replacement headliner

anyone know where i can get a OME headliner? Im lookign at a cherokee but it is missing its headliner. tahnx.

Check around your area for someone doing a "Cherokee Chop" - that would be a source for cheap.

Also, you can crawl the boneyards for an XJ within the same year range (1986-1986, 1987-1996, 1997-2001,) but two-door or four-door is a non-issue otherwise. Get the headliner board (take it out through the rear would be easiest,) and Google "headliner material" or somesuch to find a new covering and instructions.

I'd tell you more about doing the job, but I haven't done it myself yet. I've got a few that I need to do tho - and there are other writeups out there already (some are even here!)

Again - it does not matter if you get a headline board from a two-door or a four-door, they are both the same. This is directly from the OEMR catalogues - they only list differences because they come already covered with different colours. Just stick to the year brackets (they may ALL be the same, but I haven't checked that out yet, so let's not worry about it too much. The brackets are pretty big anyhow) and you should be fine.

5-90

Are you looking for the board or the fabric?

If your looking for the fabric go to a local fabric shop and pick a flavor you like. I chose some tan felt material to match my interior, then I used some 3M adhesive spray and removed the old favric and glued the new one straight to the board. Trimmed the edges and its been up there for two years with no problems.

TORX

Jo-Anne Fabrics in MD sells actual Headliner Material, its the same look and feel, with the foam backing. They usually have a half dozen colors in the most common nuetrals that are used for headliners.

You just need to get the backing board which is shaped to the ceiling.

Install just like Torx suggested, I'd only add to have some helpers to drap the material over the board with the glue applied, so its all flat and pulled tight. Once the material is layed over the board, pat the material down (push down and lift your hand up vertically) DO NOT run your hand along the material, it will bunch up and the glue will grab it with big wrinkles.

thanks for the tips guys. i will look into the write up 5-90.

Cool - when you find it, could you let me know? No point in reinventing the wheel, and I'm not in that big a hurry (I've got to get rid of a sunroof first...)

You can pretty much put anything you want on the headliner board - once you've got a board in good condition. You'll just have to make sure it will fit across, or that you can have it sewn together neatly, and it might help to "pre-shrink" it before you try to stick it down.

There are some good ideas out there - I just don't remember what they are! I've been tossing around the idea of finding/having a large map printed on fabric, and using that (I collect maps...)

5-90

I have a gray headliner out of a 97 limited XJ. Just a plain headliner, no sound bar contours. Send me a pm if interested.

There is a place on the web that sells headliners. Just google headliners. I think it cost $40. I replaced the headliner on the MJ. It was a pain getting the headliner board in and out, might be easier on an XJ. On the MJ I had to loosen and/or take off most of the plastic trim pieces. On my 88 MJ the headliner board was starting to fall apart. The key to doing it right is to get all the old stuff off of the board, which is a pain when it is falling apart. I hate gluing stuff, and it was also a pain. Pretty sure the kit had directions which I followed, and I had a good result, except for broken plastic trim pieces. Little impatient putting it back in. :gonnablow

Fred

I used some cheap fabric on clearance a Jo-Anns that was $1.49 a yard instead of $18/yard for the headliner material. It's the same material that thermal underwear is made of in light grey. I used a wire brush to get all the old foam off the board and then used 3-M spray adhesive to apply the fabric. It came out looking pretty good. Took maybe 2 hours to remove, recover, and then reinstall - not including the time to let the glue dry.

Ok, these are all good tips, but after tlaking to the owner, the entire headliner, board and all is missing so i will be looking for teh compay Fred mentioned. I will also have to hit up the junkyard for a baord in decent shape.

The backing board for headliner is pretty rough, the actual headliner material with the foam backing fills in the roughness and the material on the interior side looks very smooth.

SO, if you use regular fabric, that has NO foam backing, does the roughness of the backing board show thru?

Check out stockinteriors.com

I don't know. Since I'm planning on coating the board with polyurethane resin (usually used with fibreglas matting,) I'll be able to clean it up rather well anyhow.

I'd imagine it would otherwise depend on the fabric you choose and the installer (you) - and how much preparation gets involved.

Another reason for my using resin on the headliner board, apart from stiffening and surface finish, is so that I can nail down "spreader" panels, and clip small stuff to the ceiling. That would have it out of the way, but close enough to be handy when I need it. All light stuff - less than two pounds per square foot - but stuff I'd like to be able to get to in a hurry, and not have to look for when I need it.

5-90

Rick Anderson said:

The backing board for headliner is pretty rough, the actual headliner material with the foam backing fills in the roughness and the material on the interior side looks very smooth.

SO, if you use regular fabric, that has NO foam backing, does the roughness of the backing board show thru?

Click to expand...

I used just the thin fabric on mine and you can see some of the little dimples and waves but for the most part it blends really well. I put a headliner in a blazer this past weekend using the foam material and it turned out very nice. It was smooth with no wrinkling and went on a lot more trouble free. Unfortunately, it cost him $75 for the material verses my $18.

TORX

Here' my headliner project:

http://homepage.mac.com/johnvito/PhotoAlbum37.html

If I had to do it again I'd add fiberglass fabric as I cracked it in two small areas while installing it...mainly by the sunroof area. But afterwards I just patched and painted the problem areas.

5-90 said:

I'd imagine it would otherwise depend on the fabric you choose and the installer (you) - and how much preparation gets involved.

Click to expand...

And... by all means... DO the proper preparation!

I had the headliner fall in my '84 Oldsmobile a decade ago... and I did all the work to pull the trim, wrestle the board out of the car (likely easier in a hatchback SUV than a sedan!)... did minimal prep work (picked off the obvious loose clumps of foam... and re-used the partially-foamed cloth)... then put 'er all together with the recommended spray adhesive.

Lasted two weeks.

I was NOT a happy camper!

Then I came up with the idea that... hey!... this is an Oldsmobile... so tufted-cloth upholstery would not be out of place. I bought some THUMBTACKS in the appropriate color, worked out a pattern, and tacked it back up.

That lasted a few days ... when I found a thumbtack lying (pin UP, of course) on my seat. A few others followed.

Spent an hour or so pulling each thumbtack... putting on a drop of superglue gel, and pressing them back in. Problem solved, until I got rid of the car a year later....

Den
Redneck Mechanics 101...