Sunroof coupe headliner

[KDRGibby]

I've had four auto/upholstery shops in St Pete, FL, turn down installing the headliner for my 88 sunroof 911. They all say "we don't do old style headliners"

Why?

I've told them I've already got the windows out, the headliner was made by Classic 9, and this is not a car that requires tension wires. What is the difference between the stretch and glue headliner of an 88 sunroof 911 and modern car headliners?

[proporsche]

Hi I am sure you will find a shop trough pelican dudes,which will do it in Florida ..if they do not want to do it they are lazy and chickens....

Ivan

[KDRGibby]

I've got half a mind to attempt it myself over the long Thanksgiving weekend, but almost all the tutorials are for non-sunroof coupes with tension wires.

I had a guy awhile back say he'd do it for $150 but now he keeps telling me his garage is full and can't get me in....

[proporsche]

too bad you are on east coast there are plenty shops on the west..again i am sure someone here will guide you to the right person..I have tried my self once and i gave up;-)
Ivan

[McLaren-TAG]

Measure thrice, cut one and buy a hundred of the little black document clips from office depot.

It's rather easy job, more intimidating than actually tough. Just time consuming and like you pointed out since there's no tension rods, you're guaranteed a good result even for a first timer. (Unless you know yourself better that is) There are a few great threads here on Pelican. Read them and then take the leap.




It's the one job on my road to bringing my car back that I'm most proud of.

[proporsche]

nice job Mc...;-)
Ivan

[KDRGibby]

Originally Posted by McLaren-TAG

Measure thrice, cut one and buy a hundred of the little black document clips from office depot.

It's rather easy job, more intimidating than actually tough. Just time consuming and like you pointed out since there's no tension rods, you're guaranteed a good result even for a first timer. (Unless you know yourself better that is) There are a few great threads here on Pelican. Read them and then take the leap.




It's the one job on my road to bringing my car back that I'm most proud of.

Nice work! This is encouraging news. Better search harder on the forum. How'd you do the sunroof portion?

[McLaren-TAG]

Pay attention when you take off the old headliner, there's a few things I'd do differently knowing what I did. there's a lip on the sunroof, rear portion that I didn't put in, and I should have. The edge is too sharp. It's kind of like a bull nose. but I missplaced it, probably got thrown out and I omitted replacing it. IN the end, I could have just put a a doubled over strip of duct tape or something.

There's also alot of screws for the mirrors and headliners make sure you leave the screws back in so you can then cut them out and know where the holes were. Do the same thing for the dome lights. I forgot and had to make a cut by "guessing" I almost crapped my pants, but I got luck. The sunroof is actually the easiest part as it give you another area to pull and glue from. So it's a safety net in case you don't go taught enough in other aread, you've got more more place to pull from.

For the foam in the roof, I used carpet under flooring, actually got it free from a carpet place, a few three or four feet square remnants they had and just cut them to size as needed. Basically you're putting those where metal protrudes and would come into contact with the headliner.

Give everything time to dry and always coat both sides, the car metal and the headliner and let dry enough before you put it on. Have alcohol on hand as it will completely dissolve any residue glue that you get someone you didnd't want.

There are also more things to look out for in the back with the sunroof motor and such but again if you pay attention to what you remove, it will be easy to put it all back together.

Frankly the hardest part of the job was removing all of the old residue from the old headliner bits. The sunroof is a challenge disassembling as you'll have to take everything off, the wind deflector in the front. The headliner insert is also challenging because you have to get it back into the guide rails after the new headline is in place. It's thicker and isn't friendly to install unless it's very well trimmed and finished, it won't slide easily when you open and close, so take care of that.

[john walker's workshop]

Buy a liner that has a fabric backing. The cheap ones that are just single layer vinyl are a pain because the glue doesn't bond to the vinyl worth a crap.

[stormin48061]

my $0.02 would be to note where the interior lights are as you will need to cut and underwrap this area. Installing the liner is not that big of a job, it's time consuming to work it taunt and as suggested above pay attention to removal. I see u r in the south, so assume it's warm down there so the liner would be pliable. I let mine sit overnight with the clips on it to allow it to "relax" and then re-adjust it before gluing it down. Use good adhesive as well. Good luck.

[KDRGibby]

Thanks all,

I guess I'll have to cut a hole for the sunroof too...? That scares me...

I wish I paid more attention in elementary school arts and crafts my cutting and gluing skills are not up to snuff...



This is a marine blue (believe it or not) headliner from Classic 9...

[KDRGibby]

How do these sun visor clips come out (same with the "hangers" next to the b pillar)?
I've tried pulling (nada) and I've tried twisting (twists part of the way in either direction then suddenly stops).

[john walker's workshop]

Do you have a phillips? There's a pretty obvious hole in the center.....

[stormin48061]

JW's bang on. Held in place with phillips screw down that hole. Ditto with the hangers as well. BTW take a picture of the location before you remove, it will help take the guess work out in finding/locating the screw hole when you go to putting them back on because you won't be able to see where that hole is when you install the liner (u can actually take some measurements from a reference point if u wanted to get more precise)

[stormin48061]

BTW, if you are thinking of using your old one as a template to cut your new one and then fit it to your car..... don't, as your old one more than likely has shrunk. Be forgiving with your cuts as you can always trim more off if needed, but you can't add it back if you cut too much off. :-)

[john walker's workshop]

You can feel most of the holes, hooks, visors, dome lights with your finger pressed against the fabric. Be aware that the visors and dome lights need a little slack in the fabric, especially the visors, so when they get reinstalled, the fabric isn't stressed. Push your thump against where the visors go before final glueing.

[KDRGibby]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

Do you have a phillips? There's a pretty obvious hole in the center.....

Thanks, wasn't so obvious until I got a light up in there... what was obvious is that my garage is too dark.

[KDRGibby]

Not seeing the screw for this hanger thingy...

[KDRGibby]

Also I wasn't expecting to see so much felt over hard backing underneath the headliner once I got it out. I was expecting to see cables and such for the sunroof (otherwise, why the zipper).

Was this some mod by a previous owner, if so why? What should I do about it either way?


It is a bit saggy...


It is also held in place by some silver tape which also runs around the bottom of the sunroof. The headliner was glued over top of that.






What kind of tape is that? Is this needed (I'm wondering if this was part of some "keep the sunroof from leaking" project, last time the headliner was replaced. If I need something, what kind of tape would you recommend that is also water tight? (I'v not had any leak problems in my 3 years of ownership so it is either working or was for some other reason entirely).

[McLaren-TAG]

Pay close attention to everything you take off as you'll want to put it back the same way. The tape is fabric tape not sure what it's called but it's general stuff, you can get in a sporting goods store to wrap up hockey sticks etc. The foam is going to be old, and brittle and you're better off replacing it. Like I said, I used used stuff from a carpet store what they put under the wall to wall carpet.

The coat hanger is rubber, you pull the rubber part off and there's a metal hook underneath hat's bolted to the B pillar.

For the sunroof, make the cut from the outside, easier to see where the center is and then cut from there back to the edge. ALWAYS leave more than you think you'll need, you can cut later, adding once you've cut isn't an option. So if you think you can make due with two inches, leave four.