Recently my headliner has failed and after getting a quote for $250, I thought I would give it a punt myself. Took some photos, ill write a small dscription for each one. I did this about 40 days ago and still going strong. 2002 TJ VRX 170,000 KM

Before shots. It went from nothing wrong to this in like 1 week. What fails is the foam not the glue. It was getting bad... completely blocking my rear vision last couple days before replacing. Click the thumbs for a larger version.
http://i53.tinypic.com/2gtnbb5_th.jpg (http://i53.tinypic.com/2gtnbb5.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/6f0fo9_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/6f0fo9.jpg)


I went to a local auto trimmer and got materials, I just got whatever he recommended for my car and he gave me some contact adhesive in a coffee tin. For this he charged me $30. Layed out an old tarp over the bench so I wouldn't get glue everywhere.
http://i53.tinypic.com/dwrkll_th.jpg (http://i54.tinypic.com/dwrkll.jpgg)


I remove all the fixtures on the roof, I wasn't following a manual, I just winged it. Its all pretty basic.. hidden pull off clips, screws under caps/covers or a combination of both. Only bit that had me scratching me head was the center light, the clear part prys off which then uncovers a couple of screws underneath. The pillar panels all just pull off and I think there was christmas tree style clips on B and C pillars through the headliner itself. (probably more to note, but I cant remember it fully now, shoulda done this earlier)
http://i53.tinypic.com/5n0u0w_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/5n0u0w.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/dpwq48_th.jpg (http://i53.tinypic.com/dpwq48.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/2n21xzo_th.jpg (http://i55.tinypic.com/2n21xzo.jpg)


Couple of clips at the back near the rear window holding the board on and it falls off almost. I removed it from the car out of a rear door on an angle. I had to crease/fold it a bit but it sprung back to shape straight away.
http://i53.tinypic.com/23ur76p_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/23ur76p.jpg)http://i53.tinypic.com/14kusjq_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/14kusjq.jpg)http://i53.tinypic.com/dep841_th.jpg (http://i53.tinypic.com/dep841.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/xdxqj9_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/xdxqj9.jpg)


Removed the old material then slowly removed all the foam left behind. Got most of it just rubbing it with hands/gloves(the two piles shot) but then got the rest with a green scouring sponge and some warm water. This was the longest step. Make sure you let it fully dry off if you use water.
http://i53.tinypic.com/xnrcdt_th.jpg (http://i54.tinypic.com/xnrcdt.jpg)http://i53.tinypic.com/2czexag_th.jpg (http://i56.tinypic.com/2czexag.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/bec0tg_th.jpg (http://i51.tinypic.com/bec0tg.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/m7c64o_th.jpg (http://i56.tinypic.com/m7c64o.jpg)


The motor trimmer told me to spray the glue, but I had lent my compressor out at the time so I decided to brush. Brushing was difficult because of the slower application time mainly, but also you can easily miss small sections when brushing (specially when the glue is same colour as the board). I started at the back and did 200mm strips at a time. It was a hot day so I had to work fast and there was almost no waiting time before the glue was tacky and ready for material. Dont press hard on the foam or the glue can wet it out to much and there can be permanent imprints of compressed foam. If your brushing try not to leave any pools, just a light even layer. Take special care of the curves make sure there is glue over every square cm. After the whole thing was done I checked and redid all the edging that was coming off, dabs of glue along the needed bits, wait for tacky and pull over and down. Its probably easier to do this part with a mate.
http://i53.tinypic.com/6rrnup_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/6rrnup.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/152jl1e_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/152jl1e.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/n393ly_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/n393ly.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/6hkri1_th.jpg (http://i52.tinypic.com/6hkri1.jpg)


..have to split over two posts for the 20 pics per post limit.

