headliner building
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 349
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From: southwestern pa
Car: 89 camaro
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700r4 w/ shift kit
Axle/Gears: stockers
headliner building
my headliner is sagging and i want to fix it. heres the twist im putting black interior in the car and need to make the headliner match .i thought of using the black carpet people use on speaker boxes. what do i do.
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,361
Likes: 2
From: Buffalo, NY
Car: 1984 Trans Am
Engine: LT1
Transmission: T56
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt w/ 4.10 gears
you can buy headliner material at most fabric stores. Most will have black in stock along with several other colors. If they don't have the color you want, ask if they can order it. That's how I got Charcoal colored material for my T/A. The 54" rolls they come in is wide enough for your headliner, I'd suggest buying 2 yards length. Ask someone there where their headliner material is and they'll actually know what you are talking about :-). It's felt with a 1/8" foam backing.
Be sure to remove all the old deteriorating foam from your current headliner board using a nylon bristled brush and use a good adhesive spray to attach the new headliner material. I suggest Permatex Heavy Duty Headliner and Carpet Adhesive. I got it at Autozone and it worked much better than the 3M stuff I had used previously. Once it makes contact, it won't release.... so be sure to set it right the first time.
Be sure to remove all the old deteriorating foam from your current headliner board using a nylon bristled brush and use a good adhesive spray to attach the new headliner material. I suggest Permatex Heavy Duty Headliner and Carpet Adhesive. I got it at Autozone and it worked much better than the 3M stuff I had used previously. Once it makes contact, it won't release.... so be sure to set it right the first time.
you can buy headliner material at most fabric stores. Most will have black in stock along with several other colors. If they don't have the color you want, ask if they can order it. That's how I got Charcoal colored material for my T/A. The 54" rolls they come in is wide enough for your headliner, I'd suggest buying 2 yards length. Ask someone there where their headliner material is and they'll actually know what you are talking about :-). It's felt with a 1/8" foam backing.
Be sure to remove all the old deteriorating foam from your current headliner board using a nylon bristled brush and use a good adhesive spray to attach the new headliner material. I suggest Permatex Heavy Duty Headliner and Carpet Adhesive. I got it at Autozone and it worked much better than the 3M stuff I had used previously. Once it makes contact, it won't release.... so be sure to set it right the first time.
Be sure to remove all the old deteriorating foam from your current headliner board using a nylon bristled brush and use a good adhesive spray to attach the new headliner material. I suggest Permatex Heavy Duty Headliner and Carpet Adhesive. I got it at Autozone and it worked much better than the 3M stuff I had used previously. Once it makes contact, it won't release.... so be sure to set it right the first time.
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Joined: Dec 2006
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From: Augusta, Ga
Car: 1987 Trans Am
Engine: 355ci L98 soon to be turbo'd
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi
I'm actually going to go get an old headliner (since I threw mine away) from a car at the boneyard and strip it, then cover it in duck tape. It'll only be a temporary fix since I'm getting tired of some of the rattle and the wires and bare metal. Ofcourse, its all in black. I managed to find black pieces for the interrior all I need is the carpet and door panels...
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,361
Likes: 2
From: Buffalo, NY
Car: 1984 Trans Am
Engine: LT1
Transmission: T56
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt w/ 4.10 gears
and HCR13, spend the extra time and money to do it right since you're going through the trouble of getting a board and installing it. You can get the headliner material and adhesive for about $25.
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,212
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From: Augusta, Ga
Car: 1987 Trans Am
Engine: 355ci L98 soon to be turbo'd
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi
I would, but this is only a temporary solution. I have a minor leak I need to fix first (I'm working on bigger, better things so I can't focus on the leak, and the weather isn't the best). I can get the headliner for about $5 and the duck tape under $6. I plan to get the abs headliner and interrior done in the Summer (when I can keep the t-tops off) I just need a temporary "metal/wire/rattle deadner", thus the quick solution.
