I actually managed to remove the original headliner from my '85 and it kinda stayed in one piece. There was a few broken spots, and one side of the center t-top area was soft and puffy. I removed the material and cleaned all the old foam off, then I "patched" the headliner board back together with some aluminum duct tape. This is how it looks now:



Should I even attempt to recover this thing? I know I could do it, I'm just not sure how long it would hold up. Has anyone done one in similar condition and had long-lasting results?

 

It looks pretty sturdy still.
I redid mine years ago with 3M adhesive spray & headliner material i pirchased at a upholstery shop.A little faded now, but still holding after all these years.

 

What company are those t-tops? My old C&C tops didn't look like that at all.

 

Yeah my stock ones look nothing like that. I think those clamps might be there to hold in the top shades? I need to make a set of those..

You did an A1 job on your headliner 1LE, any advice to make things go a little smoother?

86 black, I think I'd fiberglass that a little to give it a bit more strength

 

I plan on redoing my again soon, and I'm gonna glass it up on the roof side to add strength to it.

 

They are C&Cs also.The clamp in the rear is for a vent feature.The glass will lift & separate from the seal.They use a tube frame(visible in the pic) to support the t-top.In the center you can see two metal tabs, that support the frame.The tabs insert to metal brackets welded to the center bar.

For the C&C headliner.One thing i did was the cut the material well past the ends.This allows the plastic trim plenty of "bite" & keeps the material from slipping out.Another added benefit was some creeks/groans vanished.

For the t-top edges I tucked the material up/over & into a channel the weather strip goes in.Originally C&C used a bulky rubber strip & the liner was barely cut up to the rubber strip.I got rid of the rubber strip for a much cleaner look.

In the OH openings i also cut the material long & rolled it up/over the top side of the OEM board.Id seen many(mine included)headliners.Just cut to the OH edges.Over time the material sagged & slipped ou of place.Causing more sag.To this day my liner has not delaminated or sagged.Its about 15 yrs old.

For smaller cuts, like the visor hinges/screws.I only made slits, basically the smaller the cut the better.Less chance for the headliner material to slip out of place over time.

As for the t-top shades.They are home made & i re-did the visors sometime between the headliner & the shades.

 

1LE, that's pretty cool, Ive never seen those specific tops before. Did you buy the car new?

Could you explain the process? I don't think I've seen that done on a headliner board before, I've only recovered them, that's it.

 

I couldn't really explain it, you might do a search there are several threads on it.

 

Your board looks in pretty good shape, especially for the year.

Fiberglassing to reinforce it is a plus, especially around the t-top areas.

My headliner was not as fortunate as yours,
I went with a ABS board and will never go back to factory boards for myself.

 

[QUOTE=86blackiroc;4671044]1LE, that's pretty cool, Ive never seen those specific tops before. Did you buy the car new?QUOTE]

I bought it used in 1988.

 

After search, looks like a coat of resin would be a good idea, thanks! Looks easy enough too.