Headliner Fabric Seperating From Backing

Post by **mercuric** » 10 Apr 2013, 01:34

Hi all,

97 850... Some of the headliner fabric is separating from what appears to be a foam sort of backing, which is apparently starting to disintegrate... Fun!

Aside from replacing the whole thing, any suggestions on how to repair? At first I thought of some sort of adhesive, but the foam-like stuff seems pretty delicate, and disintegrates a bit if I touch it, so I'm thinking any sort of adhesive would do little more than create a mess... Joy.

Post by **jreed** » 10 Apr 2013, 04:41

I'm glad you asked this. Hopefully somebody else has some experience to share with this situation.
The headliner on my '97 855 GLT is also starting to sag down a little bit on each side near the rear passenger doors. I wasn't sure if I should try to do anything at this point to mend it, or just leave it and get prepared at some time down the road to do a full restoration.

obayha · Post by **obayha** » 10 Apr 2013, 10:07

I think I would prepare for the full restoration down the road. The foam is toast and will not get any better with time. Trying to do a spray adhesive will not give you the out come you want. I dismembered all the plastic in my V70 and pulled it out the back, scraped it all down and took it to a shop and for $66.00 was on my way. I didn't want to not get it right. I'm pretty sure the piece will come out of your model, just a little trick to it. Only problem was the plastic around the sun roof. Not really a problem so much as it broke into many parts. It was to be expected due to all the heat over the years.
Saggy headliners remind me of old cars, so at least it looks fresh inside again.
Just my .02.
Shane

Post by **98T5** » 10 Apr 2013, 10:16

mine is falling from the sunroof door on my V70 but the rest of the roof is perfect. quite ugly but I have no remedies other than using a heat gun with some sort of adhesive that will soak through the felt.

bro · Post by **bro** » 10 Apr 2013, 11:35

When you do get it repaired, don't let them tell you you want a thicker fabric. I can't remember what thickness it is. Maybe 1/4"? Anyway, the fabric shop I went to told me there was no way I wanted 1/4". They didn't sell it and I was a dumb 16 year old. My sunroof doesn't slide well anymore. Also good luck getting the fiberglass headliner board out. It's involved.

obayha · Post by **obayha** » 10 Apr 2013, 11:46

bro wrote: Also good luck getting the fiberglass headliner board out. It's involved.

I read somewhere about it having to come out through the trunk after removing the back seat. Should be a post on it some where on here. The V70 was more open.

bro · Post by **bro** » 10 Apr 2013, 11:52

obayha wrote:
bro wrote: Also good luck getting the fiberglass headliner board out. It's involved.
I read somewhere about it having to come out through the trunk after removing the back seat. Should be a post on it some where on here. The V70 was more open.

Mine's a sedan. I think I got it out through a door, but the trunk would probably be easier. I was mainly talking about getting all the little handles and trim pieces off before removal. And then of course putting them back on.

obayha · Post by **obayha** » 10 Apr 2013, 12:23

[/quote]
Mine's a sedan. I think I got it out through a door, but the trunk would probably be easier. I was mainly talking about getting all the little handles and trim pieces off before removal. And then of course putting them back on.[/quote]

My old job was stripping down motorcycles for chrome plating and I always had parts left over.

.
When I did my liner, I left everything I could where I took it off from. It was a mess for a week but it helped for the install.

Post by **mercuric** » 10 Apr 2013, 21:57

Argh! I'm not sure when I'll have the motivation, but indeed it seems like I need to just remove the freakin' headliner board. Getting it out through the back seat.. makes sense.. the seat bottom removes really easily and the backs fold down -- But do I have to disassemble it even further?

I'm thinking the ticket is to get the fiberglass board out and have it professionally reupholstered with the proper foam-backed fabric. But is the board itself usually deteriorated, or being fiberglass is it mainly just the foam and fabric that are trashed?

This 850 is turning out to be quite the different project. Usually I've ended up with cars that have semi-trashed interiors I don't have to care about too much, but need a lot of mechanical or electrical work... which means I get them dirt cheap. This one was grannied, is in pretty darn good mechanical shape with low mileage but needs detailed interior stuff.. ECC, which I'm halfway though.. headliner... and probably the dashboard mounts as it's pretty noisy up there. I guess I'm going to learn the interior stuff I've never dealt much with in the past... if I can distract myself from learning how to tune M4.3 for long enough, that is.

must..not..strip..interior..and..order..19T

Post by **jreed** » 11 Apr 2013, 05:01

Obayha,
Thanks for the tip. Hearing about the $66 brings tears of joy to my eyes! I was figuring it would cost more than $100 for a new headlining. Can you tell me which shop you used (I live near RTP) ? Thanks.