Headliner - Replacements

Replacements

When a headliner fails, it sags or falls from the roof. Repairs may involve tacking or replacing the entire headliner. Heat, humidity, and time rapidly degrade the bond that the polyurethane foam has on the face fabric. As the foam oxidizes and yellows, the fabric-foam bond fails. This failure is more common in cars produced in the 1970s.

Replacing the entire headliner fabric is usually necessary as the oxidized foam can prove nearly impossible to remove from the sagging fabric. To do this one would purchase a headliner replacement kit, headliner adhesive, and a scrubbing brush.

The general process as outlined by most repair guides:

1) Carefully remove the current headliner board.
2) Peel the old headliner fabric.
3) Brush off the old adhesive foam from the headliner board.
4) Glue new headliner fabric and reinstall back into the vehicle.

This also happens to similar vinyl headlining in boats, but with less predictability.