headliner fabric recommendation?

850oldschool · Post by **850oldschool** » 15 May 2020, 15:38

My headliner is finally bothering me enough to where I'm willing to just grit my teeth and (probably) break some fragile old plastic parts to get it out and back in. My biggest fear is the A pillar trim which you see cracking in Robert's video.

Anyway, as I shop for fabric there don't seem to be any reliable name brands or any kind of specifications, or any long term reports from people who've done this job. As I look at the non-Volvo headliner writeups and videos it looks like people are mainly talking about how cheaply they did it.

If I'm going to put that much labor into the job I don't want it to start sagging again in two years because the foam was cheap and disintegrated or wasn't bonded properly to the fabric. Obviously a few dollars more for the highest quality high temperature glue is money well spent also.

Any recommendations for something high quality that holds up, or bad material to avoid?

Post by **ZionXIX** » 15 May 2020, 16:28

I would like to know as well

ThePluralofMoose · Post by **ThePluralofMoose** » 16 May 2020, 17:11

I put some research into this at one point and the resounding recommendation for adhesive is 3M super 77 spray. 3 cans and a few yards of fabric can give you another headliner with fresh life expectancy. The spray gets adhered to the fabric AND the headliner and once it tacks up it creates a great bond as the two glue covered sides meet.
As for the fabric the aim is to get something durable that has the ability to be cleaned and won’t effect the adhesive bond underneath. You can get “auto specialty fabric” on amazon by the yard and it has a flat side that is intended for adhering to the headliner, while the other side is usually a faux moleskin, suede, or microfibre. Personally I think that black suede is a good option for P80 body’s as it makes the car feel a little more roomy, but honestly many people use poly/cotton blended fabric as it is light, easy to work with, and doesn’t cost much.
I plan on putting a patterned fabric in my new winter beater liner (s70 ‘99 NA) just for fun.
Hope this helps
-Ahzuh

ThePluralofMoose · Post by **ThePluralofMoose** » 16 May 2020, 17:14

P.S. if you want to REALLY ratchet it up a notch— get the small wood vinyl pieces with adhesive backing and line the head with wood grain

Post by **Chuck W** » 16 May 2020, 18:02

What we did in the wife's '97 GLT

Post by **Chuck W** » 16 May 2020, 21:13

I would also suggest the 3M "Headliner Adhesive" over the Super 77.

850oldschool · Post by **850oldschool** » 17 May 2020, 09:52

Chuck, that's a very impressive job you did of lining up the pattern! How long since you did it? Is it holding up? Did you figure out some clever way to lift up the fabric to fine tune the positioning?

Good point about using 3M headliner adhesive. Temperatures are really high up near the roof, especially for a dark colored car.

Post by **j-dawg** » 17 May 2020, 10:24

I went to Jo-Ann Fabric and bought a couple yards of their generic light gray headliner fabric, which looks perfect in the car. About five years later - including three summers in hot, humid Central Texas - it's holding up fine. I used Permatex's headliner adhesive.

850oldschool · Post by **850oldschool** » 17 May 2020, 11:31

j-dawg wrote: ↑17 May 2020, 10:24 I went to Jo-Ann Fabric and bought a couple yards of their generic light gray headliner fabric, which looks perfect in the car. About five years later - including three summers in hot, humid Central Texas - it's holding up fine. I used Permatex's headliner adhesive.

Thank you! This is the kind of long term report I was looking for. A lot of people have used the Joann material, but I couldn't find anything on how long it lasts. If it holds up that long in Texas I'm sold on it.

Post by **erikv11** » 17 May 2020, 11:57

From the reading I did, the 3M Super 77 seems to hold out better in the heat than the 3M headliner adhesive. So that's what I used. Only been six months though, so no longevity report yet.