2006 Cayman S Headliner Removal and Replacement

[casor]

I have no vid, no pics, no visual aids, but what I do have is a step by step on how to get the miserable headliner out of the car. The Drooping Headliner Fabric Syndrome is rampant on these cars and my car has only 20K miles and it’s kept in a floor heated garage.

Complicating this is that my car also has a tan interior – the “soft touch” finish on the interior trim pieces – ie “paint”. Look at it crooked and it scratches down to the molded in black. I scratched mine in spots, which is the reason I am writing this up so that you can avoid the mistakes that I made. There are a few Youtube vids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZVlMKG3UKo
Jeff's Blog: Porsche Cayman headliner replacement

The “over the door trim” piece, otherwise referred to as the “A” pillar trim, and aft window trim pieces are held in by diamond shaped steel clips whose flared bottom ends slip horizontally into plastic slots molded into the trim piece. The pointy end of the clip fits into a slot in the steel body of the car to keep the trim in place. The fat part of the diamond does the anchoring by squeezing through the body slot and then re-expanding on the other side. Over these clips and between the trim and the steel body are slotted rectangles of rubber sheet – do not lose these as they fall off easily.

Use cheap interior trim removal tools, but if you do use steel removal tools, use them only inside the trim piece – not on the edges – and only at the spots where the clips are. Wedge the removal tool between the body and the molded plastic keeper on the inside of the trim. Note that the amount of force required to separate the clip from the steel body of the car is equivalent to the amount of force needed to remove the main rotor nut on an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

1. The seats are constantly in the way during this process, but there is no need to remove them. Have the base of the seat all the way down and forward while having their backs all the way back and down.

2. I covered my seats with sheets along with the center console trim.

3. Remove the sun visors (all screws are Torx), the dome light and the garage door opener switch. Consider leaving the sun visor clip mounts toward the center of the car in situ to keep the headliner up while you are removing the trim.

4. The two dome light clips on the light housing itself must be depressed with a small screwdriver before the light can be removed from the headliner. They are on the aft side of the light.

5. Pull the rubber door seal down to expose the internals of the “A” pillar trim. You will ultimately need to pull this off to replace the trim, so do it now. Doing this will also reveal gaps in the internal “egg crate” supports on the trim, where the clips are.

6. The very aft corners of the headliner are under the aft trim pieces which, in turn, are under the hatchback. In each corner of the trim there is a removable plastic cover. The hatch must be opened to access these. Remove the covers. They come out easily.

7. Behind these covers and towards the side of the car is a diamond clip – one on each side of the car. You will need a mirror and a flashlight to see it, but it is very close to the opening left by the removed cover. Lever the clip out (down) on each side – I used a screwdriver.

8. Note that the aft window trim piece is fastened to and over the “A” pillar trim in three spots, but these do not connect to the car body. It is trim to trim only.

9. Separate the aft window trim piece from the “A” pillar trim with a plastic tool. These clips need some rather strong prying and twisting force to pop out.

10. About 3-5 inches aft of where aft window trim meets the “A” pillar trim from the front, is a diamond clip holding in the forward part of the aft trim to the car. One way to lever this one out is from the headliner side, although it may also be accessed from the front of the aft window trim through where it was previously attached to the “A” pillar trim. The trim pieces may be flexed rather aggressively to fit a tool in. Lever this clip out on each side of the car.

11. The aft window trim pieces should now be loose at the top. Stuff a towel in between the trim and the car body to keep it away from the “A” pillar trim and the body. Wrap the forward end of the aft window trim piece with another towel to keep it from scratching up the “A” pillar trim as you slide it back. You will need this clearance to remove both the headliner and the “A” pillar trim.

12. The “A” pillar trim has five clips and the forward end of the trim has a molded tongue that slips into a slot at the end of the dash. There is also a steel body cover along the “A” pillar that makes it difficult to slide the “A” pillar trim aft. So, the trim here must be pulled towards the inside of the car and then aft to remove it.

13. You can find the clip locations on the “A” pillar trim by looking for gaps in the egg crate structure molded into the trim. Don’t be afraid the flex the trim as it is remarkably flexible but strong.

14. Starting at the aft end of the “A” pillar trim, lever out the diamond clip. The location of the clips can now be seen since the aft window trim and rubber seal is down and away, but it is still not easy to see them.

15. Remove all the “A” pillar trim clips from the body. On my car, I was able to remove very front clip horizontally and pulled the trim out away from the “A” pillar. When I slid the trim back, the rest of the clips slid out of their mounts on the trim strip and stayed with the car. I then pulled the clips off the car and replaced them on the trim.

16. At about the center of the “A” pillar trim towards the front there is a plastic post right next to a diamond clip. This is a locating post that fits into a corresponding hole in the car body and it must clear for the trim to slide aft. On the way back in, it must be lined up pretty close for everything to go back.

17. In at least one of the Youtube vids, it was noted that both “A” pillar trim strips do not have to be removed – only one. I did not find this to be the case. Both must nevertheless be separated from the aft window trim for the headliner to come out at the aft corners.

