Car-appy paint job
November 24, 2013 1:02 PM Subscribe
We have a 97 Jeep Cherokee, which has two flaws (according to my wife, who is the primary driver). One is the paint job, which is typical for a car of this age- many little scratches and dings from rocks and such, and the other is the headliner (the ceiling fabric), which is descending. We can't afford (nor is the car worth imho), a new paint job, and the headliner issue just makes me shake my...head. Anyway, I was hoping to DIY one or both of these things while I have access to the car between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Any suggestions?
The paint color is a dark blue, which has kind of a purple hue at some angles. It's not red, thank the gods, so it doesn't look 'chalky', more just old, and with the aforementioned scratches and dings. The headliner is light gray, and has pretty well given up the ghost in the past 6 months, so it is attached at the edges, but kind of balloons down.
I've read some older AskMe posts on the headliner thing, but wondered if there was any newer information that might help. Thanks in advance Mefi Mechanics!
The paint color is a dark blue, which has kind of a purple hue at some angles. It's not red, thank the gods, so it doesn't look 'chalky', more just old, and with the aforementioned scratches and dings. The headliner is light gray, and has pretty well given up the ghost in the past 6 months, so it is attached at the edges, but kind of balloons down.
I've read some older AskMe posts on the headliner thing, but wondered if there was any newer information that might help. Thanks in advance Mefi Mechanics!
My friend basically decoupaged her headliner back up with glue and a sponge.
posted by mercredi at 1:11 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mercredi at 1:11 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
My friend used a staple gun on her car ceiling
posted by spunweb at 1:12 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by spunweb at 1:12 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
My friend glued up a tapestry to replace a falling headliner in her Jeep, although that started to fall down too so staples may be better.
Is the issue with the paint aesthetic, or is your wife worried about rust from scratches? For the latter, you can use touch up paint or nail polish. For the former, just enjoy your old ugly car.
posted by domnit at 1:38 PM on November 24, 2013
Is the issue with the paint aesthetic, or is your wife worried about rust from scratches? For the latter, you can use touch up paint or nail polish. For the former, just enjoy your old ugly car.
posted by domnit at 1:38 PM on November 24, 2013
Best answer: The headliner is cheap and easy but time consuming. You need to take it down, which usually involves removing all the trim from the windows up, completely remove the fabric from the backer (mostly done if it's sagging down) and then scrape the deteriorated foam from both the fabric and the backer. Once that is done you can re-affix the fabric to the foam with a spray adhesive like Super77 and then re-install everything.
The upholstery pins will work too but a couple caveats: it'll look a lot better if you layout a nice diamond pattern and bit of hot glue will stop them from vibrating loose.
As for the paint: If the Jeep hasn't been waxed regularly a good paint detailing would help. At a minimum you should thoroughly hand wash the car (cheap dish soap is fine at this stage); dry it; clay bar all the paint to remove contaminants; and then wash the car again and wax. You can easily do this minimum for less than $50. Is you want to spend more time and money and if the clear coat is in rough shape you can add a compounding/polishing step in between clay baring and waxing.
posted by Mitheral at 1:48 PM on November 24, 2013 [3 favorites]
The upholstery pins will work too but a couple caveats: it'll look a lot better if you layout a nice diamond pattern and bit of hot glue will stop them from vibrating loose.
As for the paint: If the Jeep hasn't been waxed regularly a good paint detailing would help. At a minimum you should thoroughly hand wash the car (cheap dish soap is fine at this stage); dry it; clay bar all the paint to remove contaminants; and then wash the car again and wax. You can easily do this minimum for less than $50. Is you want to spend more time and money and if the clear coat is in rough shape you can add a compounding/polishing step in between clay baring and waxing.
posted by Mitheral at 1:48 PM on November 24, 2013 [3 favorites]
The Turtle Wax Scratch Repair Kit is not expensive or difficult to use and does a good job on an older car's less serious scratches.
posted by kmennie at 2:03 PM on November 24, 2013
posted by kmennie at 2:03 PM on November 24, 2013
Look out, if its like the old GMs, there's a ton of foam rubber thats turned to dust above the headliner, ready to dump all over you when it rips loose. Some people install a sunroof, the frame on the inside holds up the headliner (used to be cheaper than new headliner and you get a sunroof). I've also held them up with thin strips of wood that span side to side and bow upward (need to be really springy and just the right length to be forced tight against the roof).
posted by 445supermag at 3:35 PM on November 24, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by 445supermag at 3:35 PM on November 24, 2013 [3 favorites]
Depending on your wife's acceptance (since she's the primary driver), you could always go the art-car route.
