Refinish headliner?

[Matthew Jeschke]

Anybody in here redone their headliner? Mine is starting to show it's age. I see they sell the fabric and glue. However, I'm not sure how to color match that stuff and any other unforseen issues along the way.

Any advices are greatly appreciated... Thanks!

 

[mountie]

The head liner in my '05 Yukon XL is a tad more complicated than my (since sold) '88 C2500 reg cab. My sun roof door's material is falling down. I am researching how to get that out & re-covered. I can bet it isn't easy? Or maybe just popping off the plastic trim??

My manual does not even mention the sun roof!!

..Thinking about it, maybe the Service Manual CD does..... I must look.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Anybody in here redone their headliner? Mine is starting to show it's age. I see they sell the fabric and glue. However, I'm not sure how to color match that stuff and any other unforseen issues along the way.

Any advices are greatly appreciated... Thanks!

Is it gray? Here in NJ we have a fabric store called Joanne's Fabrics. They sell gray headliner material--cheap too. Buy a few yards to do yours. It'll probably be a little darker then your original, but who's gonna stare at it? Or Pep Boys sells it in a kit for suv's, goes for around $60-$70 to do your Hoe. Hardest part is dropping the headliner.

 

[iamdub]

My best advice on how to do it would be to watch some YouTube videos. What I will strongly advise against is using contact cement from an aerosol can. I don't know of any that have held up past the first or second summer, if it even lasted throughout the reinstallation. I bought a gallon a DAP Weldwood adhesive and used a cheap Harbor Freight spray gun on my air compressor to install a fiber-backed outdoor upholstery vinyl (HEAVY!) headliner in my Jeep XJ. Four years later, it still looks like the day I installed it.

If you don't wanna invest in all the tools and materials to do it the correct and permanent way, you could split the difference by removing the panel, stripping off the old material and bringing it to a shop to re-cover it. Most of the labor is the removal and installation, so just having them cover it should be considerably cheaper. It'd be a professional job and you wouldn't have to buy all this stuff that you'd likely never use again.

 

[Tonyrodz]

My best advice on how to do it would be to watch some YouTube videos. What I will strongly advise against is using contact cement from an aerosol can. I don't know of any that have held up past the first or second summer, if it even lasted throughout the reinstallation. I bought a gallon a DAP Weldwood adhesive and used a cheap Harbor Freight spray gun on my air compressor to install a fiber-backed outdoor upholstery vinyl (HEAVY!) headliner in my Jeep XJ. Four years later, it still looks like the day I installed it.

If you don't wanna invest in all the tools and materials to do it the correct and permanent way, you could split the difference by removing the panel, stripping off the old material and bringing it to a shop to re-cover it. Most of the labor is the removal and installation, so just having them cover it should be considerably cheaper. It'd be a professional job and you wouldn't have to buy all this stuff that you'd likely never use again.

Agreed about the spray adhesive--although I've used the 3M spray in my Bonneville's headliner years ago, and it never failed.

 

[mountie]

iamdub has it right.... I had my old truck headliner done by a canvas shop. I did the R&R.

It was cheap for them to do it. AND it was perfect. And they can get the right color.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Agreed about the spray adhesive--although I've used the 3M spray in my Bonneville's headliner years ago, and it never failed.

I was curious about the 3m stufg tends to be pretty legit.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

iamdub has it right.... I had my old truck headliner done by a canvas shop. I did the R&R.

It was cheap for them to do it. AND it was perfect. And they can get the right color.

What did it end up costing? How long did it take them?

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

The head liner in my '05 Yukon XL is a tad more complicated than my (since sold) '88 C2500 reg cab. My sun roof door's material is falling down. I am researching how to get that out & re-covered. I can bet it isn't easy? Or maybe just popping off the plastic trim??

My manual does not even mention the sun roof!!

..Thinking about it, maybe the Service Manual CD does..... I must look.

I have a 2001 tahoe... I got my door off without any issue. I dont reacall how I did it. But I did remove the trim around it. I think it just has some side springs like on a screen window for a house.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[mountie]

What did it end up costing? How long did it take them?

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

Under 75 bucks & 3 day turn around. Remember it was a single cab size.

 

[iamdub]

Agreed about the spray adhesive--although I've used the 3M spray in my Bonneville's headliner years ago, and it never failed.

Yes, if I HAD to use a DIY aerosol type, I'd look at nothing other than 3M's best. But it's still a risk and you'd have to buy so many of them for one of our headliners that it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[CJ Rodarme]

Yes, if I HAD to use a DIY aerosol type, I'd look at nothing other than 3M's best. But it's still a risk and you'd have to buy so many of them for one of our headliners that it wouldn't be worth it.

I second this. Everyone I know uses 3M and they have no issues. Also while you're at it you might consider doing the starlight mod, check my writeup on it lol

 

[Jeff Groves]

Is it gray? Here in NJ we have a fabric store called Joanne's Fabrics. They sell gray headliner material--cheap too.

At JoAnne's it's about $5.99 a yard. I do alot of Joanne jobs so I just saw this price last week.
If I do my headliner I'll replace with a vinyl from Joanne's.
I hate the stock foam backed stuff. The foam is usually what goes bad. Not the glue.

 

[89Suburban]

Agreed about the spray adhesive--although I've used the 3M spray in my Bonneville's headliner years ago, and it never failed.

Yeah the 3M stuff is good. I used it on my Suburban headliner and for the foam in my outboard engine's hood.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Yeah the 3M stuff is good. I used it on my Suburban headliner and for the foam in my outboard engine's hood.

How's it been holding up to the heat? Been in there for awhile?

 

[89Suburban]

How's it been holding up to the heat? Been in there for awhile?

2 years until I sold it, my '91 Burb. The outboard motor cover about 5 months but I been running the balls off it and it seems fine so far.

 

[89Suburban]

Here is some pics of the install in this thread:

https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/suburban-headliner.1408/page-9

 

[Tonyrodz]

Here is some pics of the install in this thread:

https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/suburban-headliner.1408/page-9

Damn good job. Do it alone?

 

[89Suburban]

Damn good job. Do it alone?

Yeah.

 

[PG01]

Yeah.

I know it was years ago but i just read your ‘hole’ thread on gmsquare... good werk brutha. I did a few of my g-bodies, k5’sand pickem ups when i was a yung buck. I swapped the stupid whit 2 hole pattern headliners to the cloth on a few too. I think I bought that headliner material at jcwhitney. And yes i used a shop vac and wire brush, cardboard and duct tape to cover and fix cracks... ahh good times, good times...