So I have pics on my page but recently I redid my headliner in black suede to go along with my black interior conversion. Its really pretty simple if you just take your time and have plenty of space to work. So here's how I did mine
Step 1: remove everything holding the headliner up. Front a pillars, b pillars, c pillars, trunk roof panel near the lift gate, dome lights, front roof console, backseat grab handles. Under the rear roof panel you'll find a few black pushpins to pull out too. Sounds like a lot of stuff but it's really not bad, most of it pops right off and the other stuff (like dome lights) just unscrew.
Step 2: lay the headliner out on a big table or somewhere that you'll feel comfortable working for a while. I used to 2 sawhorses with a big piece of plywood to make a ghetto table but it worked awesome
Step 3: strip old material. I've heard of some people stripping the fabric and leaving the foam underneath but I was nervous about getting the new material to stick to that so I just stripped everything. You WILL need a small wire brush to get the foam off. Pull it little by little pushing underneath the fabric at where you're pulling with a finger helps make the foam come off with the fabric better I found. But once you get it off, time to start going to work with the wire brush (i got mine for less than $1 at harbor freight). Get all the foam off until the board feels nice and smooth. Then I went over it with like 220 grit sandpaper and wiped everything off with a damp cloth
Step 4 (optional): I have a 5% 13" tint strip on my windshield so I have no need for the gray visors....and no backseat so no need for rear handles. So I fiberglassed the back of those holes and bondo'd the front. While I was there I made some fiberglass reinforcements around the sunroof cutout since the board seemed to flex there and made creases
Step 5: lay out your material. I laid mine out and got it all lined up so I knew I wouldn't get all the way done and end up being short on one side
Step 6: glue. I glued mine in 3 sections since the headliner is so big. I'd lift one area, spray the headliner and the fabric, let the glue get tacky, then apply it...smoothing it from the center outwards to avoid creases or bubbles. I also used a heatgun to stick it better. Did this for all 3 sections (back, center, front). Up front I used numbering for a house to make some raised numbering under the fabric. I let it sit like this overnight once I felt comfortable that I had smoothed everything out perfectly
Step 7: trimming. Flip the headliner so the bare side is now facing up. Using fresh razors, trim the excess material on all sides, I left like 6" on the front and back and as much as possible on the edges. I then sprayed the excess with glue and stuck it to the back, cutting reliefs where necessary on corners and stuff. For the dome light holes and sun roof I just cut "X"s and glued the pieces to the back
Step 8: reinstall and enjoy
Materials: -whatever fabric you decide to use
-glue. Do not use the type that comes out like a mist, you want the stuff that comes out like a web. I used loctite 300 I think? Used about 3 cans
- cheap wire brush and 220 sandpaper
- a few new razor blades
-heatgun. Not sure if it's necessary but I had one so I used it
Overall this really isn't too hard, just takes some patience and time. I did this from start to finish by myself with no prior knowledge and I think mine looks great. Any questions feel free to send me a message
Step 1: remove everything holding the headliner up. Front a pillars, b pillars, c pillars, trunk roof panel near the lift gate, dome lights, front roof console, backseat grab handles. Under the rear roof panel you'll find a few black pushpins to pull out too. Sounds like a lot of stuff but it's really not bad, most of it pops right off and the other stuff (like dome lights) just unscrew.
Step 2: lay the headliner out on a big table or somewhere that you'll feel comfortable working for a while. I used to 2 sawhorses with a big piece of plywood to make a ghetto table but it worked awesome
Step 3: strip old material. I've heard of some people stripping the fabric and leaving the foam underneath but I was nervous about getting the new material to stick to that so I just stripped everything. You WILL need a small wire brush to get the foam off. Pull it little by little pushing underneath the fabric at where you're pulling with a finger helps make the foam come off with the fabric better I found. But once you get it off, time to start going to work with the wire brush (i got mine for less than $1 at harbor freight). Get all the foam off until the board feels nice and smooth. Then I went over it with like 220 grit sandpaper and wiped everything off with a damp cloth
Step 4 (optional): I have a 5% 13" tint strip on my windshield so I have no need for the gray visors....and no backseat so no need for rear handles. So I fiberglassed the back of those holes and bondo'd the front. While I was there I made some fiberglass reinforcements around the sunroof cutout since the board seemed to flex there and made creases
Step 5: lay out your material. I laid mine out and got it all lined up so I knew I wouldn't get all the way done and end up being short on one side
Step 6: glue. I glued mine in 3 sections since the headliner is so big. I'd lift one area, spray the headliner and the fabric, let the glue get tacky, then apply it...smoothing it from the center outwards to avoid creases or bubbles. I also used a heatgun to stick it better. Did this for all 3 sections (back, center, front). Up front I used numbering for a house to make some raised numbering under the fabric. I let it sit like this overnight once I felt comfortable that I had smoothed everything out perfectly
Step 7: trimming. Flip the headliner so the bare side is now facing up. Using fresh razors, trim the excess material on all sides, I left like 6" on the front and back and as much as possible on the edges. I then sprayed the excess with glue and stuck it to the back, cutting reliefs where necessary on corners and stuff. For the dome light holes and sun roof I just cut "X"s and glued the pieces to the back
Step 8: reinstall and enjoy
Materials: -whatever fabric you decide to use
-glue. Do not use the type that comes out like a mist, you want the stuff that comes out like a web. I used loctite 300 I think? Used about 3 cans
- cheap wire brush and 220 sandpaper
- a few new razor blades
-heatgun. Not sure if it's necessary but I had one so I used it
Overall this really isn't too hard, just takes some patience and time. I did this from start to finish by myself with no prior knowledge and I think mine looks great. Any questions feel free to send me a message
