What you have done is what many others before you have done. Getting the right
materiel is 1/2 the battle. It should be foam-backed and as close as you can get
to the origional color and texture. Some have used sandbags to hold the fabric
in position till the glue sets but with the newer spray adhesives it doesn't
seem to be necessary. Doing the inside curves is the hardest part but with
patience it is not too bad. The messiest part is getting the old glue and foam
off. That's why the vendors use new backers, to be able to skip the cleaning
step.
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757


--- In dmcnews@yahoogroups.com, "dadoc2791" <gekko@...> wrote:
>
> My headliner has been sagging for a while now so I looked at the cost of new
replacements and about choked.
> Let me preface this with the caviat that I am a tinkerer. If I 'tink' I can
get something done myself, I'll give it a go. More than once, it's wound up
costing me more than if I had had it towed to a garage and fixed by a
high-priced mechanic. I'm not cheap, but I like to try and save a few bucks
here and there when I can, so I'll tinker at most any project on my "D" unless
it's just beyond my tools' capacities (i.e. vacuuming and recharging an AC
system or adjusting the torsion bars).
> So, when I found the headliner material in light grey at a local fabric shop,
I decided to see if I could pull out the forms, strip and clean them and recover
the headliner, myself. I was concerned about breaking something that I would
have to replace or repair, but overall, it didn't look like too bad a job. You
know what? It isn't. Pulling the old fir trees out of their holes is probably
the scariest part of it because you don't want to damage the forms that fit the
door-roofs. I don't know if there are any of these available, anymore and I
didn't want to have to find out. But with a couple of long screwdrivers, a
small ball-joint-seperator-fork and great care, I was able to pull most of the
fir-tree plugs out and just slip the form off the rest, pulling them out
afterwards. Cleaning the forms was easy enough with a couple of brushes and
elbow grease to remove the old foam backing that still adhered. I laid out the
old fabric on the new and cut (leaving plenty of overcut for trimming later) and
used an industrial spray-on adhesive that I also bought at the fabric store.
Working the new foam-backed fabric up into the dome was a little tricky, making
sure not to crease or fold it anywhere while the glue stuck to it. I ordered a
bunch of new fir-trees from Hervey and went to recovering. The back form had
long sagged on both sides, producing upside-down eyebrows at the rear windscreen
area but I flattened it, stretched a little fibreglass over it and epoxy-ed it
so that it retains it's old flater form much more closely now. Not perfect, I
admit, but not bad. Reinstallation went pretty easily and damn!! it looks
good!! (surprise) Entire cost: ~$85 and a few hours of sweat.
> I write about this to encourage others who may have thought about tackling
this job to give it a go. Being careful in removal and with the use of the glue
(it can get EVERYWHERE) is important, but it's a rewarding project and might
save you a bunch of money. No disrespect to any of the vendors and I certainly
don't choose to see them lose any sales, but in these economic times, saving a
buck is a good thing for anyone.
>
> Craig Werner
> 07181 - 5-spd - grey int - '81 build -----"Little Johnny"
> The reason
>