)

Headliner DIY: In Progress

Quote:

Doing the Headliner myself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I finally got fed up with the sagging headliner yesterday, so I decided to do some surgery. I got in the car, ripped the headliner off the sunroof, since it was halfway off already... only to find there's nasty plastic foamy sticky stuff underneath it. So I took off the sun visors, popped off the overhead lights, disconnected all the wiring, switches, etc. and also popped off the other panels on the sides of the car and in the back corners.

I peeled back the headliner, and had to pry it off of the sunroof fitting. It easily came right out the hatch. I then pulled off the fabric and used a putty knife to scrape away some of the glue. I still have to go over the headliner with some sort of solvent to thoroughlly clean it, but it's almost set for some new cloth.

I found a kit online for like 50 bucks I'm going to get, I'm at work now so I don't have the link. I also took pictures of the job, and the mess.

One question that I have:

I see on the ceiling, there's a big plastic plate that's covering all of the sunroof's complexity. I want to be able to get the upholstered part off so that I can glue the cloth onto it. If i take off this plastic plate, is that going to disrupt anything? I noticed that it's connected to the sunroof drainage system, but that's not really a problem.

All in all, taking apart the headliner in one piece was not difficult. It took me all of an hour to take all the pieces off and remove the headliner with no instructions or anything. As long as the fabric goes on smoothly, it'll be an easy DIY fix.

Pictures to come. Maybe I'll start a new DIY thread for that.

Jeff

Well that was the post in the other thread, and I just posted a handful of pictures in a new album.

Check it.

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=519

This is the kit i was considering buying, but I am not sure that the color would match... Though it is Black.

I believe I need 1/8 for the sunroof portion, and 1/4 for the rest. Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

Woot, 100th post!

This is the kit I bought:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/p...word=headliner

Took them about a week to ship it, maybe 9 days. It's a nice black color.

Today I went over to the hardware store and bought some alcohol to kill some of the scummy glue leftover from the old headliner. I went over it a few times with a brush, and a rag, then let it all dry.

I recommend you get someone to help you, the helping hands make it much easier. Spray the glue on the headliner and on the foam side of the fabric. Let it dry. It is Contact Cement. Most mistakes are made by people who are impatient and do not let the glue set correctly. I had my father help me with the rest. One of us held the fabric up, and the other started sticking it to the contours of the headliner. Once it sticks, you have about 5 seconds to unstick it if you must. Leave plenty of room for the curves and ridges. Rub it firmly up, down, and around from the center out to the edges. Then with a very sharp razor blade, cut off some of the excess. Don't forget to save some fabric for the sunroof switch panel. The sunroof must be done separately due to the fact that you need more material for it than the amount you cut out of the middle of the headliner.

Pictures and finishing touches to come, I haven't mounted it in the car yet. It just started raining. :mad:

im very interested....my headliner is jacked up....klet me know how it finsihes!

Where are the pictures at JPerfect? I am very interested in checking out the DIY headliner kit you installed. My headliner just got its first bubble.

Any progress on this fix JPerfect.

Do you have any pics of the final product? thanx

About a year ago or so Schussey replaced his headliner if i can recall,not sure if he ever posted pictures on this.

i have a saggy liner, but no sunroof, I am going to be doing this in the next week or so, ill take pics of the whole thing.

Thread from the dead, but yeah, my headliner's pretty messed up with now and I need to do it too hahah...
I've heard people going to WalMart and buying their fabric there...

-Randy

here is a kick ass write up i found on bimmer forums

He just takes off everything including the foam

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=348275

I followed the write up on the bimmer forums but I had to do much less work cause I have no sunroof, and since its a 95 and a basic interior I have cheapo handles, lights and belts.
I didnt have to take off 1 seatbelt

The back panels are easy
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...d/AUT_1532.jpg

Even all the stuff up front, the visors etc was cake. I went out last night after I took the liner out, I even popped the visors back to block the maplight from sagging in my face.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...d/AUT_1534.jpg

Notice I didnt need to take the belt assembly off as it says you have to do in the bimmerforum writeup. It looks like he was doing it in a sedan in that writeup.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...d/AUT_1533.jpg

The toughest part by far was getting the sucker out of the car. Its very delicate, so you have to be careful, a gentle wind nearly bent mine in half.
Im currently in the process of getting that nasty foam off of it so I can spray it or re-fabric it.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...d/AUT_1535.jpg
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...d/AUT_1536.jpg

didnt get pics of what it looked like after I sprayed it before it went in
I used a trunk liner splatter paint
way better than saggy cloth
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...d/AUT_1590.jpg
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...d/AUT_1589.jpg