Flipped it over and waited about an hour to dry before cutting the holes. Used the kitchen scissors and carefully cut around the holes from the back. It took about 4 hours up to this point and I decided to leave it overnight to dry before I put it back in the car.
http://i53.tinypic.com/10r48y8_th.jpg (http://i53.tinypic.com/10r48y8.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/1zdsx75_th.jpg (http://i54.tinypic.com/1zdsx75.jpg) http://i53.tinypic.com/11cfhnn_th.jpg (http://i54.tinypic.com/11cfhnn.jpg)


After photos. I folded it back into the car put it up and clipped it on at back first then made my way to the front, I used a butter knife to run aling the sides and tuck it back into the trim. My finger worked well too. Then I fitted everything back on making sure not to forget an electrical loom.
http://i53.tinypic.com/6yo1oh_th.jpg (http://i56.tinypic.com/6yo1oh.jpg)http://i53.tinypic.com/a2q1km_th.jpg (http://i51.tinypic.com/a2q1km.jpg)


After a month of usage and very hot sunlight exposure there is one bubble just in front of the handle behind the driver seat on the curve. I may of not of put enough glue in this area or it dryed faster then I put the material on. I don't think this would of happened if I had sprayed, so lesson learned. Its not very conspicuous though and you only notice it when your looking for faults.

Link it in the sticky thread if you like:
http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45652

I've done a couple using material from Spotlight (a fabric shop in SA) called pinup board material and brush on contact adhesive. Works well, but with thinner materials you need to watch out for soakthrough of the glue.No failures in any of them. Lighter materials close to the original colour work best, IMHO.

Great write up mate,

very clear and helpful with the photos included.

I did my 2nd gen with vinyl black and its peeling arounds edges as the glue used seems to perish quickly (silly me rushing into it)

I will use this guide when i redo the liner.

Thanks heaps!!

Im stumped as to why your headliner is orange. If someone can help me here, it might lead to why mine failed.

Heres the old material off, you are now looking at the foam.
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9573/dsc00566m.jpg
By null (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/null) at 2011-02-22

All the foam to one side.
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/6356/dsc00568h.jpg
By null (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/null) at 2011-02-22

This is what it looked like with the old foam removed. Unfortunately at this point the template was no longer rigid enough to trim, so i must've buggered something up.
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/5243/dsc00567g.jpg
By null (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/null) at 2011-02-22

I likes like the O.P's is still slightly padded where as mine was lucky to be 3-4mm thick.

Recently had an auto-trimmer mate re-do my sagging headlining for a $100 cash job. Mine was orange too, which is the colour of the the deteriorating foam between the fabric and the board. Perhaps your headlining didn't have the orange colour because it has previously been re-trimmed before you bought the car??? Just a thought.

Im stumped as to why your headliner is orange. If someone can help me here, it might lead to why mine failed.


That does looks strange, not just the colour but also the large fragments of the foam when it came off. If your car is also a TJ I would think it must be the aftermath of a previous reline job like MTH said. The actual board (my one) looks like its made from a very resin deprived composite (I think just fiberglass) the low resin gives it the flexibility like a stiff foam material. Perhaps the glue that was used beforehand reacted with the resin in the board and caused it to go floppy, thats all I can think off. I reckon I could of folded my liner in half and it would of still held its shape.

Actually I did notice when I wet it out with the sponge the edges soaked a bit in and went limp, you didnt hose it down or anything did you ?

Mine wasnt sagging, and mine from a TE Magna.

As for hosing, no. I just scraped it all off, which may not have been the best way, but i was told a scraper would work fine.

The foam backing is probably a different colour because Mitsu used a different supplier at different times. The backing material is nothing rigid, probably just compressed recycled cardboard. The more you flex it, the weaker it gets, especially at the edges. I imagine if you put a hose on it it will quickly turn to a mass of soggy porridge like cardboard. A steel brush gets the foam off easily.

At the edges, cut the material a couple of cm bigger and wrap around, then glue onto the back. Best to put the whole thing back in the car, then let dry overnight before finding and cutting the holes for the interior light, handles, sunvisors. etc.

Holy crap thats a lot of effort!!

I have a TE ALtera with the same problem

I went to Jolllys wreckers in Dandenong Vic and pulled head lining out of a TF (all the TE's had the head lining falling down)

It cost me $36

I had my car out the front and fitted the new head lining and was done within 1 hour.

Great write-up BiGGy.....filing this in my Magna data base for future reference. Thanks.

Great write up mate! Plus decent job!!! Well done...

Hi there, great info, got to do this myself soon.cheers

My tj had the headliner droop recently. Found a good one at the wreckers and put that in. The original was stripped and is currently waiting for a retrim, before the "new" one starts to droop too. lol