my brother just got an 86 Z28, and the headliner is almost completely unglued. should we try to deal with re-gluing it, or would we be better off just getting a new one? if we get a new one, where would be a good place to look? I checked ebay and the cheapest I could find was $185 before shipping.

 

Once that headliner starts falling, it is like a Rainy Day in Georgia, it keeps on falling. Never was a fan of buying and having one shipped due to the size. Find a local Auto Upholstery shop and get done there for a stock factory look.

 

you can buy a can of spray glue and do it yourself for $5. do it from the inside and work out and stretch gently as you go to prevent wrinkles. may not be perfect, but its cheaper and will look better

 

I tried the spray glue route a while back. It never worked right for me. I second going to a shop. In the meanwhile, stay away from using thumbtacks. They will fall out overnight into your seat and you will sit on them!

 

Agreed, you can try to find an Auto Upholstery shop, probably a little less expensive or equal to your ebay pricing.

Do you have a Jo Ann's fabric store nearby? They sell headliner fabric. Fabric $15 Adhesive spray $10 (get the kind that specifically for Auto Headliners, much stronger)

My headliner board was falling apart as well, so I used some Fiberglass repair to strengthen the board.

 

i agree as well with the upholstery shop. Call around to a few of them, ask about prices and quality/type of material. Unless he just plain dosent care. then it wont matter what they use and quality. It will cost more money than doing it yourself. But IMHO, its worth the headache and trouble, not to mention it will almost certainly look much better.


I found out about that thumbtack thing the hard way in an older car of mine.. ouch.

 

f it has ttops I would say have someone do it or buy a new one. if not, diy. you can buy the right fabric off ebay for about $20 and its pretty easy.

the reason I say have someone do it if you have ttops is because its a little more involved with the inside bends. they suck.

 

what year is your car. as they get older the padding at the top will rott out and it will be a mess uo thier. i had that problem and got the spray adhesive and that kept it up for about one hour. best rout is to take it to a shop and theyl scrap out the old paddint and put up a new headlinner that will look like new. the did mine for 250 and it looks amazing. good luck

 

A friend of mine does this for a living and showed me how it's done providing I only did it for my own personal vehicles. I've done three of my vehicles since and it isn't that hard. Removing the headliner board was the hardest part.
The board needs to be cleaned of all old fabric and foam backing. Light strokes with a stiff brush will work. Any minor cracks on the board can be repaired using duct tape on the opposite side.
I bought my material from ebay. 3m heavy duty headliner adhesive can be found at Napa.
Layout the material on the board and cut atleast 3" of overlap. Work 1/2 of the headliner at a time. Fold half over to the other side to expose the headliner board and the foam side of the material. Follow the instructions on the spray adhesive and apply in two coats on both the headliner and material. Allow to tack and slowly start rolling your material back over the board while smoothing out all wrinkles. Be careful, you've got only one shot. Flip the other half over and do the same. You need to "roll over" the material on the front side just like the factory. The sides and back can be cut to edge because a trim covers it.
If you feel uncomfortable about trying it then get a price from your local upholstery shop. It'll be cheaper if you remove the board for them.

 

[QUOTE=sewerrat; get a price from your local upholstery shop. It'll be cheaper if you remove the board for them.[/QUOTE]

The hardest part is removing the Headliner without damage, that is why you are paying to have it done by the upholstery shop. They repair everything. I had mine done a few years back for $149 and two hours wating time.