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T-Top Headliner Replacement! I just recently tried to replace my healiner due to tears and sag. It came out awful on the edges where the material hits the center bar, so when your outside the car and the tops are off, you see the board in spots. Is there a type of molding to cover it up? Another idea I had was to take it down, and spray truck bed liner on the whole board instead of material. Does that sound like a good idea? Has anyone ever did that before? It might look good. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! How did you try and replace it? Did you buy a new headliner or did you try and replace just the fabric while using the original backing? Personally I don't think that bed liner or anything of the sort would look as good as the original cloth. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! When i did my headliner, i went to walmart arts and crafts, i picked out the material, then walked to paint supplies and got a can of spray adhesive. I reinforced the board with fiber glass and resin. After dried, i laid out the cloth material over the headliner board and cut to shape with an extra couple inches so i could wrap around. I spray the adhesive, laid the cloth down, pressed really hard. done. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/pict...ictureid=10220 |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I don't know why anyone bothers doing all that with their headliners. Trash the OEM cardboard headliner and buy an ABS plastic headliner from Hawk's or some place like that. It is WAY easier to do and they aren't THAT expensive. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I got headliner material with the foam backing, and took out the old liner, took off the old material, and put the new on the original backing. I did the same... I took the backing, laid it on the new material, cut it out with extra to overlap, but when I glued it..... the cutout for the tops got really tight on the bends so I made little cuts so it would bend.... And when all was said and done, the corners came out like crap. Is there some type of molding I could put around the whole border? |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement!
Originally Posted by 87WS6
(Post 4527377)
I don't know why anyone bothers doing all that with their headliners. Trash the OEM cardboard headliner and buy an ABS plastic headliner from Hawk's or some place like that. It is WAY easier to do and they aren't THAT expensive. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement!
Originally Posted by Mr Froman
(Post 4527471)
Do you still cover it with the cloth? |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Those abs headliners are ideal. Perhaps theres a 70/30 customer satifaction that goes along with the product. Priced at $264.54 out the door- seems like a great price. Its just about what ones time is worth. Quality is the main goal whether its cloth/fur/abs/carbon fiber. Ill pay 1000 dollars if the quality was worth that, but one can still acheive the same great results of that 1000 by DIY and saving a grip. just how i see it thats all. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Where are you getting $264.54 out the door? They are $179.95. Even with Hawk's sometimes outrageous $30.00 shipping the math still doesn't add up to $264.54. (Actually the headliner/sunvisor/sail panel kits are $269.99 before shipping.) Are you talking about the entire headliner/sail panel/sun visor kit? If so that should seem like an absolute BARGAIN. And I'm sorry, but that isn't the same quality result as the original or ABS headliners. From the image it looks like the fabric doesn't match the contours of the headliner panel that well. (Could be the angle, I'm not sure.) It also doesn't match the interior at all. The only reason to do what you did is to get a custom look. Even going that route I'd still recommend going with an ABS headliner. The cardboard will still deteriorate even after what you did. Its cardboard. You said you reinforced it, which took time and additional supplies. Why go through that grief? Just replace it and move on. If you get it wet for any reason it still turns into a **** sandwich. At least the ABS plastic headliners can be recovered time and time again. You buy one and you may never have to do it again. My 1987 Trans Am had a brand new looking headliner in it. The second I took out the interior plastics to do rust inspection and other work the headliner started to disintegrate. It just fell down and started breaking apart. Why? Because the previous owner decided to save a few bucks and recover the original cardboard headliner rather than buy an ABS version of it. So all that effort turned to **** and the end result was something that basically would work once. The cardboard was 23 years old. If you balk at spending $160 on something that will last potentially forever you are in the wrong hobby. These cars are money pits. Any old vehicle is. I'm all for saving a few bucks and saving pieces with elbow grease if you can but sometimes you've got to cut bait and realize that replacement is the BEST option. Its like the rear sway bar on my car. Sure I could get all the rust off of it, sand it down, prime it, and paint it, or send it off for powder coating. Then I can buy new performance end links and new bushings. After all that I'd be out probably $18 for the bushings, $24 for the end links and $80 or so for powder coating. Alternatively I can buy one from Spohn that comes with everything in Chrome Moly steel and powder coated for $164.00. Sure I can save a couple bucks refurbishing what I have but that takes additional time and nearly the same money. Why bother? I saved myself a couple hours worth of work and got a better result. Perhaps you don't value your time as I do? To the OP: You tried recovering the head liner and you didn't like the result. There really isn't a way you can correct that. You need to get fabric and start the process over. Each time you do this you'll be stressing that cardboard crap out too. So you can either keep trying until you get a result you are happy with or you can buy a new head liner which is better quality and will look great out of the box. Your call. That's all I have to say on the subject. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! it shows 180$ plus s&h of 45$- 65$= 225$-245$ i know hawks has great parts, and i love the idea of an abs headliner, but to some people on a budget (like myself) thats probably not an option. ive talked to a local upholsterer here in topeka that has a great rep, and he said hed do it for 100$ including the visers. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! DAMN 100 would be sweet. I might get the ABS headliner so I can finally take the t-tops off. Do I have to cut a hole for the light? |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Well there are cheaper places to order from. At least when it comes to shipping. Hawk's is just rather high on that stuff for some reason. What's stupid about that is I ordered a sway bar from them and shipping was $30.00. The headliner is rolled up in a box that's pretty long but small. It doesn't weigh half what the sway bar does. Why should shipping be more? There are other sponsors and places to order from for cheaper shipping. You just have to shop around sometimes. Still if $200 totally isn't doable with a few weeks of saving up you should probably re-think working on cars as a hobby.