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From: Readsboro, VT
Car: 85 IROC-Z / 88 GTA
Engine: 403 LSx (Pending) / 355 Tuned Port
Transmission: T56 Magnum (Pending) / T5
Axle/Gears: 3.42 / ?
If you've got a hardtop car, recovering your stock headliner is so easy that a caveman can do it. 
However, if you have a t-top car, it's considerably harder because the material has no stretch to it, which makes it very difficult to wrap the inner curves around the t-top openings. I'm very experienced with wrapping all sorts of stuff in automotive carpet and vinyl, and I still screwed up my t-top headliner.
Unless you've done it before and you know that you're good at it, I'd stick with a new aftermarket headliner if you have a t-top car. If it's a hard top, it's easy to do and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend doing it. Do a search here and you'll find a bunch of tutorials on how to do it.

However, if you have a t-top car, it's considerably harder because the material has no stretch to it, which makes it very difficult to wrap the inner curves around the t-top openings. I'm very experienced with wrapping all sorts of stuff in automotive carpet and vinyl, and I still screwed up my t-top headliner.
Unless you've done it before and you know that you're good at it, I'd stick with a new aftermarket headliner if you have a t-top car. If it's a hard top, it's easy to do and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend doing it. Do a search here and you'll find a bunch of tutorials on how to do it.
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Joined: Jul 1999
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From: Cincinnati
Car: 1987 GTA
Engine: PT88 Turbo DART 406
Transmission: th400
Axle/Gears: 9" ford
Best thing I ever did in my hardtop car was throw the whole headliner board away... Then I bought a ABS 1 piece headliner... I was lazy and had the local trim shop cover it***Mainly because I was deleting the factory belts**% point harness race/show car*** but either way that was YEARS ago and Ive not had any trouble at all out of it..
And yes the hardtop removal is easy enough for a caveman.. remove dome light bezel, remove sunvisors, remove rear hatch top halo trim piece and pull the headliner right out the back window area
And yes the hardtop removal is easy enough for a caveman.. remove dome light bezel, remove sunvisors, remove rear hatch top halo trim piece and pull the headliner right out the back window area
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,812
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From: 62656
Car: 1991 S10 pickup 2700lbs
Engine: 4.3L Z TBI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.08 7.625"
where do you get an ABS one ? never heard of that before ? how much are they ? and are they worth the cost ?
also what would oyu use to repair any bad spots on the factory board ? like bad corner or bad area around the seat belt slot ?
fiberglass ?
or ?
and what if you live in a small retarded farming community where nothing exists cept a wal mart, how can you get headliner material ??
thanks
also what would oyu use to repair any bad spots on the factory board ? like bad corner or bad area around the seat belt slot ?
fiberglass ?
or ?
and what if you live in a small retarded farming community where nothing exists cept a wal mart, how can you get headliner material ??
thanks
Try here, this is where I got mine and everything fit great.
http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/in...ROD&ProdID=621
http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/in...ROD&ProdID=621
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From: Cincinnati
Car: 1987 GTA
Engine: PT88 Turbo DART 406
Transmission: th400
Axle/Gears: 9" ford
I got an UNCOVERED abs one...reson was As stated above I wanted to cover the stock seatbelt hole... Because my race/show car has 5 point harness in in... Id have to look at my receipt BUT the local trim shop bought it somewhere locally... I never made an appoitment.. I showed up to get a headliner done.. they left and came back 15 min later with an ABS BOARD if you will... It was made for the car.. I want to say it came from like Wilcox automotive.. >> then they put their own matching apholstry on the abs board..
But as posted above if you dont need anything custom places like hawks sell already apholstered ones**** However I have seen some of them come in multiple pieces... MINE was 1 Piece like stock.. so there is no seam..
But as posted above if you dont need anything custom places like hawks sell already apholstered ones**** However I have seen some of them come in multiple pieces... MINE was 1 Piece like stock.. so there is no seam..
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