Redid the headliner, now I am pimpin :)

[lunarc]

So my headliner, like most E36s was sagging and was once tried to be fixed (very half assed) by the previous owner. I am a person who likes my cars to be as perfect as possible, but money is tight so rather than buy another headliner or have someone else replace it, I read some tutorials on this site and others and decided to dive in and do it myself.

I went to a few fabric stores and didn't find what I wanted. Discouraged and wanting to do this job this weekend I decided to try one last resort. Walmart! Well sure enough the mega store had a fabric department and they even had Microsuede for $3.99 a yard. So, I purchased some sweet grey/blue microsuede for $10.99. I also purchased a couple cans of spray glue (as a backup, I had a half of a can of Super 77) and some plastic spatulas to smooth out the headliner for a $1.99.

So total expense of replacement....
$18.59!

I would say one of the most time consuming parts of the whole thing is removing and installing the headliner without damaging anything. The prep, removal and application of the new cloth was around 2hrs. Overall I think it went very well, while it is not perfect it is sure 100x better than it was before. I do plan on doing the pilars soon but I wanted to do the headliner fist since I had a limited amount of fabric.

Anyway here are some progress pics of the process and the end result!

Ghetto Liner!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2122/2323695903_0e8916d538.jpg
Some bad fixing (notice the dimples of where they glued it)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/2323697105_ddb22161d9.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3245/2323698197_d80efd77fc.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2323699237_23384e4e27.jpg

Headliner Out
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2333/2323701113_ce0a063594.jpg
Yep Staples:eyecrazy
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/2324524322_73b5e63c39.jpg
Cloth removed almost in one piece
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3084/2324527328_e045e57fe4.jpg
If anyone was wondering the exact size of the cloth 43" Wide
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/2324528610_6a08d33ee6.jpg
57.5" Long
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2005/2323710671_d3fd1a45c4.jpg
Glue Removed with wire brush and some "Goof Off"
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2037/2323714505_d6ed61d6b7.jpg

Tested fabric size (I cut it to 72" long since the suede does not stretch much, and it is the normal 54" wide)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2324535096_8c0191054b.jpg

Fabric laid with spray glue
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/2324510606_2a0496fb38.jpg

Finished headliner, I did not cut out the lights, oh sh*t handles, I used a razor and cut an X for each hole to allow for a tight fit.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2145/2324511844_2a6ec66151.jpg

Done and installed!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2036/2323783935_de5a6fef5a.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3135/2324602926_41317291c1.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/2323787551_2f9cae2a0d.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2011/2323788723_e5f6ba4b9c.jpg

Let me know if have any questions!

[richbarn2]

looks great

[thedude60126]

Man that looks great and thanks for the pics as I am looking to do the same thing this summer.

[benpegg]

big improvement. did you have to remove any seats to get the ceiling panel out?

[jijacob]

Do the sunroof. It is fairly easy to do, and it makes it look 10x better. There is a DIY in a thread I made somewhere... Otherwise, good job! Microsuede is awesome as a headliner

[lunarc]

Thanks guys!

Yah the sunroof is for sure another project. It was more of a time issue than anything else.

No seats need to be removed, you put them all the forward and lay the backs as far back as you can go. From there it is pretty easy, just make sure not to bend it.

[mxxmikexx1]

looks great! this gives me motivation to finally do mine now. i have a black interior and all the pillars and headliner are gray, and ive always wanted them to be black. I would of never thought walmart would have the material, who would of thunk.,,,

[poni]

Wow, looks great. Nice job, i like the contrast of the hood and sunroof

[WV Jim]

It really does look nice. Excellent job. I actually like the sunroof a different color; they're both light colors, so it's not stark.

Again, good job.

[BMRSEB]

Nice job!!! What did you use to "scrape" off the old glue? Was it really stuck on? You laid out the fabric on the headliner, then sprayed the glue section by section as you smoothed it on?

This should be a Sticky if there isn't one already! Subscribing for a future project!! :buttrock

[Nacanowhere]

That looks really great! Nice going.... made it look easy.

[M3Rob95]

Looks fantastic with the tan contrast!

Awesome :buttrock

[93bimmer325is]

looks great...and also a good write-up.

[jasonf860]

Wow, that really IS pimpin!

[18rabbit]

ok two questions:

where can i get a new square piece (one that holds sunroof button)?

Can you put fabric on the sunroof part without removing the headliner? (replaced my headliner but i left the sunroof in 'cause it was in good shape at the time but has since fallen off..) Can i take it out through the roof?

[lunarc]

Nice job!!! What did you use to "scrape" off the old glue? Was it really stuck on? You laid out the fabric on the headliner, then sprayed the glue section by section as you smoothed it on?