Originally Posted by Mr Froman
(Post 4527597)
DAMN 100 would be sweet. I might get the ABS headliner so I can finally take the t-tops off. Do I have to cut a hole for the light? |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Perfect. As long as that's the best price for them I'm probably just gonna order one when I get home tomorrow. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Actually I just remembered I have an ABS headliner in my storage room. I went and looked at it and the light hole is precut. It looks like you have to cut out the area where the sun visors go, but as I recall (back in 2002) this wasn't that hard. The manufacturer recommends you score the plastic with a razor blade and take your time with the cut outs. The headliner I've got has a couple imperfections in it and needs to be cleaned somewhat. I'm willing to sell it if someone wants it. The one I have is gray and I need one of these in black and therefore can not use this one. This one also has the cutout for the overhead center console. So bear this in mind. $50+ actual shipping. I can provide pics of it later. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Im with 87WS6. I replaced my trashed headliner with a unit from Next Generation. It was ABS with the cloth already in place. Installation was not hard and it came out perfect. Cost about $180 eight years ago. Prob more now but worth it. Even came with extra cloth for the B pillars. Thought for a second about fixing the old one but it was way trashed. Came out in peices. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I don't know who makes the Hawk's kit, but the one I have for sale is slightly different than the one I got from Hawk's years ago. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! The problem I see with doing the headliner in most any fabric is fitting the curves. The extra fabric that came with my Next Gen headliner was very elastic. I imagine they used it because it would conform to the curves of the piece. Again, Im glad I spent the money. Honestly, Im into this car $27,000 already and Ive got a ways to go. Its worth every dime. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I hear you. My Formula Firebird was a recent purchase. I'm still getting to know her. The more I look at it the more I realize it will take even more money to get it right. I don't mind that, but I wish I had the cash to just get it all done right now! Sadly I don't. Oh well. It isn't as if I could finish it all right now anyway. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Hey can somebody give me the website for next generation so that I can get one of those headliner kits? |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I remember talking to 1A-auto about those abs headliner and there all made from the same company .. i think it was called ACME or something. but i recommend dealing with 1A-auto. they shipped it out quick and fairly priced compared to the thiefs at year one and Classic industries. Now the Fitment is ok every where but behind the T-tops. it sags a bit and you can see the plastic underside when the tops are off. I went to Wal-mart and Bought some heavy duty velcro and used that it helped a little bit but not perfect. Also your gonna Need a Dremel or some kind of cutting tool if you plan on cutting and not destroying the material.. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement!
Originally Posted by jj74sd455
(Post 4527595)
it shows 180$ plus s&h of 45$- 65$= 225$-245$ i know hawks has great parts, and i love the idea of an abs headliner, but to some people on a budget (like myself) thats probably not an option. ive talked to a local upholsterer here in topeka that has a great rep, and he said hed do it for 100$ including the visers. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! [QUOTE=87WS6;4527576]Where are you getting $264.54 out the door? They are $179.95. Even with Hawk's sometimes outrageous $30.00 shipping the math still doesn't add up to $264.54. (Actually the headliner/sunvisor/sail panel kits are $269.99 before shipping.) Are you talking about the entire headliner/sail panel/sun visor kit? If so that should seem like an absolute BARGAIN. And I'm sorry, but that isn't the same quality result as the original or ABS headliners. From the image it looks like the fabric doesn't match the contours of the headliner panel that well. (Could be the angle, I'm not sure.) It also doesn't match the interior at all. QUOTE] add tax, and it matches, i got gray interior. the seat covers are on in that 4 year old pic, not anymore |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I don't have to pay sales tax when ordering from Hawk's. Or most places for that matter. Not unless they ship from Texas. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Next gen is part of Year One. Their website is www.yearone.com. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement!
