97 854: 20th anniversary project - headliner

Post by **xHeart** » 23 Jun 2016, 11:37

August 1996 to August 2016 makes it 20. Owner of record since mile one. Anyone out there with such a feat?

The headliner now hovers over the head, resting -- girls complain about their hair. Driving with windows down makes fabric flutter, enlivens my scalp.

I'm thinking about removing headliner, and restoring it with a 200,000 mile outlook. There are several helpful threads since Ozark Lee's from 2004(?) write up.

Once unfastened, would the headliner slide out via the trunk (rear seats folded)... what glue... how to hold it up to install... others?

TIA!

Post by **E Showell** » 23 Jun 2016, 18:44

I wrote up some comments to a thread a while back. If I were to do it again, I would opt for something other than the JoAnn Fabric headliner material option -- it is ever so slightly too think. I'd try to find more original type materials, which someone on here has done if you sift through enough write-ups. I used 3M headliner adhesive.

Post by **xHeart** » 07 Jul 2016, 10:18

Helpful!

Post by **xHeart** » 07 Jul 2016, 10:29

Expansion tank, filler cap, and level guard

The cooling and heating parts were replaced in past four years (40k-miles) that started with radiator replacement. The expansion tank is the last item in my list.

Any suggestion on parts. Is URO a good replacement?

Post by **cuhfs** » 07 Jul 2016, 11:18

I pulled a clean headliner out from the trunk from a junker parts car. 1.) it gave me practice handling the headliner and removing the brittle trim and other necessary things before I removed the original one and 2.) I had the parts car already. 3.) don't have to buy and re-glue new fabric
Suggesting a P&P if you have one near you but you'd probably need a van to take the head liner home in.

Regarding URO - If you are keeping the car for another 20 years then go with blue box.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 08 Jul 2016, 06:05

Right- the URO- they tend to break right where you attach the small hose to the thermostat, so be careful attaching that hose...that said, I think it's fine to use this item from them, but like cuhfs said, if you plan on keeping this car, then go Volvo, or pull a Volvo one from a junk yard- they do keep that nipple better than the URO.

Post by **xHeart** » 16 Jul 2016, 17:26

OK - All Volvo for $100 -- tank, cap, and level guard.
Anxiety, thinking about getting another car.

Post by **j-dawg** » 17 Jul 2016, 14:12

My tips:

- Be careful and gentle when taking off the old headliner fabric. Wear old clothes that you can chuck afterwards. If you get any on you, rinse your skin off with cold water - hot water will dilate your pores and you will be itchy for a week.

- Use foam-backed headliner fabric. Anything else, the glue will seep through and look :c, which will make you >:[

- When gluing the fabric onto the board, use headliner adhesive. Do a few practice pieces beforehand. When evaluating these pieces, bear in mind that the tensile load the glue will experience is ~nothing, as headliner fabric is not particularly dense..

- Don't use too much adhesive, it'll make your fabric all squishy and gross instead of pleasant and poofy. When you've put on too much adhesive, it'll still look like you haven't put on enough. (The practice piece is in part for calibrating when you've got enough glue down.)

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 17 Jul 2016, 19:27

I followed RobTheMod's for removing and installing the headliner which was to bend it around the front seats and pull it out the passenger side door.

I used JoAnn's Fabric and had good results; just make sure to get foam backed material. The hardest part for me was trying to spread the material out once the adhesive was applied; I recommend a second pair of hands for that part.

Some helpful references:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=34979

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=26848

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=47169

Post by **JimBee** » 18 Jul 2016, 12:40

I now have my 854 headliner on the work bench and am nearly ready to tackle the reglueing. I've had this out before and both times have pulled it through the trunk. Just drop it on the front headrests and with rear seatbacks folded forward pull it through the trunk. You have to bend-arch it a bit
but it slides out quite easily.

Cleaning out the dried residue from the deteriorated foam and glue under the loose flap is a challenge. I'm using a soft fingernail brush and vac with crevice attachment. This will probably be key to getting good adhesion.

A Joann Fabrics clerk advised me to use 3M Trim Adhesive (I think Ozark Lee has also recommended) but I couldn't find it locally so the suggested alternative is 3M Adhesive 77, which I will test on some scrap fabric.

The visors (10 mm hex) need to come off; cut the wires midway down the A pillar, they can be spliced with crimps. Remove the courtesy light panel ( pop out the lamp lenses and 2 T 10 screws). Remove the mirror.

The plastic trim removal tools sold by HF are very useful for your trim pieces. There's a tutorial on removing them on this forum. One special note, though—the plastic retention ring around the sun roof if you have one. It has 2 locking tabs spaced along each long side at about 1/3 and 2/3 points (not in the middle as I recall). If you have strong fingers you can grab the piece and sort of turn it inward while pressing toward the center to bow it away from its edge. I used a plastic tool like a broad knife and a short piece of 2x4 to tap them loose on my first one, which worked. They can become kind of brittle over time but my experience has been they will bend enough to detach the long sides then pull the short sides loose.

While you have it out, detach your sun roof drain tubes and blow them clear. If clogged, run a stiff wire down them to push out debris.

It's a bit of work but you'll know you car more intimately once finished!