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In the last year I've had two cars. One (1994 Ford Escort) was sold. Before selling I cleaned it, waxed it, made it look great, I was ready to put the For Sale sign in the window...then the cloth headliner started to sag. It was a large area around the dome light all the way to the rear window. I cut a small slit (about 2 inches) in the middle and tried a spray adhesive, but that held only for 3 days. Also, the cloth was very weak and I couln't pull it to reduce wrinkles, because it tore in my hands just like Kleenex.
My current car (1998 Ford Escort) has a small area that is sagging. I wonder if anyone knows of a good way to fix it permanently.
Find an upholtery shop or an auto customizing place. you can buy the material, and the glue,take the old headliner out,its normally a stiff piece of card board looking material.pull off the old material ,lay the new material over the old head liner,trim it a little longer than needed.then follow the instructions for the spray on adhesive,glue the new material to the old head liner,after letting it drie,trim out any screw holes dome light hole etc.then reinstall it. hope it helps some,and good luck.
In the last year I've had two cars. One (1994 Ford Escort) was sold. Before selling I cleaned it, waxed it, made it look great, I was ready to put the For Sale sign in the window...then the cloth headliner started to sag. It was a large area around the dome light all the way to the rear window. I cut a small slit (about 2 inches) in the middle and tried a spray adhesive, but that held only for 3 days. Also, the cloth was very weak and I couln't pull it to reduce wrinkles, because it tore in my hands just like Kleenex.
My current car (1998 Ford Escort) has a small area that is sagging. I wonder if anyone knows of a good way to fix it permanently.
Buy a new headliner pay to have it installed, very hard to fix and keep it fixed once it's worn so badly
Look for a product called "Saggy Stoppers" by Heads Up. I think I got them at Pep Boys. I used them to fix the headliner in my kid's old car and they worked fine. It certainly doesn't look new but they kept the headliner up nicely and the first person that came to see the car bought it.
Look for a product called "Saggy Stoppers" by Heads Up. I think I got them at Pep Boys. I used them to fix the headliner in my kid's old car and they worked fine. It certainly doesn't look new but they kept the headliner up nicely and the first person that came to see the car bought it.
And if that doesnt work for you. Take it to Tijuana. Friend had his headliner and car seats all re-upolstered in about 6 or so hours. We went to bars, had lunch, did some shopping and picked up the car late afternoon
Here in N.E. Fl.Headliners don't last long when a vehicle sets out in the hot sun for a few years.Headliners start at $69.00 installed.Not a big job at all.There are mobil headliner installers in our area.They can do the job in your driveway.Have had several done in the last few years.Been very pleased will how they turned out.Makes the inside of the car feel new.
I hear smoking in a car can cause the headliner to sag. I don't smoke and have had no issues with headliners in any car I've ever owned, and I have owned some P O Ss.
01Snake +1
There is the "correct" way ($$$$) or the "inexpensive" way. Find yourself some decorative thumb tacks (some are gold; silver; stars; etc.) and just place them in a pattern, this way they look somewhat "proffesional" (?). This method has ALWAYS worked for me when I did it to my Elcamino and S-10. There was still the "sag", but it still looked good and did work. It looked almost like....remember the custom van days? They would pad the insides of the vans using tacks/nails to hold the pad/s in place?
The adhesive has to be a good grade of spray and the surface has too be clean. Then there is cure time; temp. etc. Upholstry shop.....now you're into $$$.
Tacks are cheap.
Have a shop do it.
Or, don't buy anymore Ford Escorts....... (lol)
Basically, how much $ you want to spend.
All the above are my opinions and/or suggestions and not meant to offend anyone. If I did, then to bad.....and get back to work!
Good luck!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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The replacement foam backed headliner material is ~ $15/ running yd and 52" wide; can be had at a decent fabric shop, or a car interior / upholstery supplier
The spray adhesive is $10.00 (3M #08088)
Take out old, use a fine bristled metal brush to clean off the foam residue from cardboard or molded structural foam support piece (the brass brushes for cleaning pans work good)
be gentle, you don't want to bend / break the structure
spray both the headliner and the structure with adhesive (contact cement) let it get tacky,
then with two people, (or long skinny supports) suspend the liner over the structure, making sure you have extra material on edges, start in the center and stick it down, working it to edges and corners keeping tension to avoid wrinkles.
trim edges and reinstall.
Heat and / moisture are tough on these foam headliners. Since I live in a climate w / 100" of rain, and I drive beaters... (28...VW diesels that ALWAYS leak water to interior... usually over the fuse box...) I have had to do several, but never twice in same car.
It is pretty ez to do these, but if I'm keeping the car / truck, I make a vinyl replacement with metal bows, like in the 60's They are a bit more work, but will last forever.
To make these EZ, just sew in a fabric loop where you want to have a bow. I use 1/8" TIG welding rod for bows, as it is straight and tougher than wire. I make sheetmetal clips to hold in the bows, and pop rivet them in, the fabric never touches these points so they don't have to be pretty. Sunroofs add major hassle (~ 4 hrs) to the vinyl process
For the Vinyl, use 3M #08090
Not that I'm a pro... just a hacker that has had to do this a few times, and learned something new every time... It ends up costing ~ $20 and ~ 4 hrs, so if you can get them done for $69 (and you have a job... which I don't...) then you can just pay to get it done.)
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