Pulled the headliner from my 92 project car (t-top), and decided that it needed to be strengthened before I did any more work to it. I got it out and laid it on the garage floor, and covered the inside with fiberglass resin. Its still a little flimsier than i would like it to be, so im going to put another coat of resin and some fiberglass mat on it tomorrow. Im going to have to build up the places where it has disintegrated....probably going to use kitty hair bondo in those spots......but its going to come out WAY cheaper than an ABS piece and look 100 times better to boot. I figured the resin would at least let it hold its original shape while I work on it......



As you can see, im going to have to build up the original stuff around the t-top area.....


Comments? anyone been down this road that could throw out some pointers?

 

wow man, that thing is raged. Check out Joe Penko at Ontario fiberglass. He makes some KNight Rider parts, and for some reason I also think he makes new T-top fiberglass healiners..
You could save a lot of time and money just getting a new one from him that is exactly what your looking for. I think Rob Louisell might also have mold to make fiberglass headliners too.
If your going to go ahead and finish it yourself good luck. I am working on my hardtop headliner.

 

I dont see how i could save money.......ive got about 8 bucks in this one right now, and i already have some kitty hair bondo to build it up with. Im trying to give the guys on here an alternative to spending 250 bucks on an abs headliner versus doing it themselves. Like most of us on here, I have waaaaayy more time than money.......

 

Luvmy64, I recently did my hard top, I had the same problems in area's with some of the pieces chipped away. I think you have the right idea by trying to restore it.
The biggest problem i ran into was when I was gluing the material down, when I sprayed the 3m glue on and laid the material down it stuck where it laid and had a hard time smoothing it out. When I lifted it and tried to smooth it out it pulled the headliner backing right off, now you have uneven places. I used a 3m 90 glue. I think it was to heavy. But I was using vinyl, I think that was a bad idea. i have another head liner I am going to try again. Best luck to you!

 

Thanks, dude! Im going to build up the bad places with the kitty hair before i even think about gluing the headliner material on. Will the 3M 90 stuff hold up under the heat?

 

Not sure I haven't even put mine on yet. From what i researched it should. What kind of cloth are you putting on? I think the 3M 70 is strong enough. I paid over $30 bucks a can for mine. Then I found some at auto store for less then $10 bucks. You live and learn..lol

 

Well, im debating whether or not to just finish the whole thing and paint it. Has anyone done this?

 

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I did this to 2 headliners in the late fall, wrapped them in a tarp, & put them in the basement. Early spring, I had to move them, & some how they both got broke!!! BOOO!!!

I'm going to open them next week & see how bad things are.

Good luck

 

I think im going to use more resin and some fiberglass mesh to further strengthen it up before I try to put the headliner material on it.

 

I bought a abs hoodliner which looks pretty good.Unfortunately the board material was missing when i bought the car.The problem i have is that i cant see where the hood liner meets with the top retractable belt casette. Does anyone have a pic of this area they could post up.Im not sure if i have toi cut the hole bigger in the abs to go around the cassette and have it exposed? confused? Pic would help

 

Update:
Put another coat of resin on the other side, and now headliner board is rigid enough that i can pick it up without any flexing in the middle. Gonna start building up the edges next. I had a thought yesterday: You dont want this thing to be too heavy or it wont hold its own weight, so im gonna try to keep the kitty hair to a minimum.

 

I put one of these in a couple months ago. The headliner should cover your belt casette entirely. However, there should be a small rectangular hole through which your belt will pass. In order to thread the belt through this hole there should be a small slit in the headliner that run from the outside of the rectangle toward your sail panels. If there isn't a slit, you may have to make one. You should also have the moulding pieces that go over the belt hole and clip on to retainers on the cassette. There is a plastic piece that runs down in a gap and behind your sail panels that covers the above mentioned slit. If your headliner was missing when you got the car you may not have these. I'll see if I can find a pic for you here is a minute...
Edit: pics below. First, what it looks like with everything installed...


Second, my passenger side is missing the cover piece, so this is what it looks like without.

 

Yep..the belts have the plastic cover piece but the cassette for the retractable seems to hang down too far and hits on the abs liner before it actually can seat properly with the roof.I'll take some pics to make it easier and send them

 

I don't recall mine sticking out nearly that far- maybe somebody replaced them and bolted them to the outside versus recessed into that hole? Just a thought. Don't have my books handy at the moment.

 

Ok I have a question concerning headliner replacement? My biggest concern is when I take the side door panels off the inside door that the brackets will brake. Is there a way to take them off with out snapping the brackets? When I took the one's off donor car to redo the headliner 2 or 3 of them broke. I hate slop, I like the car in tight shape. So can these be replaced? Where would I buy more? Or even better a way to take off with out braking. Any good info out there? Thanks

 

I think u r right about the cassettes being mounted on outside.Do you have a pic of the cassettes at all with any brackets attached so i can change mine to suit.Would be a big help

 

Yep pretty sure whoever had it before me has made different brackets.Could u find a pic in your books of the bracket so i can recess it?

 

Here is Joe's website at Ontario Fiberglass, you can find his headliners. I have one in my car, it's awesome, will never sag!!! You just recover it and it will last forever! Well worth the $$$! www.joepenko.com

 

3 posts in 7 years and you respond to a 3 year old thread...

 

What's wrong with that??

 

I say thanks for posting it ,, he just up the road from me and I might have to pick one up...some people just have to have an opinion whether helpful or not,, just ignore because these revived old posts can have some useful information that has been forgotten..