Originally Posted by transam85dudeman
(Post 4527351)
When i did my headliner, i went to walmart arts and crafts, i picked out the material, then walked to paint supplies and got a can of spray adhesive. I reinforced the board with fiber glass and resin. After dried, i laid out the cloth material over the headliner board and cut to shape with an extra couple inches so i could wrap around. I spray the adhesive, laid the cloth down, pressed really hard. done. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/pict...ictureid=10220 |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Getting the headliner to look right around the t-top openings is definitely the hardest part of recovering one. Being able to properly recover a t-top headliner is what sets the pros apart from everybody else. If you don't have the ability to do it right, then your only realistic options are to pay somebody who can, or buy the aftermarket headliner. The ABS headliners aren't a perfect fit, but if you take your time, they fit pretty well and look a lot better than a poorly recovered factory unit. One word on shipping the aftermarket headliners... it's EXPENSIVE. It costs me about $60 to ship a headliner across the country. The box they come in is massive, and UPS costs a fortune for large stuff like that. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Uhhh...... Okay. Like Jim says, A quality aftermarket headliner isnt cheap. However, if you really want a quality outcome, you must use quality parts and methods. Im not ready this year yet to post photos of my project IROC but my headliner looks very nice. It was worth every dime. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement!
Originally Posted by Mr Froman
(Post 4527597)
DAMN 100 would be sweet. I might get the ABS headliner so I can finally take the t-tops off. Do I have to cut a hole for the light? everything is precut...I just put one in...check out classicindustries.com for parts to |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Is medium dark gray the specific color for a gray interior 90 Formula? Probably gonna order from hawks |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement!
Originally Posted by Mr Froman
(Post 4565340)
Is medium dark gray the specific color for a gray interior 90 Formula? Probably gonna order from hawks |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! Sweet! I've been searching hard for the answer. I know there is more than one gray for the int. but was pretty sure that was the right one |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I have a question with regards to Hawks ABS headliner... Is the ABS material stiff or is it flexible? IIRC, someone said they are rolled up; I always thought they'd be rigid. As for the color, is the Hawks unit covered in cloth or does the actual headliner come painted/molded in a specific color? I would prefer a headliner that is finished similar to fiberglass; no cloth to come off. Any help would be great as my cousin is coming to visit next weekend and she can save me the shipping from Hawks 'cause she only lives 5 minutes away from them. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I bought mine from classicindustries.com and they are rigiid...shipped in an oversize box not rolled up |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! The Hawks headliner is pretty flexible, mine came folded in half in a box but it regains its shape when you take it out. The cloth is wrapped around the ABS. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! They are semi-rigid, and as mentioned, they come more or less bent in half, like a giant taco. Let it sit flat overnight and it'll be ready to go into the car. Because of how it ships, it can sit a little low in the car around the center of the roof at first, but over time it seems to find a more natural position... either that or you just get used to it. :p |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! I had a woman re cover my t top liner who was an upolsterer before she retired. I carefully took my t top headliner out and she covered it with black denim. I think it looks better that the original which was light saddle tan. The car is black, the liner is now black, looks better. If I had to do it again, I think I would have the t top covered in black leather. You can strengthen the cardboard liner by using fiberglass resin and letting it dry. I have also heard of using speaker cloth. I stretches to round the corners. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement!
Originally Posted by Stevolwevol
(Post 4646279)
I had a woman re cover my t top liner who was an upolsterer before she retired. I carefully took my t top headliner out and she covered it with black denim. I think it looks better that the original which was light saddle tan. The car is black, the liner is now black, looks better. If I had to do it again, I think I would have the t top covered in black leather. You can strengthen the cardboard liner by using fiberglass resin and letting it dry. I have also heard of using speaker cloth. I stretches to round the corners. Now on a hard top... a monkey could recover one of those and make it look good, so unless your backing board is trashed, there's no reason not to try it yourself. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! In the name of originality, the original cloth should be used. I thought of that when I made the decision. I just never liked the liner contrasting in color from the paint. Maybe someday originality will matter in determining value. Then I will get a covered abs one. Ecklers has one that they say is covered. I don't know if it is cloth covered, or "flocked". |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! The OEM headliners fall apart in ur hand when you remove them. And the Abs are ok, but they bend them to fit in the box to ship them, so when you get them they are all twisted. I finally molded an ABS one with fiberglass and still had to fix the fitment of that mold, then remolded it again after I got them to fit better, and poped out a new one and now my headliner will out last the car. Only way to do it. And its just as light as the original. I tried to offer to sell these if anyone wants them but shiping it is the killer as I can not bend them in a box. Im guessing its why everyone makes then out of plastic. |
Re: T-Top Headliner Replacement! 1 Attachment(s) I just replaced my crappy headliner with a sweet new one from stockinteriors.com (better priced than hawks). They mounted the headliner to a rigid plastic molded frame. There were holes cut in the plastic for the visor mounts, dome light, and seat belt mounts, but it was up to me to cut the headliner in those spots and open it up (nice if you don't want a dome light or visors I guess). The thing didn't fit perfectly at first. I had to widen the holes for the visor mounts to get it just right. It took a couple tries, but once I got it in place, it looked really good. Also, the old headliner had clips that supported it just left and right of the rear view mirror. The replacement one claims that you don't need them since their product is rigid. I found that not to be the case. It needed to be fastened somehow. I tried to superglue the clips to the plastic. I tried epoxy. It kept cracking. I really wanted a hidden fastener, but ended up driving 2 trim screws threw the new headliner. It actually doesn't look out of place at all. I'll post some pictures of the new one installed when the sun is up. |
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