How to Repair Your Car's Glued In Headliner

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By maddiemom6
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating: (4 Ratings)

A new headliner can make your car look years younger and fresher.

A saggy or ripped headliner can make it hard to feel good about your car. The fix is not all that hard so why not give it a try?

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

headliner kit or headliner fabric
correct foam safe spray glue or contact cement
average tools
a smidgen of patience

Step 1

Automotive upholstery repair while not as simple as falling off a log is well within the ability of most DIY types. Saggy or ripped headliners can be one of the biggest frustrations to car owners but they can also be one of easier things to fix. Most supplies can be found at your local automotive supply store and possibly your local large fabric store.
Step 2

Accurate assessment of the situation is important to a good outcome with this project. If you are dealing with a small ripple or bubble in the headliner you can try to see if a bit of injected glue will get things securely back in place. You can use a glue injector which can be found at most craft and hobby stores to shoot some glue through the header and then hold the headliner in contact with the roof until the bond has grabbed.
Step 3

If your liner is to saggy or ripped in a way that glue is not going to do the job it's time to consider a full replacement. This can mean either purchasing a factory made headliner kit or checking your local fabric store for headliner material. In either case make sure to take accurate measurements, this is critical.
Step 4

Depending on your model of car your headliner will either be glued in or held in place by some sort of tension system. In this article we are dealing with glue in liners. As you remove the old headliner now is the time to take note of how yours is installed. A digital camera is one of the best way to record detail specific to your car.
Step 5

Now is a good time to remove dome lights, suit hangers and anything else that is attached to the ceiling and liner. As you take down the old liner it might come down in one easy piece or it might take some careful scraping.
Step 6

Begin in the center and carefully glue in the liner watching to keep things smooth but not over stretched.
Step 7

Make sure raw edges are secured under trim. Replace trim.