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Anyway to do a custom headliner?

9K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  Motorcharge 
#1 ·
Is there anyway to buy a cool looking fabric (say, from Wal-mart), and make my own custom headliner? Anybody ever done this, how and what all did you use to make it?
 
#3 ·
Take is slow, and be VERY even in the application of the glue. Mine looks terrible, but it's not in your face. :p
 
#8 ·
X2, I changed my tan headliner to a black suede headliner, but make sure you have enough material to overlap at least 2" all the way around, I would do 3 or 4" if I did it again, use a lot of glue mine didnt bleed through, but that could be bc of the material and pull it tight but not too tight, just a tight enough that you dont have any wrinkles

oh and take lots of pics!
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
I just finished mine. I got sick of the headliner getting my hair all staticy on the way to work. (It wasn't a problem until the weather got cold and I put the fishing rods in the garage for the winter.)

I spent about $50 and 2 hours. I used the 3M Super 77 spray adhesive (2 cans) and applied it liberally. I bought headliner fabric from a fabric store. It came 54" wide and I bought 3 yards which left me enough to do the visors. The headliner fabric has a foam backing which turned out to be a huge help in a wrinkle free install.

I also added some FatMat sound deadener/heat shield to the roof before I put the headliner back in. So far it is much, much quieter inside. Hopefully it will dampen some of the wind noise from my 'yak. I dropped about $30 for 25 sq ft on Eb@y. Simple install, just cut it into manageble squares and press/roll it onto the metal.

Couple tips:
1. Definitely use the headliner fabric, the foam forms a better bond with the adhesive(and I don't want to do this every year...)

2. Use lots of glue on BOTH surfaces. Let it tack for a minute and have a buddy nearby to help you lay it onto the backer board.

3. I used Liquid Stitch where the fabric overlapped onto the back. The lady at the fabric store said it was the best adhesive for any type of porous surface. I didn't use it on the whole thing because I was afraid of some bleeding. From what I saw, it didn't bleed through where I used it, though.
 
#11 ·
Make sure your backer board is in good shape too. Mine was all busted up and uneven so the fabric showed all those imperfections. My XJ is a beater and I don't care what the interior looks like as long as the headliner isn't sittingh on my head, so I did it the cheapest way I could. I bought a black bed sheet, a jar of contact cement, and a box of those brass paper fasteners:


I covered the whole thing with the cement, put down the sheet, put the fasteners all along the edge where they're hidden by the trim, and painted some more of the fasteners black and put them every few feet in the middle. It looks like crap, but it's not on my head and it doesn't have condensation like a bare roof, so it's good with me. Oh, and it was $18.XX total.
 
#14 ·
Can anybody suggest an alternate material for the backer board? My jeep didn't have one when I bought it. Fabric was stretched side to side and glued.

Is the stock one cardboard or some other material?

Thanks
Go to the JY and find one in another XJ. Stock one is fiberglass. You could have someone make you one but it would likely be expensive as hell.
 
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