Questions regarding headliner replacment

[jrumiano]

I'm in the process of replacing the headliner on an 85 911 coupe w/sunroof. I've already removed the glass and I'm in the process of cleaning off the old glue and prepping everything. I've read a bunch of post about replacing the headliner, but I've not been able to find anything about what to do with the old foam left on the inner roof (behind the sunroof). Also what about the fabric that lines the sunroof opening? Should I replace both? Should I just reuse what’s there? re-glue it? remove it? Since I'm going through all the trouble to replace the headliner, I just don't want to get the new liner up and have issues.

Any advice or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
John

[ossiblue]

John,

Just my opinion if I was doing it: If the foam is deteriorated and falling off, I'd scrape it off and replace with new foam--probably from an upholstery shop. It will provide some sound dampening for the sheet metal on the sunroof pan. Should be fairly easy to do and it's a "while I'm in there" kind of job.

The headliner on the sunroof panel, I'd have to decide what it looks like compared to the new headliner--color change, marks, etc. Most likely I'd replace it too. I've invested my time already why not a buck or two more and have it perfect.

[jrumiano]

Originally Posted by ossiblue

John,

Just my opinion if I was doing it: If the foam is deteriorated and falling off, I'd scrape it off and replace with new foam--probably from an upholstery shop. It will provide some sound dampening for the sheet metal on the sunroof pan. Should be fairly easy to do and it's a "while I'm in there" kind of job.

The headliner on the sunroof panel, I'd have to decide what it looks like compared to the new headliner--color change, marks, etc. Most likely I'd replace it too. I've invested my time already why not a buck or two more and have it perfect.

L.J.
thanks for the advice of replacing the old foam. One question that I did forget to ask regarding the foam. When I replace the foam should I glue it the the inner roof and to the headliner? the old foam is still there and it's glued to the roof and also appears to have glue on the headliner side. Should I not worry about gluing the headliner to it? If I don't will this cause the liner to sag?

Thanks

[jrumiano]

Bump. No one has any information about gluing the headliner to the foam?

[Scott Clarke]

Jurmiamo-
I would just glue the foam to metal. Likewise, the headliner should just be glued to metal. I bet that the headliner being glued to the foam is inadvertent.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by Scott Clarke

Jurmiamo-
I would just glue the foam to metal. Likewise, the headliner should just be glued to metal. I bet that the headliner being glued to the foam is inadvertent.

+1, I just re-glued the hanging foam back up to the roof. BTW, I used some cloth medical tape as an edge guard in a few spots around the sunroof IIRC.

PS, FWIW, I used "old school" DAP brand contact cement for all glueing of my new headliner and two+ years later it still looks perfect.

[jrumiano]

Tim,
Thanks for the info. I'm pretty much finished with the prep work, and the next step is to install new foam and replace the felt pads around the sunroof opening. After that its on to the headliner. I'll take some pictures during the install, and hopefully the end product will be nice.

John