This should be a Sticky if there isn't one already! Subscribing for a future project!! :buttrock

To get off the hard glue, I used a metal bristle brush, and for the remainder I used "goof off" comes in a orange spray bottle, it may be different than other goof off products. It worked great and I made sure to let it dry overnight to make sure there is no moisture left in the headliner before I sprayed the glue.

The way I worked it was dividing up the headliner in quarters and starting in one corner and working my way around. Always work from the middle out, the glue isn't super tacky so you can re-adujst a little bit if you get wrinkles.

[lunarc]

Looks fantastic with the tan contrast!

Awesome :buttrock

Tan? :eyecrazy

I swear it is gray...maybe re-adjust your monitor? :)

[Goon]

Looks great, not a fan of microfibre though, it always looks messy unless brushed the same way.



Tan? :eyecrazy

I swear it is gray...maybe re-adjust your monitor? :)

Maybe you are the one who needs your monitor adjusted. Did you desaturate your screen? :D


He's talking about the tan sunroof/visors against the grey headliner.

[kingston]

Great job!! That came out really, really nice! I'll have to do this myself in a few weeks.

[Funez]

Very clean. Looks awesome man. I wish I had the balls to try that, but I know mine wouldn't come out this good

[Bris328is]

DIY-- that rocks-- looks great:buttrock

[zarbat007]

Do the sunroof. It is fairly easy to do, and it makes it look 10x better. There is a DIY in a thread I made somewhere... Otherwise, good job! Microsuede is awesome as a headliner

IIRC you also did the headliner.
How is it holding so far?

[zarbat007]

To OP:
How did you work out the curves?

And in pic #14, the fabric does not seem to be glued (left side), or its just the pic?

[Top Dogxxx]

nice ... i 'm impressed .. that looks really clean.

i would get the sun roof done, just to have the color match too?

[mywhip]

the two tone is teh hotness....:buttrock

[TempCK318is]

nice bout to do mine two tone i think is the way to go im leaving the whole roof grey and doing the pillars black instead but yours looks great

[lunarc]

Looks great, not a fan of microfibre though, it always looks messy unless brushed the same way.




Maybe you are the one who needs your monitor adjusted. Did you desaturate your screen? :D


He's talking about the tan sunroof/visors against the grey headliner.

My visors and sunroof are gray, the headliner i put in is a blue gray...I have no tan in my car:confused, either way I like the way it looks...

Yah, microfiber is nice for hiding the pesky mistakes I made during install.

The curves are done by leaving 3" of fabric so you can roll it over the edges, I cut the fabric in a fan shape to about 1" towards the moonroof leaving the 1" to roll over the edge. So on the back side it almost looks like fingers when it is rolled over, I wish I had pictures...hope that helps.

[slmoff]

What holds the headliner in place?

[Yovi]

Wow that looks awesome !!!! Im def gonna have to do that soon, my headliner looks horrible

[CoolJoe]

Nicely done, I dig the two tone. :thumbup:

[lunarc]

What holds the headliner in place?

Meaning the fabric or the headliner itself?

The fabric is held by glue,

the headliner itself is held up by the visors, oh sh*t handles, some clips, weather stripping around the door and the back window, and some plastic panels. Pretty straight forward, but just a pain to get them all off.

Nicely done, I dig the two tone.

Thanks, I like it too!

[Shaetoon]

i did my sunroof only......& LOVE IT!!!

[bigkendog]

Nice job! Did i see someone say you got the material at wal-mart?!

[cruffleluficus]

Wow! That's awesome. Mine has the staples in it too (previous owner), so I'll have to redo it sometime. Is the backing screwed in or does it pop out when all the accessories are removed? I just got my car and haven't really looked at the headliner too much yet.

Chris

[whiteknight]

Great job! Almost makes me wish I didnt have a cabrio so I could do something like this.......I said almost-LOL.

[lunarc]

Nice job! Did i see someone say you got the material at wal-mart?!

Yep, Walmart! $3.99 yd! I couldn't believe it, I really don't care for Walmart but I was getting desperate.


Wow! That's awesome. Mine has the staples in it too (previous owner), so I'll have to redo it sometime. Is the backing screwed in or does it pop out when all the accessories are removed? I just got my car and haven't really looked at the headliner too much yet.

Chris

By the backing do you mean the fiberglass it is attached to? If so, no there are no screws holding only glue. The whole headliner is held up by the pieces i previously mentioned.

[thesk8nmidget13]

looks great! did walmart have a good black fabric?

did your fabric have a foam backing or is it just plain thin fabric?

[lunarc]

looks great! did walmart have a good black fabric?

did your fabric have a foam backing or is it just plain thin fabric?

They did have some black fabric, but non in the micro suede

The fabric had no foam backing, but you could always buy some at a fabric store, really thin stuff would work. You don't want to go too thick because it will be hard to get some of the gaskets, and pieces back on.

[JetBlack3]

that's for the thread, i'm in the process of redoing my hard top headliner with black suede. Stretching this stuff around the corners is a B*TCH btw