How do I make this ugly car a little less so?

June 26, 2009 5:43 PM

Has anyone here had any success in reattaching the headliner (ceiling fabric) to their car?

My girlfriend's headliner has totally detached itself from the board and is only held up by the lining around the edge. From what I can find online, it seems that there are no truly cheap and easy ways of fixing this; people suggest removing the whole thing and taking it to an upholstery shop, or stapling the living hell out of it.

Does anyone here have any suggestions that I would not have found yet? It doesn't have to look perfect, but the neater the better. I would consider double sided tape between the board and the fabric, but I'm pretty sure the summer humidity would render it pretty useless.

Thanks all

posted by Think_Long to Travel & Transportation (19 answers total)

A total WAG, but what about spray adhesive?
posted by mollymayhem at 5:47 PM on June 26, 2009

Small tacks work well. Spray adhesive does not.
posted by ellF at 5:49 PM on June 26, 2009

Best answer: The cloth liner is attached to a plastic or hardboard form with a thin sandwich of foam. The foam has deteriorated and let the cloth fall. The only way to fix this cheap is to remove the headliner and scrape all the foam off both the hardboard and the cloth and then use an outdoor, heat rated spray adhesive (get it at a body shop) to hold the two together. Anything you spray in between without cleaning first will just stick to the crumbly deteriorated foam and not hold the cloth up.

Removing the headliner is such a bitch of a job (you've got to remove all the pillar trim) that most people replace the cloth/foam material with new cloth/foam material as the new cloth is only a few bucks a square foot.
posted by Mitheral at 5:54 PM on June 26, 2009

Upholstery tacks! I seem to remember my parents using them for the headliner in an old Mazda we had back in the day.
posted by jenny76 at 6:00 PM on June 26, 2009

Straighten clothes hangars and cut them to a length that fits snugly into either side of the headliner edge trim across the car while holding a slight upward curve by spring tension. Kinda' like installing roof spars in a ragtop.
posted by EnsignLunchmeat at 6:12 PM on June 26, 2009

My old Cadillac suffered from droopy headliner syndrome, and upholstery twist pins were the solution. They twist into the foamy stuff and hold the cloth up. Even grid-like placement helps it look a little better than random placement. But it will still look like a homemade solution.
posted by The Deej at 6:14 PM on June 26, 2009

100% seconding/thirding the upholstery twist pins. You can get them at Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby.
posted by crapmatic at 6:26 PM on June 26, 2009

Go to a U-Pull-It junk yard and try to find the same model, year and color (or a color she could live with) car. Take the headliner.
posted by Loto at 6:34 PM on June 26, 2009

Check around in your more older-car neighborhoods. When I lived in a college town and had a collapsing headliner, there were at least three shops that advertised re-attachment, and they fixed the big bubble in my Celebrity like it was brand new. No idea how they did it, though.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:40 PM on June 26, 2009

Any chance you could scrape out what's still clinging to the roof (tarp the car first, and you'll still have to vacuum) and then redo the roof with a decopage of some spiffy fabric or posters you like or pictures of your dog?

And, yeah, twist pins can help. But they won't stop the dry foam crud dust from floating down from time to time and that is unpleasant.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:47 PM on June 26, 2009

Ditto twist pins. Also ditto "dry foam crud dust".

Ah, I miss my ancient, enormous Grand Marquis.
posted by kestrel251 at 7:01 PM on June 26, 2009

Best answer: I used to have this BANGIN 84 Buick. Total shagmobile, plush seats and the whole works. When its headliner gave up the ghost, I bought enough leopard print fake-fur from Jo-Ann fabrics to cover it, then 3M-spray-adhesived the ceiling (after I ripped down the old top), and rolled w/ a small trim roller on the fur. I mean...does that make sense? Not loose fur...but fabric-faux-fur. It's got a slick back.

Went right up, never ever fell down. Trimmed to fit, it was freaking RADICAL.

Man, I kinda wish I knew where that car was today.

Also, I was 17.
posted by TomMelee at 7:10 PM on June 26, 2009 [2 favorites]

I've used just regular tacks and I do NOT recommend them. Well, unless you want small tacks to pop off while you are driving and land on you or near your behind.
posted by aetg at 8:20 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

For christ sakes, just pay a body shop to do it. It's a common fix - if they can reuse the fabric, you'll pay about $40 or so. More if the fabric needs replaced.
posted by wfrgms at 8:52 PM on June 26, 2009

I had this awful chevy citation that did that, it was kind of like a tent inside. I used refrigerator magnets over the driver's seat to keep the headliner off my head.
posted by lemniskate at 8:55 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: TomMelee, I'll float the leopard print idea by her, it's worth a shot right?

Anyway, the upholstery pins wont work because the foam is all out. I'm going to give the heat resistant spray a shot - someone else tried a normal spray adhesive, but as ellF said, it didn't work.

Thanks all for the good ideas. I know it's a common problem, but there's only so much money I'm willing to put into a dodge shadow
posted by Think_Long at 9:22 PM on June 26, 2009

Before I heard about twist pins, I just ripped out the entire headliner in my old Saab, right down to bare metal. Bad idea- the car got a lot louder and colder.

Do the twist pins. It's easy and I've seen it work on lots of cars.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:14 AM on June 27, 2009

Sometime in the late 80s my father used a whole bunch of color matched push pins to hold up the fabric in our 1979 Ford LTD. Man that car was huge and a beast. Sadly it was wrecked beyond repair by him shortly after I got my license so I never got to test out how cool the cieling (with the very detailed pattern of pins) was with the ladies.
posted by mmascolino at 7:56 AM on June 27, 2009

I know you asked for DIY solutions, but my mother had hers fixed at a detail place for somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 bucks. Having a decent-looking interior probably added that much to the value of the car, so it might be worthwhile.
posted by chrisamiller at 8:48 AM on June 27, 2009