DIY Headliner for Dummies

[FLGladiator]

Just ordered 2 yards of black pebble vinyl. Home depot tomorrow for the rest. Great write up.

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[AstroZombie]

@Texan and anyone else who did this a year ago, How has it tested over some time?

 

[Texan]

@Texan and anyone else who did this a year ago, How has it tested over some time?

The velcro tape I got off of Amazon with the double sided adhesive is my biggest fail on this. The velcro itself is crazy strong, but the adhesive is terrible even in moderate heat. I need to try a different brand velcro.

 

[Pedal Metal]

Well done! I almost hate to admit it, but based on the title, I sorta thought these headliners would be mounted on the floors.

 

[Lunentucker]

I've been considering trying it with boom mat.
Design Engineering 050130 Boom Mat Under-Hood Thermal Acoustic Lining, 32" x 54" x .75" (12 sq. feet) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055VTOBA/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_BMG4F3XN7TYH1DCS7PJE

 

[SYPER]

New guy being "the bearer of bad news" never goes over well, so here goes nothing lol

Observation: In a past life building Star Wars suits, i worked with Velcro and i can say with absolute certainty (99.999999%) that all adhesives used by Velcro manufactures today will fail at some point, normally after the first year to two year mark depending on when the adhesive was made and the heat and humidity levels in your area. The chemicals used in the adhesives for some reason over time breaks down and separates becoming a sticky mess that wont hold up anymore.

Solution: if you are still wanting to use Velcro, buy only sewing Velcro and use black PDR hot glue sticks as the adhesive element on the backs of the Velcro. PDR hot glue is by far the strongest hot glue you can buy on the market and is currently used in autobody as a paint less dent remover instead of the old suction cup attachment used in the past. The sew on Velcro and PDR hot glue combination are a little more work, ok a lot more work but it has never failed me ever...

Hope this is helpful to at least one fellow JT person out there

 

[Texan]

Thanks for the suggestion!

New guy being "the bearer of bad news" never goes over well, so here goes nothing lol

Observation: In a past life building Star Wars suits, i worked with Velcro and i can say with absolute certainty (99.999999%) that all adhesives used by Velcro manufactures today will fail at some point, normally after the first year to two year mark depending on when the adhesive was made and the heat and humidity levels in your area. The chemicals used in the adhesives for some reason over time breaks down and separates becoming a sticky mess that wont hold up anymore.

Solution: if you are still wanting to use Velcro, buy only sewing Velcro and use black PDR hot glue sticks as the adhesive element on the backs of the Velcro. PDR hot glue is by far the strongest hot glue you can buy on the market and is currently used in autobody as a paint less dent remover instead of the old suction cup attachment used in the past. The sew on Velcro and PDR hot glue combination are a little more work, ok a lot more work but it has never failed me ever...

Hope this is helpful to at least one fellow JT person out there

New guy being "the bearer of bad news" never goes over well, so here goes nothing lol

Observation: In a past life building Star Wars suits, i worked with Velcro and i can say with absolute certainty (99.999999%) that all adhesives used by Velcro manufactures today will fail at some point, normally after the first year to two year mark depending on when the adhesive was made and the heat and humidity levels in your area. The chemicals used in the adhesives for some reason over time breaks down and separates becoming a sticky mess that wont hold up anymore.

Solution: if you are still wanting to use Velcro, buy only sewing Velcro and use black PDR hot glue sticks as the adhesive element on the backs of the Velcro. PDR hot glue is by far the strongest hot glue you can buy on the market and is currently used in autobody as a paint less dent remover instead of the old suction cup attachment used in the past. The sew on Velcro and PDR hot glue combination are a little more work, ok a lot more work but it has never failed me ever...

Hope this is helpful to at least one fellow JT person out there

 

[Darel]

New guy being "the bearer of bad news" never goes over well, so here goes nothing lol

Observation: In a past life building Star Wars suits, i worked with Velcro and i can say with absolute certainty (99.999999%) that all adhesives used by Velcro manufactures today will fail at some point, normally after the first year to two year mark depending on when the adhesive was made and the heat and humidity levels in your area. The chemicals used in the adhesives for some reason over time breaks down and separates becoming a sticky mess that wont hold up anymore.

Solution: if you are still wanting to use Velcro, buy only sewing Velcro and use black PDR hot glue sticks as the adhesive element on the backs of the Velcro. PDR hot glue is by far the strongest hot glue you can buy on the market and is currently used in autobody as a paint less dent remover instead of the old suction cup attachment used in the past. The sew on Velcro and PDR hot glue combination are a little more work, ok a lot more work but it has never failed me ever...

Hope this is helpful to at least one fellow JT person out there

Well, I came home after a few months away and found that indeed the Velcro holding up the headliner in my top hanging in the garage has indeed given up the ghost. Came off the insulation material I used to make the headliner, but still seems well attached to the top itself. I'll have to get myself some PDR glue.

 

[TDOGG]

While this is a great starting tutorial, my experience was different. My #1 beef with this setup is that the foil backed insulation board is great in theory, but it interferes with the Sirus XM antenna. I drove around for 2 days before I removed the rear sections and make them shorter so they do not cover the roll bar/speaker area where that antenna is located. Also the foil backing makes it way harder for any adhesive to stick to begin with. If I did it over, I would just use regular foam board, no foil lining.

 

[Darel]

Redid my headliner before I put the hardtop back on a couple weeks ago. I too had noticed the Sirius reception was HORRIBLE with the hardtop on, so I bought the same foamboard from Lowe's, but peeled the metallic film off. I then bought sew-on velcro and attached it with the black PDR hot glue as mentioned above. While it's a long time before it sees warm temps again here in PA, I feel like I'd tear the panels to pieces just trying to remove them. I'm going to call it good.

One other thing I did, that I wish I'd done before, is left a "tail" of headliner fabric (in my case, McMaster-Carr "loop side" velcro sheets, for hanging all my patches on) hanging off the aft section of the rear seat panels. I then removed the plastic trim from the hardtop over the rear window, laid the "tail" of excess fabric in there, punched a couple holes for the trim tabs, and now the panels are physically held up in the front by the soundbar, and in the back by the plastic trim panel. No possible way the rear hardtop panels can fall now, I probably didn't even need to glue them up. There's obviously no way to mechanically hold up the freedom panel...er....panels, so we'll see how they're doing with new glue and velcro in the spring.

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