[racingswim2006]

SICK of looking at the awful gray crap. Why gray? Lighter inside?

Anyways I don't care. I ripped it out earlier. The pillar trim is black and this will look better.

Picked up some very cool, very lightweight black fabric (very similar to the Milano Verde type) from local place.

Will post photos tomorrow. It was also a good chance to blow 120 PSI of clean air through the clogged sunroof drains. Those stupid things are held on by "clic" clamps!! Talk about overkill.

3 of 4 drains crapped out rather smelly "turds" of leaves and other organic matter.

 

[praetorian]

I know what you mean about the grey. Is an affordable upgrade? Looking forward to the pics...maybe you'll start a trend!

 

[racingswim2006]

I know what you mean about the grey. Is an affordable upgrade? Looking forward to the pics...maybe you'll start a trend!

What do you mean by "affordable?"

The fabric was very inexpensive. Something like $10 a yard?

Consumable supplies (headliner adhesive spray, fabric) were also inexpensive.

Other tools (fabric scissors, various clamps, screwdrivers, pliers, air compressor and fittings, plastic "bondo" spreader boards, other glue, etc.) required for removal of headliner, sunroof etc. were on hand for me so your to-do cost could be different. Not sure what an upholstery shop would charge to do such a thing, but my guess is quite a bit.

There were many hours involved. Time consuming and meticulous work, really. Having to remove everything intact, trace, cut, lay glue (x3 with many minutes "tack" time), spread fabric...

Oh, and I painted that STUPID sticky overhead console for less "stick" and black goo transfer to fingers in the future. Also repaired cracks that were starting (and worsened from headliner removal) and reinforced backside of it with some cool 3M stuff so should be less fragile now. Anything plastic up near headliner seems to be pretty brittle anyways from extreme heat.

 

[v6junky]

Exclellent idea!! I've been up to my arms in headliner trying to solve a problem on my sunroof mechanism (which is totally trashed BTW) and have been trying to figure out how to get the headliner cleaned and glued back up as it's starting to hang off the panel.

I think matching my Rosso Oriente interior would work really well on mine but I would need to have a closer look at the sunroof liner as that looks tricky...

 

[racingswim2006]

Exclellent idea!! I've been up to my arms in headliner trying to solve a problem on my sunroof mechanism (which is totally trashed BTW) and have been trying to figure out how to get the headliner cleaned and glued back up as it's starting to hang off the panel.

I think matching my Rosso Oriente interior would work really well on mine but I would need to have a closer look at the sunroof liner as that looks tricky...

You can remove the small "tilt" panel very easily while the sunroof is tilted up, but the larger flat panel that slides back with sunroof requires you drop the rear of the sunroof and unclip from tracks (which requires removing headliner).

 

[v6junky]

You can remove the small "tilt" panel very easily while the sunroof is tilted up, but the larger flat panel that slides back with sunroof requires you drop the rear of the sunroof and unclip from tracks (which requires removing headliner).

That was the easy part!! Much easier on mine as the two arms that pull the panel shut from open have both snapped off!! Really annoyed about that as there is no way you can glue or weld them back in... Worse thing is the botch job someone did in the past where they tried to solve a problem where the roof moves upwards (and hence scrapes against the inside of the roof panel) when closing from fully open, by placing spacers under one side of the track. One of the chrome pullers was snapped and the extra load on the other one had bent part of the mechanism so it is rendered useless.

Basically the thing is totally junked although on the plus side I've become an overnight expert on how the sunroof mechanism works!! Good thing is I have the interior taken apart now so it is a perfect time to redo the liner so thanks for the great idea.

 

[AlexGS]

Sorry for the dumb question, but...
...does the headliner actually fit out of the doors on the 164? Or should I try to do it in-place? By the way, my new material is grey - sorry!

The other cars I've re-trimmed headliners on were hatchbacks, so it's been simple to remove through the tailgate opening.

I have learned the hard way that you can never re-glue old material. The foam backing is the part that disintegrates. That has to be scraped/rubbed off the backing material. If the headliner can't be removed from the car, that's gonna be a messy job.

-Alex

 

[v6junky]

I imagine it does as I doubt it was put in there before the shell was finished off but the question is if you have to remove the seats in order to have enough space to manouvre it out! Good point...

