Roof Lining

The roof lining in my Mk1 has come away from the cork backing. Can I just "re-glue" it or does it need replacing? And if I do replace it can I use one out of a MK2? - the lining looks similiar shape and size

Thanks in advance for your help guys



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1988 Cherokee 4x4 Laredo, 4L, and it's basically stock

Cork Backing? The Roof Liner is a fibrous material flexible shaped board, haven't seen any cork in it. You shouldn't see any cork.

There is the board, that has "hood liner" cloth glued to it. The "Hood Liner" cloth is the flexible cloth with a thin layer of cushioning foam attached to the back.

Usually the thin layer of cushioning foam breaks down and lets the cloth portion sag. You can go for the cheap/ugly/quick fix and just poke some tiny holes and spray some adhesive in the sagging portions and push it back up. Since the cushioning foam is all gone, your bound to see all the cracks/imperfections, plus put in wrinkles, etc. It will be ugly, but get the cloth up and out of the way.

You can take the whole headliner down, board and all, strip it and re-glue new fabric on it. That takes a whole afternoon, but looks much better.

You can find hood liner fabric at any big fabric store/outlet. I got enough to do my roof for $30 at Jo-Ann Fabrics.

You could use cheaper clothe if you choose, but it won't have the layer of cushioning foam behind it. That cushioning foam hides all the imperfections on the backing board, that will show up with regular cloth. Plus the cushioning foam gives the headliner that nice feel to it, regular clothe might not only look bad, it also may feel a bit rough and stiff to the touch.

Here's the how-to and the place to buy.

http://www.wlsheadliners.com/tutorials/cherokee/

Make sure you have enough adhesive. Buy at least 4-5 cans, follow instructions.

You can buy pretty much any fabric but for the factory look go with their stuff. I did mine and it worked well.

Or you can pull the headliner out as well as the backer, pickup some 1/2" thick foam sheet, material of your choice. Clean the old stuff off as smooth as you can, lay the new foam over it but bevel cut the edges with an electric knife. I don't like glue so I used a bunch of those split tail paper clips, the ones that look like rivet that you hold a bunch of papers together with. I run them every 4" or so all the way around keeping it tight, all across the front and back then both sides, then when the edges are nice an secure I put a bunch in the center field. The 1/2" foam helps with both sound and temperature..
I use one of those hand push drills that most people use for wood moldings. Then I run the brass tack thru, put a washer over the back side, bend the pins apart flat then bend them halfway back, keeps them from pulling back thru and the washer keeps it from pulling thru the backer board. I also double up the material on the backside.

Cheers guys,

as for 'cushioning foam' this definately has disolved - no trace of it. I actually thought it had been glued directly to the backing board, which to me looks and feels like cork (I'll have to investigate this further). Never had to do something like this to any of my vehicles b4 so I'm in virgin territory. Thanks for the link paradisexj, that's exactly how mine looks when there is moisture in the air, other times it shrinks and is quite torque and around the edges it appears a bit short. Looks like replacement will be the only option...

I see, you've only probably seen the corner or tiny spot of the backing board, its close in color to cork. If you pull off all the material, you'll see what I'm talking about, its something like cloth/fiber pressed tightly together, flexible but rather stiff.