1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I've just finished replacing the fabric on my headliner, which was sagging. It's not fundamentally difficult, and most of the time is taken in removing and reinstalling. Most of the steps are pretty straight-forward:
...Remove the A, B, and C pillar trim pieces
...Remove the grab handles
...Remove the dome light
...Remove the trim piece covering the sunroof motor and related bits (2 screws)
...Rotate (90 degrees) the two plastic pieces above the back seat to release the aft part of the headliner.
...Release the headliner from the rubber weatherstrip above the doors and hatch.
...Cut or peel off the fabric tape holding the wires to the top of the headliner.
...Carefully slide it out the hatch.
...Peel the old fabric free from the shell and remove the old foam (I rubbed it off with a leather glove). Clean the old adhesive off with some solvent and a rag (lacquer thinner works).
...3M super trim adhesive was recommended by the fabric vendor (World Upholstery) and it works. I've used it before on classic 900 headliners. ...Lay the fabric out on the shell, fold half of it back on itself, Spray the exposed part of the shell and the fabric per instructions on the can. After the adhesive has dried a bit, fold the sprayed headliner material back over the shell with a large piece of paper in between. Pull the paper part-way out, press the fabric onto the shell, and repeat. Do the same for the second half of the shell.
The C-pillar trim comes off with difficulty. The little plastic pop-pins that secure it don't want to come apart and the female part may come free from the trim rather than separating from the male part mounted in the sheet metal. After you get it apart, a dab of WD-40 or something similar helps get the pop pins apart and allows them to snap together more easily when reinstalled.
The front edge of the headliner is not hidden under a piece of trim. While the factory doesn't do it, consider wrapping the headliner material around to the back on the front edge to provide a cleaner install.
Getting the headliner material down into the recesses for the sun visor mounting piece is difficult. When it comes to reinstalling the sun visor, be careful to make only the minimum cuts needed to get the wires and screws through and the fabric will probably stretch enough to make a clean install.
posted by 70.56.56...
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