 

[Alfisto Steve]

Removing headliner backing board

You take it out passenger side rear door opposite from driver's side. You either recline front seat backs full back or full forward can't remember that part. It is a tight fit but I have done two 164 and a Milano (75)out rear passenger door. Removing rear seat bottom may help too but I don't think I did that.

First your hair goes then what's underneath. Exact details get fuzzy over the years. Probably makes more sense to have front seats full forward and seat backs forward, too.

 

[racingswim2006]

The headliner came out the passenger front seat for me (the right front seat on this side of the pond). I had the front seats reclined.

The headliner was very stuck in some places even with original glue. Once everything was removed, I used a very stiff bristle brush on the headliner cardboard to get rid of all traces of foam. The sunroof pieces did not have foam attached. I also soaked the main headliner portion for a while with 'febreeze' type odor eliminator, worked well.


A few pictures to follow.

 

[racingswim2006]

Some pictures.

Some photos of headliner pieces

 

[racingswim2006]

more stuff.

 

[Del]

Do you have to remove that funky plastic frame around the sunroof switches first, or does it come down with the liner, then removing it from the headliner, letting the panel with the switches just hang down?

Some day will have to do the headliner in my 91S as well, but have been reluctant to tackle that cracked frame (couldn't remove it when I wanted to paint it, did it in situ, worked well).

 

[v6junky]

Looks liek mine at the moment except I haven't totally removed the panel and it's hanging from the console at the moment. I'm definately going to tackle this over the next month. I'm looking for some Alcantara to match the rosso oriente interior though so might be hard to source.... Keep them pics coming!!

 

[Alfisto Steve]

The "funky" frame (surround) is attached with screws from backside of headliner backer board.

 

[MrT]

The "funky" frame (surround) is attached with screws from backside of headliner backer board.

That's what I learned when we disassembled George's lost S car to pull the sunroof mechanism. I didn't understand how the sunroof light/switch surround was attached and further damaged it by tugging on it improperly. Oh, well. It comes off with the headliner and then you have to get behind it to undo the mounting screws. I hope this helps someone else salvage the surround successfully.

Michael

 

[racingswim2006]

I had to repair that whole upper console piece. Almost all of the screw anchors were broken off. I retrieved them and re-bonded them with some more of that rather trick 3M reinforcement stuff/glue. It looks to be good now, but we'll see if they break when I reinstall tonight.

I considered doing black alcantara, but the textile store did not have any in black. It's also harder to bond... They did have red, tan, blue, hot pink, etc.....but no black. I thought tan might be cool to match the seats, but I was set on black.

Maybe that hot pink alcantara would have looked good.

 

[racingswim2006]

all back together

Looking good. It looks almost too good.

I figured that most headliner failures come from heat breaking down the adhesive, so I lined the upper portion of the headliner with aluminum foil to reflect the heat. I was prompted to do this almost entirely because while I was wiping out the sunroof cavity, I burned my hand on the SUPER hot roof interior. Wow.

Anyways might be overkill but I like it.

 

[racingswim2006]

A couple more.

Phew! All done. Be sure you have all the fasteners ready when reinstalling the headliner. Searching for hardware while needing 4 extra arms is not a welcome challenge.

To those who redo your headliner in gray (or GREY): it does not look as good as black.


If your headliner is still good (i.e. not smelly and sagging) and want black, dye or paint will definitely prove to be the much easier and much faster route.

 

[MrT]

Now, that is a really nice looking job. Next time I'm in Michigan, I'll drive by and we can do it to my car. The Aluminum foil is an interesting idea. It should help interior temps in the summer (maybe year-round), but I'd concluded that it was water from plugged sunroof drains that Did The Badness to the headliner. Maybe it's a combination of aging of the foam from heat/etc and then water soaking it? But I've had one car suddenly show up with a sagging headliner the day after a heavy rain overcame its drains. Somehow, the low point for water dripping out of the ceiling was the bottom of the newly sagging headliner.

My observation doesn't rule out heat damage, mind you, and I quite agree that your action should improve the longevity. I'll likely do that myself when I get the proverbial round tuit. Thanks for the pics and suggestion.

Michael