Loose Headliner In My Conversion Van

40 · June 10, 2007, 12:32:36 PM

The headliner just above the driver seat has come loose and has began to sag a bit.It's a very thin cloth-like material attached to what appears to be a foam covered ceiling panel.It is just the thin cloth cover that is separating from the panel.It appears that all I need to do is pull it free and use some type of adhesive to re-attach it.That is my question....What type of adhesive to use that will not bleed thru/stain the headliner.I was at a local show yesterday and a fellow told me they make a spray adhesive that you apply right thru the headliner material????Anyone heard of such a thing or,as I suspect,was this guy smoking his lunch!! I am about to load up the family and head off to the lake for a few days....would really like to solve this issue before I leave.....Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions!

Jokester · June 10, 2007, 01:35:35 PM

The quick and dirty fix is thumbtacks. The real fix is:
1. remove the headliner, board and all.
2. strip the material off, that's the easy part.
3. wire brush the board. Get off all the old foam and glue.
4. apply new foam backed material with the appropriate spray foam adhesive. Do small areas at a time.

It isn't the glue that has failed, it's the foam. No matter what adhesive I've ever used, it never worked on the old material. It's best to remove it all and start fresh.

my 2 cents.

.bjb

donsrods · June 10, 2007, 01:47:06 PM

Jokester outlined exactly what needs to be done. Any other way will not hold up. My headliner came loose in my LTD, and my Son did exactly the routine Jokester said, and it has been up for several years now with no problems.

The worst part is getting the old cardboard down and putting it back up, but on a scale of 1-5 this is like a 2 or 3.

I've done the tack routine in the past...............not the way to go. :oops: :oops:

Don

donsrods · June 10, 2007, 01:50:34 PM

BTW, a guy on another forum just posted this. Thought it might be helpful to you.

I found this adhesive at the local Lowes store , it worked much , much better than the $14 can of 3M adhesive that I bought the day before , this stuff was only $4

rooster · June 10, 2007, 02:23:41 PM

This is not the correct fix but it may buy you some time! I have in the past made some thin headliner bows from thin wood and just shoved them up there just to keep it from getting worse, actually didnt look that bad.

Crosley.In.AZ · June 10, 2007, 03:55:58 PM

Quote from: "Jokester"The quick and dirty fix is thumbtacks. The real fix is:
1. remove the headliner, board and all.
2. strip the material off, that's the easy part.
3. wire brush the board. Get off all the old foam and glue.
4. apply new foam backed material with the appropriate spray foam adhesive. Do small areas at a time.

It isn't the glue that has failed, it's the foam. No matter what adhesive I've ever used, it never worked on the old material. It's best to remove it all and start fresh.

my 2 cents.

.bjb

+1

freddrew · June 10, 2007, 04:35:31 PM

The headliner came down in a Buddies Chev Blazer. It is just a driver so we put it back up with a staple gun. That was a year or so ago and the headliner is still up there. It is not fancy but quick.

Fred Drew

t-vicky · June 10, 2007, 06:02:33 PM

I have used the wooden stripes before. They worked real good. Just cut them long enough so they stay arched.

Sean · June 10, 2007, 06:56:17 PM

They make thumbtacks that look like corkscrews especially for upholstery, I think wally world keeps them back in the sewing/cloth area. I used them on an s-10 blazer several years ago and they held up just fine. You have to "screw" them into the headliner base.

I also remember reading about a spray-on glue that GM, or somebody came up with several years ago. It was especially for that type headliner and you sprayed it right onto the surface of the cloth, then smoothed it into place. Supposedly, after it dried you could vacuum off the remaining residue on the surface. I remember reading about it in the "new products" section of one of the car mags about ten years ago.

I never have found the stuff for sale anywhere though, so maybe it didn't work quite as nicely as they said it did...

phat46 · June 11, 2007, 07:51:48 PM

Make sure that when you buy the spray adhesive that you read the can before you pay for it. 3M makes a couple types, we use one at work to glue foam together and it works o.k. for that, but it will NOT glue headliners up. It even say so on the can, and gives the correct product number of the glue to use.

Rochie · June 12, 2007, 09:14:04 AM

Daryle,
I've done a few of them. Find a good upholstery supply house and buy some new foam backed cloth. Take the hard foam board headliner OUT of the car. Remove the remaining foam cloth carefully so as not to crack the board. Sand or scrape the foam off of the board and make sure it's clean. Use a spray contact cement of your choice or availability to glue the new foam backed cloth on the hard board, wrap the edges with new cloth, glue them down, and re-install.
A man of your talent can handle it NO problem.
Wayne