sewlow
Bitchin' Stitchin'
Apologies for the delayed responses, guys! Haven't checked in on this thread for a while!
If you just have bare metal, easiest way to get a headliner in there is with the panel. Grab one from a wrecker. I usually buy the ugliest one in the yard, just as long as the panel itself is good. Ripping all the old stuff of anyways! The last one I bought, think it was $10.00. The girl @ the counter said "ewww"!
What cab size is your truck?
Kinda go hand-in-hand don't they? Lol! Good idea! I'll be working on my '98's interior over the winter. I'll try to take lots of pix. Visors will be included in that.
Guess I should add that to this post, too.
Depending on the manufacturing styles between S/R makers, they should all have some type of gasket &/or frame that goes around the inside of the roof panel where hole was cut. That should be removed.
You could probably work the edges of the roof panel out & from under that trim without removing it, but kinda of a ham-****** approach. Good chance of trashing the panel.
Once that trim is out, the re-cover would be the same as usual. Cut the hole when you do the others from the backside.
BUT...DO NOT CUT IT the same size as the old one was! Make the hole smaller. About 2" in from the edge of the S/R opening in the panel. This extra can be trimmed to size, AFTER the panel is installed.
Start the cut more than the 2" or so of extra material you want to leave. Work out to the 2" extra when cutting.
Pinch the material & cut the pinch to get going.
Don't just stab the scissors in there! The glue holding the new material is still not set-up yet.
I've seen things get seriously messed up by stabbing scissors into materials.
Like the guy's head on the inside holding the headliner up. They thought it was a better idea to cut the S/R hole after the install! (NOT my shop! I was the new guy. Not my place to say anything. Gotta good chuckle, though!)
He was lucky! Couple of stitches. Good thing he wasn't looking up! And I found out what kinda crew I was working with!
Anyways...that extra material.
The S/R was more than likely installed with the H/L in the vehicle. The hole in the H/L was cut at the same time as the metal roof panels. (there's 2)
Now, you can take that extra material and wrap it over the edge of the inner roof panel. That'll give the H/L a ton more support.
To get the corners in, cut into the material on a 45* into the corner, just almost up to the edge of the metal. but not quite. 1/8"? Now one on either side of that so it looks like some pieces of pie coming outa the corner. Spray some glue up in between the 2 metal panels. The 3M '76' & '90's adjustable tips are real handy when doing this. Start from the edge of the opening & roll the material in there. Not too tight, just a bit of a push.
With the trim around the S/R re-installed, that puppy aint ever gonna sag!
Watch the edges. They'll be sharp!
Nice write up! I don't have a headliner right now its just bare metal and need to get one it. Anywhere know where I can get the foam and how to put it up to the metal roof? Can I use a similar spray?
If you just have bare metal, easiest way to get a headliner in there is with the panel. Grab one from a wrecker. I usually buy the ugliest one in the yard, just as long as the panel itself is good. Ripping all the old stuff of anyways! The last one I bought, think it was $10.00. The girl @ the counter said "ewww"!
What cab size is your truck?
this is awesome, great write up
If you plan another one like this, I would love to see something on sun visors.
I need to recover mine
Kinda go hand-in-hand don't they? Lol! Good idea! I'll be working on my '98's interior over the winter. I'll try to take lots of pix. Visors will be included in that.
Guess I should add that to this post, too.
Great Writeup! Makes the daunting task a little easier to handle.
Has anybody done a headliner on an ecsb (or any) with a sunroof? Ive been wanting to replace mine, but Im not sure how much more work the sunroof makes it.
Depending on the manufacturing styles between S/R makers, they should all have some type of gasket &/or frame that goes around the inside of the roof panel where hole was cut. That should be removed.
You could probably work the edges of the roof panel out & from under that trim without removing it, but kinda of a ham-****** approach. Good chance of trashing the panel.
Once that trim is out, the re-cover would be the same as usual. Cut the hole when you do the others from the backside.
BUT...DO NOT CUT IT the same size as the old one was! Make the hole smaller. About 2" in from the edge of the S/R opening in the panel. This extra can be trimmed to size, AFTER the panel is installed.
Start the cut more than the 2" or so of extra material you want to leave. Work out to the 2" extra when cutting.
Pinch the material & cut the pinch to get going.
Don't just stab the scissors in there! The glue holding the new material is still not set-up yet.
I've seen things get seriously messed up by stabbing scissors into materials.
Like the guy's head on the inside holding the headliner up. They thought it was a better idea to cut the S/R hole after the install! (NOT my shop! I was the new guy. Not my place to say anything. Gotta good chuckle, though!)
He was lucky! Couple of stitches. Good thing he wasn't looking up! And I found out what kinda crew I was working with!
Anyways...that extra material.
The S/R was more than likely installed with the H/L in the vehicle. The hole in the H/L was cut at the same time as the metal roof panels. (there's 2)
Now, you can take that extra material and wrap it over the edge of the inner roof panel. That'll give the H/L a ton more support.
To get the corners in, cut into the material on a 45* into the corner, just almost up to the edge of the metal. but not quite. 1/8"? Now one on either side of that so it looks like some pieces of pie coming outa the corner. Spray some glue up in between the 2 metal panels. The 3M '76' & '90's adjustable tips are real handy when doing this. Start from the edge of the opening & roll the material in there. Not too tight, just a bit of a push.
With the trim around the S/R re-installed, that puppy aint ever gonna sag!
Watch the edges. They'll be sharp!