18. If you’ve left them in, remove the sun visor clips and pull the headliner down in the front.

19. To get the headliner down, you will have to wrangle its aft corners past and out from being stuck over the aft trim pieces. Flex the aft trim to do this while working the headliner diagonally from side to side. I also moved the front of the headliner down and forward above the dash to clear the aft trim.

20. Then, I tilted the headliner back up in the front, while keeping it under the dangling aft trim pieces. The seats continually get in the way here, but it is a game of millimeters and can be done.

21. Move the headliner aft as far as you can – if you have covered your aft trim pieces, there is no danger of the egg shell crate on the headliner scratching the trim as it goes by. Then, move the headliner forward and down towards the steering wheel.

22. The key tip in getting this thing out of the car is ultimately to get the forward part of the headliner over the seat backs and under the steering wheel and to pull it out from the passenger side. Make sure that the seat bases are down and far forward and the backs as far aft and down as they will go.

23. Mark at Futureline re-covered my headliner for about $150 and was instrumental in giving me the removal tip above.

24. “Installation is the reverse of removal” which generally is the case here.

25. Make sure that the “A” pillar trim has all of the required clips in place before attempting to reinstall it. Same for the aft trim – one of mine was stuck in the car body and could not be seen until after the trim was hanging down.

26. The clips take an inordinate amount of force not only to remove, but also to go back in. Make absolutely sure that the clip (and the plastic post above) is properly lined up with its slot before banging it home.

27. With the seats backs still back and down with the bottom of the seat far forward, slide the headliner in from the passenger side, rest it on the console and center it in the car.

28. It’s a two-person job to lift the aft end of the headliner. From the hatchback end, feed it up and over the aft trim pieces and so that it is properly centered. The trim here will have to be flexed pretty far down in the car for the headliner to clear and go in. When you got it, just the corners of the headliner will be hanging on trim.

29. Lift the nose of the headliner up and replace the sun visor clips near the center of the car to keep the headliner up.

30. Line up and bang home the aft trim pieces. Replace the covers.

31. Keep the forward part of the aft trim piece covered to protect it; alternatively, the “A” pillar trim could be covered.

32. Position the “A” pillar trim and slide the forward tongue into its slot at the corner of the dash, negotiating the forward diamond clip over the protruding, curved “A” pillar steel cover.

33. Make sure all the diamond clips are present and accounted for and then, working from the front, bang these home in successive order, making sure that they are first properly lined up with their slots.

34. Feed the rubber door seal back onto its ridge and over the “A” pillar trim. It appeared that some trim adhesive was used along the ridge on the body for the seal, but I didn’t bother to redo it.

Hoping that all this will save you some of the aggravation that I experienced in this job, even if it is annoying having to read it all with no photos.

[TimT]

Its a little bit of a tedious job... but not impossible.. I recovered mine.. bought some Alcantara cloth, and used 3M Headliner/Fabric adhesive to adhere the fabric..

In all a few day project.

[casor]

One of the diamond clips on my trim was not correct from the factory - it was on the "A" pillar trim and, no, I didn't bend it. It was simply the wrong clip, so I replaced it with one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D6KYP3W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I believe that the correct PN for the clip is 99950783901

[djnolan]

Great write-up. There were 23 steps to removal, how long should it take to get the headliner completely out of the car?

[stealthn]

Thanks for this mine just dropped today, I was kind of surprised as it wasn’t drooping at all

[casor]

Originally Posted by djnolan

Great write-up. There were 23 steps to removal, how long should it take to get the headliner completely out of the car?

Hey sorry I just saw this one. Probably too late but if you follow the steps probably about an hour or so maybe a bit more

[casor]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Thanks for this mine just dropped today, I was kind of surprised as it wasn’t drooping at all

Porsche should be friggin ashamed of themselves for this. What a travesty. Slow and steady wins the race on this one, take your time and be careful. Learn from all my mistakes!!

[stealthn]

Got it out no problem, was easier than I thought. Just got it back $250 done professionally (seems fair), will mount this weekend and post pictures.

[casor]

Yes I forget what mine cost but that is certainly fair considering I have seen this job go for $1400

[Z-man]

Mine just dropped yesterday....

Thanks for the write-up! I can see why shops charge a lot for this repair.

I have a track event in a couple of days, so I have no time to tackle this or take it to an upholster, so a quick fix for now was to staple the liner back up. Hopefully it will hold... (bringing a stapler to the track, just in case...)

I can always use upholstery tacks and give it the steampunk look...

[casor]

Shocking, to say the least! I am sure that a halftrack full of Wehrmacht will be at the track waiting for you....

Glad you found the write up helpful and therefore will not make all the mistakes that I did. Yes, it's a lot of labor at $100 an hour.

[djnolan]

These are a fairly permanent fix:

[stealthn]

Well I spoke too soon, getting it back in by myself was a *****, especially trying to get the front visors screwed in (lining up holes).
Now the issue I have is getting the reading lights in, I think the new padding that was done is too thick to get it in. I can get the front pins in but not the rear clips. I gave up after the weekend but will try again, any tips?