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easy headliner fix

squidwerd

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Sonora, CA
my headliner sags a lot, to the point of me having to duck when i drive. if i took a staple gun and just stapled it up, would that work? would the staples go into whatever is above the liner and stay? im too lazy to take it off and reglue or whatever is the right way and im not too woried about how it looks inside. tia
-squidwerd
 
I have seen some some clear plastic push pins that were designed for this purpose. I guess they have the appropriate depth to hold the headliner into the board. They came like 20 to a pack. I just can't remember where I saw them. Anyone else? If I think of it I'll pm you or post.
 
Yeah, I used those. I think I got them @ Wal-mart. They are clear plastic screw pins. They work about as well as a regular push pin would work if you can imagine that. Don't waste your money. Staple gun sounds like a good idea. I don't have to duck when I drive yet, but the headliner in the back looks like a flag on a windy day when the windows are down. Anybody else got any suggestions...
 
Ya, the staple gun works. I used desk staples and they lasted for more than a year, just used a lot of them. The material is a sandwich of fiberglass and paper so they hold pretty well. Got tired of it finally after the material started to fall apart and got a couple of yards of off white denim from the $2 a yard table at Wally World and two cans of 3M 77 and just replaced it. Worse time I had was pulling all the staples out of the liner. It's a really easy job. Between your dome light and the passenger's side is where the wires run, might want to be careful near there so you don't short out something.
 
i tried the staple gun with 1/4" inch staples and they wouldnt stick so i got the 1/2" staples and no more ducking. yay. it doesnt look to pretty but niether does my jeep.
 
Guys,

I used the flat metal strips sold to seal vinyl sheet flooring. It about 3/4 to 1 inch wide and is flat. I cut them to lenth then stuck them between the head liner and that top trim piece. You know make a bow out of it.

I had the XJ to a body shop to have some hail dents removed using the paintless dent removal process. The manager looked over the XJ and asked if that was factory.

I choose silver but they also sell them in gold and maybe black. Check at your local home center. Eventually I found a place to do the head liner and the visors for $150, beats the $250 the St Louis guys wanted a year before. You always need to look in the industrials/rougher parts of town, for some reason these headliner places all migrate to there.
 
Long term fix and a customized look

If you have a few hours you can do it this way. I used to do custom van interiors part time back in the early 70's and used purpose built stuff but have found off the shelf replacments.
Stop at a fabric store and pick some fabric you like, buy enough to do the headliner, at the same store pick up some 1/4 or 1/2" foam sheet.
At an office supply store pickup a box of 'Brasstong round head fasteners, 1 1/2" long legs. 100 to a box for a buck or so. I use Charles Leonard Inc part number 6R-BP. Then hit a hardware store and pickup about 50 small washers that the fastners legs will fit thru.

Remove the headliner from the jeep, lay the headliner down on a large picnic table or workbench that you can walk around and strip off the old material, use double sided carpet tape to hold the foam in place on the headliner backer board, trim it with an electric knife at about a 45 degree angle along the edges.
Lay the material out so that it drapes over the edges about 2" or so..
Using a push drill pop a hole in the front center thru the material, backer board, folded over layer of material, put a brasstong thru, slip a washer over the legs, spread them then bend them back, the washer will keep the brass tong from being pulled back thru.
Next to the rear center, same thing, make the material snug, not tight. then do centers of each side, once you have the 4 sides done start filling in the rest. I usually work from the front to the rear. Once you have all 4 edges done put a few in the middle for support there, you can do a decoration or even spell 'JEEP' if you want to :D
Any holes that need to be cut for interior lights cut then in an X pattern then fold the tabs back and hot glue them to the backer board.
Tips:
You can paint the brass tongs any color to match or contrast the material.
Scotch Guard the material if it has not been done already. I have done a couple in urban and woodland camo and that stuff was already treated.
Fancy trim around interior lights can be done with aluminum flashing and can be cut into different shapes :D You can also get medallions, like are used on saddles, from tack shops [place where they sell horse and riding stuff] and can put them infront of the brasstongs
Buy extra material to do the sunvisors, just sew it inside out and slide it over the sun visor like a sock.
If you have the patience and are willing pickup some sail thread at a marine supply store and a heavy sewing needle, instead of just filling the center with brastongs you can sew pleats in it for different effects.
If you want to put reading or map lights in the ceiling now is a good time to hit either an RV or Marine supply store for some aiming type map lights.

You can get a push drill at sears, looke like a screwdriver with different sized bits in the handle, used mostly to predrill molding for walls and doorways and such, works well for this too :D
 
I haven't done this to my XJ but have done it to several cheap commuter cars. Remove the headliner, take off all of the fabric and clean off any loose adhesive. Go to Hobby Lobby or any craft store and find the stone in a spray can. There are severl colors to choose from and it gives it little texture. Spray the headliner, let dry and reinstall. A mid-size car takes about 2 cans so an XJ would probably be about 3-4 cans. Cans are about $6.00 each. So for less than $25.00 you have a new no sag headliner. It holds up pretty well too. I've had it in my car for at least 1.5 years and no flaking at all. Just my $.02.
Aaron
 
headliner replacement

I havent got to that point yet in my rebuild but I am planning on ditching the headliner all together. I plan to make my own out of something like 1/2 inch dense foam covered in the ugly fabric of my choice at the time I get around to doing it, then make it in sections like 1 for the cargo area, and more sections for over the seats. after making the sections i plan to use velcro to put them directly on the roof. I dont think it will b too hard ( but i do have the overhead console to figure out) and i can pull sections if i need to.
 
I did mine two years ago, cost me 70 in parts. Two hours in labor. Just cut a piece of the fabric off the headliner and take it a place to get it matched up. 3M glue, and a screwdriver, job done. Pretty easy. Or go low rent and staple it down. It works to. Juice
 
When I bought my 89, previous owner had obtained approx. 7-8 hardwood staves, finished them natural with a polyeurethane and inserted them into the vinyl edge which runs on each side of the vehicle. I planned to remove it and replace with new headliner, but it was actually kind of charming and gave me that covered wagon effect. Interior is sand colored and the oak color really looks good in there. They cut the staves a little long so that they compress the headliner down the center. Don't have the heart to tear in out.
 
XJTripp said:
When I bought my 89, previous owner had obtained approx. 7-8 hardwood staves, finished them natural with a polyeurethane and inserted them into the vinyl edge which runs on each side of the vehicle. I planned to remove it and replace with new headliner, but it was actually kind of charming and gave me that covered wagon effect. Interior is sand colored and the oak color really looks good in there. They cut the staves a little long so that they compress the headliner down the center. Don't have the heart to tear in out.
coooool dude :)
 
I’m thinking of scraping off all the old junk and having it line-xed. Anyone ever tried that?
 
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