Basically, accept that the car is ugly and go from there. Anything from freehand-painting designs on the entire body to attaching whatever totchkes (dolls, coins, sports trophies.....) strike your fancy. An easy and easily-changeable version is to collect a lot of bottle caps, insert magnets into them and then lay them out in fancy patterns.
posted by easily confused at 3:57 PM on November 24, 2013
Basically, accept that the car is ugly and go from there. Anything from freehand-painting designs on the entire body to attaching whatever totchkes (dolls, coins, sports trophies.....) strike your fancy. An easy and easily-changeable version is to collect a lot of bottle caps, insert magnets into them and then lay them out in fancy patterns.
posted by easily confused at 3:57 PM on November 24, 2013
There are plenty of youtube video tutorials for replacing a headliner. The foam padding will have disintegrated, which is why it's falling, and should be completely removed. One problem with gluing things to a ceiling is holding it in place while the glue sets. Ask your friends in IT for any strong magnets you could borrow.
When I had an older car that needed a paint job, I found the really cheap guy who does an adequate job and was reasonably cheap. Or, there may be an auto repair program at a technical school who will do it cheap, but on their schedule.
Also, detail the inside - every now and then I super-clean my car, getting into nooks and crannies, vacuuming thoroughly, maybe rent an upholstery cleaner for the seats, etc., and it just makes it so pleasant. It's seldom really dirty, but having it really sparkle is nice. (carry windex and paper towels - when you're stuck waiting for a late plane, you have a useful task).
posted by theora55 at 4:18 PM on November 24, 2013
When I had an older car that needed a paint job, I found the really cheap guy who does an adequate job and was reasonably cheap. Or, there may be an auto repair program at a technical school who will do it cheap, but on their schedule.
Also, detail the inside - every now and then I super-clean my car, getting into nooks and crannies, vacuuming thoroughly, maybe rent an upholstery cleaner for the seats, etc., and it just makes it so pleasant. It's seldom really dirty, but having it really sparkle is nice. (carry windex and paper towels - when you're stuck waiting for a late plane, you have a useful task).
posted by theora55 at 4:18 PM on November 24, 2013
Best answer: Us a paint roller and Rust-Oleum! Go ahead and google painting a car with Rust-Oleum, there's plenty of other links, too. The original link has info on how the paint job lasted for three years. Can't beat the price. I got the idea to roll a rusty old horse trailer from this site, and it turned out fantastic. The secret is in the prep work, of course, and using multiple coats.
posted by BlueHorse at 6:30 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by BlueHorse at 6:30 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I started the headliner replacement on my '94 Grand Cherokee and it was such a pain in the butt that I just... left it out. Bare metal roof inside, no plastic trim over the pillars, no dome light, nothing - and I like the way it looks!
posted by nicwolff at 10:01 PM on November 24, 2013
posted by nicwolff at 10:01 PM on November 24, 2013
Best answer: Rattle can flat black looks pretty awesome on that vintage of Cherokee, if she likes the stripped-down badass look.
posted by the big lizard at 10:49 PM on November 24, 2013
posted by the big lizard at 10:49 PM on November 24, 2013
Best answer: Get some strong magnets* and use those to hold the headliner in place. They'll be visible but it will be better than having it sag down and it's a nice cheap quick fix!
And yes, paint roller pantjobs... they work. I've painted a van with a Hammerite-type of paint and it looked cool. Be sure to use plenty of masking tape and clean the car well before you start, and you can't really go wrong.
*If you want them to be free: use the magnets found inside a computer hardisk. Those are crazy strong.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:23 AM on November 25, 2013
And yes, paint roller pantjobs... they work. I've painted a van with a Hammerite-type of paint and it looked cool. Be sure to use plenty of masking tape and clean the car well before you start, and you can't really go wrong.
*If you want them to be free: use the magnets found inside a computer hardisk. Those are crazy strong.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:23 AM on November 25, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks for all the advice! Considering the condition of the headliner, I'm probably gonna go with nicwolff's solution and just take it out. And, wow, I'm totally going to try the rustoleum thing, with flat black since she's always wanted a car with a matte black finish!
posted by PlantGoddess at 6:00 AM on November 25, 2013
posted by PlantGoddess at 6:00 AM on November 25, 2013
To get the trim off the B pillars you'll need to remove and replace the seat belt hardware with a socket-wrench bit like this.
posted by nicwolff at 4:13 PM on November 30, 2013
posted by nicwolff at 4:13 PM on November 30, 2013
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