Headliner thread - not 56k friendly!!!

[SMOOTH]

Okay, so the wife and I finished the headliner install (as well as the nerf bars, but that's another thread) yesterday, and I figured I'd put up what I learned.

So, here we go, here's the wife helping me remove all of the interior trim pieces (actually, she removed them all, I was busy working on the nerf bars).
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656272/fullsize/100_2641.jpg

And another. This is actually a really good 'before' pic, so you can see why we took on this project.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656273/fullsize/100_2643.jpg

The board is out, like all the pins that were holding it up?
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656274/fullsize/100_2649.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656275/fullsize/100_2650.jpg

How it looks with the board removed.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656279/fullsize/100_2644.jpg

The seam actually didn't look that bad.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656280/fullsize/100_2645.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656282/fullsize/100_2669.jpg

I'm guessing the removable top's seal is the cause of this.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656281/fullsize/100_2646.jpg

The fabric pulled right off.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656276/fullsize/100_2651.jpg

I found just rubbing my hand over the board got most of the old foam off the board.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656277/fullsize/100_2652.jpg

The rest was done with an old toothbrush.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656278/fullsize/100_2654.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656283/fullsize/100_2655.jpg

Both front corners were destroyed.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656284/fullsize/100_2658.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656285/fullsize/100_2659.jpg

Nothing a little Duck Tape can't fix.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656286/fullsize/100_2660.jpg

I actually had to remake this corner.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656287/fullsize/100_2661.jpg

So we did this in the living room. To begin with, we just taped the front side in place.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656288/fullsize/100_2662.jpg

And then we sprayed the glue on the board and fabric, let it cure for 2 minutes, then pressed it down. This is definately a two person job, Julie held the fabric up and I smoothed it out on the board.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656289/fullsize/100_2663.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656290/fullsize/100_2664.jpg

She's a very enthusiastic worker!
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656292/fullsize/100_2667.jpg

A couple of points, keep the material folded back, so only the bottom is showing, as you work on it to keep the side that will be showing protected. This is ESPECIALLY true when you are spraying glue. As we got toward the end, I got lazy, and didn't have Julie hold the material up as I sprayed it with glue. Well, some of the glue over-shot and actually land on the finished side of the material, needless to say, I was a little upset. Luckly, we had some glue remover that I immediately used, and you can't see where it was.
I recommend going slow (I know, obvious point) and if I had to do it over again, I would probably try and find away for Julie to pull the material tight as I was smoothing it out. We did that a little, but if you think about the physics of trying to hold that material up, as you have someone under you trying to smooth it out, all the while doing this while not standing on the board; it's harder then you think. Also, make sure you smooth from the inside out, and KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN.

Another point, if at all possible, poke all of your holes before you get to installing it. I thought I had and realized after we got it back up that I didn't. It's not fun fishing with a power-tester to find a hole, especially when that means poking several holes in your brand new, beautiful, finished product.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656294/fullsize/100_2671.jpg

Also, once it is in place, mount the visors first, everything goes off of them. Since we didn't remove the side panels (because we didn't want to bother with removing the seatbelt shoulder harnesses), we just used those to hold it up while we worked on installing everything. Worked out well, except it made it harder to actually get the board up and in place behind them.


So, the finished product.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656295/fullsize/100_2673.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656296/fullsize/100_2674.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/656297/fullsize/100_2689.jpg

We still have the headliner in the removable top to do, but unfortunately, we were a couple of inches short of having enough material to do it. But that's okay, the material we do have will go to the side boards.
Also, I want to mention, I know it looks like the material is still hanging down, but that's actually the board, I guess over time, it just developed those waves. I have no doubt that board could be duplicated pretty easy, but for now, I just wanted something functional, and somewhat decent looking, to which I think we succeeded.

I got my material from this place http://www.stockinteriors.com/headlinerfabric.asp

I ordered the X-large kit, and if I had planned ahead a little more, I could have had enough material do to both the front board and back board, BUT, not enough to do the side boards as well, so I don't feel bad about it. I did go through a whole can of contact cement and a little of the second can on just the front board. I was very pleased with the quality of the material (not that I necessarily would know what to look for), the packaging, and the shipping.

Feel free to share any thoughts, comments, questions, or criques.

MoMo

[Clydesdale]

Looks good... Mamma looked like she was having a blast helping.. I get an epic fail in that department, can't even get mine to help me with her truck...Grrh!

Love fixing the little things like that, makes the rig feel new.

[Bronco Biff]

Good job and excellent write up! I'm on my way to check out the material link. My wife asks how long did it take you guys? (thanks for getting her primed, we have to do the front of the cent. and both pieces of the Suburban) It looks fantastic!

[SMOOTH]

Good job and excellent write up! I'm on my way to check out the material link. My wife asks how long did it take you guys? (thanks for getting her primed, we have to do the front of the cent. and both pieces of the Suburban) It looks fantastic!

I'd say it took us between 3 and 4 hours. Some of that time was just spent waiting on the glue to get tacky. We could have done larger sections at one time, but we wanted to take our time, so we probably did it in 6ths.

MoMo

[Traveler]

The looks incredible. Nice job. Just like a new truck.

Amazing how long it takes to find all of the screw holes again, makes you want to give up and that is without putting a new headliner in.

[sheepman]

I need to replace my cardboard, it hangs so low that my head sometimes rubs on the dang thing. Nice job on the headliner!

[Bronco Biff]

Looking back, one samll detail.........the visors are switced...drv, pass.....

I just checked out the material link, very cool!

[SMOOTH]

Looking back, one samll detail.........the visors are switced...drv, pass.....

I just checked out the material link, very cool!

SON OF A.......! :doh: Good catch, that gave us a good laugh. I guess if we wanted to use the vanity mirrors, we can climb onto the hood.
We'll get those switched around tomorrow.

Thanks,

MoMo

[bigb6456]

Looks good, It reminded me of when I dod a hard wood head liner in my 79 bronco, wish I had pics of it but that was years ago and that truck is long gone.

[malofish]

Will the headliner of a four door f-150 work for a fourdoor bronco?? Mine is sagging bad!! Im about to start restoring mine, and looking for a new headliner.

[BJS]

Will the headliner of a four door f-150 work for a fourdoor bronco?? Mine is sagging bad!! Im about to start restoring mine, and looking for a new headliner.

With some creative work it might however the windshield lines are different along with the overall shape. Not to mention that I think the dimensions are wrong. They had to create the headliner backer for the front part because the CC headliner wasn't long enough due to the curve down in the back where the rear window used to be.

[SMOOTH]

If it won't cross-over, I would definately recommend just replacing the liner. It really isn't a bad project, so long as you take your time, especially while handling the board. Mine was a cardboard material, but when I made my 2 door bronco a T-top and replaced the headliner on it, the board was foam and broke in 3 or 4 places.

MoMo

[Mahoney]

Excellent job and nice write up! The pictues of the headliner removed shows some foam padding /insulations hanging down. Did you have to replace that or just glue it back up to the roof too??

[malofish]

(scratching my head) How is the shape of a 1995 CC windshield different from the 1995 bronco?? I would naturally assume that they were the same....i can see the length part, but the shape? What has every other four door owner done to fix a saggy headliner?

[SMOOTH]

Excellent job and nice write up! The pictues of the headliner removed shows some foam padding /insulations hanging down. Did you have to replace that or just glue it back up to the roof too??

I just glued it back up there. It didn't appear to be anything more then some sound deadener.

MoMo

[AKWild]

Just tuned in. Thanks for the detail on your headliner project. I am just beginning to consider the challenge.