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Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

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Old Feb 27, 2015 | 11:14 PM
  #1  
HeathAU25's Avatar
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Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

My headliner has seen better days and needs recovering/replacing.

I wanted to get opinions on the ABS headliners for a HARDTOP.
I've read a lot of threads on here with tons of complaints about fitment of the ABS headliners, and most of the posts seem to be about TTops. I'm leaning more toward recovering since the aftermarket plastic ones seem to be just as much of a pain to complete. Also, recovering a hardtop is much easier than a ttop. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
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Old Feb 28, 2015 | 02:02 AM
  #2  
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Re: Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

http://www.classicindustries.com/pro.../82141308.html
Get yourself some Material and recover your stock headliner if it's in good shape.
They have a nice Varity of stock colors.
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Old Feb 28, 2015 | 08:08 AM
  #3  
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Car: 1985 Trans Am T-Top
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Re: Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

The abs headliner for hard top is not the correct shape. The fitment is better than the t top but it is molded from the back side of an OEM headliner. When you pull your headliner you will see there is a big shaped ridge down the middle. This means the abs headliner has the big ridge down the middle on the front side. This has the benefit of giving a little more headroom, but the down side of making overhead console not fit right and not looking stock.
The original hardtop headliners are pretty durable and super easy to recover, I would do that.
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Old Feb 28, 2015 | 03:42 PM
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Re: Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

Excellent. Thanks guys. That's two votes for recover over ABS. I like it.
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Old Mar 1, 2015 | 12:25 PM
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Re: Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

another vote for recovering the orig. if you have any breaks in the board use strips of newspaper over the break and bring the break together before you lay the strip. use the headliner glue to lay the strip like doing paper mache.

the repair will be as strong as anywhere else on the board that isn't broken.

and remember, the leading edge of the headliner is the only "finished" edge.
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Old May 2, 2020 | 06:07 PM
  #6  
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Re: Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

I have abs liner yes it sucked at first but I put 2 screws in the sag up near the windshield that made it look alot better. The hardest part was trying to mount it. My old liner fell apart so abs was the cheapest option for me I think was $75
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Old May 3, 2020 | 06:06 AM
  #7  
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Re: Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

I had to have my ABS liner recovered due to it failing maybe 6 months after I installed it. Took it to a reputable upholstery shop and they said it was due to poor prep. If you have an original, recover that. My car was missing the head liner. If you didn't have a board, ABS is the only option, so in that case buy bare and have it covered locally.
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Old May 4, 2020 | 10:01 AM
  #8  
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Re: Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

I have a replacement ABS mouse fur covered unit in my 84 t-top. NO old board to recover.
Fit is ok. Still looks good.

If your gonna buy one look for free shipping. They come in a big box!
Most are made by one company (ACME?).


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Old May 18, 2020 | 07:02 PM
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Re: Hardtop Headliner - ABS or Recover?

Who offers free shipping with these ?
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