Headliner ?

[AZ78ElCamino]

Ok i have a ? for all those el camino owners out there. My headliner is falling, it is not ripped or damaged any way. The ? is can it just be re glued and if so will it last?

[hotrodelco]

What happens is the foam backing on the material deteriorates and falls apart. The glue did not give up, the backing on the material did. So all there is to glue is dusty foam, doesn't work real well. Also don't use pins to hold the material up, the board is delicate.

[AZ78ElCamino]

so sould i try to re glue it or is that not going to work so i should just buy new headliner

[danktx]

If you glue it will fail immediately. The foam between the backer board and the cloth has come apart and will continue to do so. You can remove the headliner, strip the foam off and glue a new fabric to the backer board or buy a replacement. So do you have time or money?

[OldChevysNeverDie]

Remove the trim around the headliner including the courtesy light and visors. Remove the headliner shell and remove the fabric and "dust" that is left. Clean the shell with a stiff brush being careful not to damage the shell. Repair any damage.

Get the good spray contact cement, sorry, the name escapes me. Coat both the shell and the fabric. Use the whole can and let each coat dry before the next one. Have a patient friend help hold the fabric over the shell and lower the fabric onto it. Once it touches, it stays so be sure of the location. Start in the middle and work your way outwards by pressing the fabric as you go to eliminate wrinkles. If you reuse the original you will have to stretch it a bit. If you are getting new stuff make sure it is at least 6" bigger on each side in case you miss the middle.

The foam backed material is much more forgiving and hides wrinkles better.
Cut new holes for the light and visors with a very sharp knife. Poke, don’t drill, the screw holes thru being careful not to pull the fabric. A soldering iron helps to keep the fabric from ripping by melting the material and acts like a grommet.

Install by reversing the procedure.

Tips:
Buy new clips for the front and rear rails.
Save all the screws, clean and polish them while you got them out.
Clean or paint the trim if needed. You already have it out.
The clips will break when you take down the rails, be gentle so you don't bend them. You may need to cut the clips or sometimes you can pry the prawl to release it from the body work. It is easier to pull it off the rail if you can see it.

Good luck.

[jarhead]

OR.. you can order a NEW headliner that is made of ABS plastic and order the exact color you want. Cost is $250 or so plus new trim clips and shipping. Mine was an exact fit and it took me 30 mins start to finish to remove and replace my old brittle, nasty headliner. This abs headliner is padded and if you ever do want to recover in a different material, the backer is not broken and busted. If you plan on keeping the car, I recommend buying one. My time is more valueable than being able to say "I redid my headliner".. but thats just me. Good luck whichever way you choose.
Headliners El Camino (covered)

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Based on 2 customer reviews

• Retail Price ........................................$241.95
• OPGI Price ........................................$219.99

• Color: Select ColorBlackBriar BrownBuckskinCamel TanCarmine/Flame RedCharcoal GrayClaretDark BlueDark GrayGarnet RedJadestoneLight BlueLight GrayRoyal BlueSaddleSage Green
• Quantity: 123456789101112

Please select an option above to see stock status



Part ID: 99LH0Model Year: 1978-87Sold As: EACHPart Type: R El Camino (covered)

Factory-matched for fit and finish

Available covered or uncovered

Replace your old, worn-out headliner with a new one! Shaped exactly as the GM original, this premium-quality headliner is constructed of rigid ABS plastic designed to fit your El Camino, Malibu or Monte Carlo perfectly. It's finished with a foam-backed fabric identical to the factory and is available in all of GM's original colors. Requires no special tools or skills to install and comes complete with all of the necessary cut outs.
COLORS AVAILABLE: Black, briar brown, buckskin, camel tan, carmine (flame red), charcoal, claret (burgundy), dark blue, dark gray, garnet red, jadestone (green/gray), light blue, light gray, royal blue, saddle or sage green. Please specify color when ordering.

[Wayne Parrish]

Why not just pull it out ,clean the old crap off the shell,go to your local auto upholstery shop and buy you some new foam backed material. You use a spray on contact adhesive like a 3-M product and you'll have it done the right way and very cheap. It takes bout 2 hours to pull,resin, reinstall.

[DONE DEAL DONNY]

My backing was so brittle you could blow on it and it would break!!
I guess it depends on what you have to start with!!
Donny

[Wayne Parrish]

Wow,thats a shame. I guess you could buy a completed shell as cheap as buying a new shell and finishing it yourself.

[darbysan]

Headliner material was $10 at local auto upholstery supply store. Same price for a can of Headliner Adhesive. Jo-Ann fabrics carries headliner material as well- maybe $15. Like Donny says it all depends on the condition of your shell under the existing fabric. It is brittle and fragile, but the corners can be repaired if that is all that is broken.

The same material can also be used to re-cover your visors for a matched look. You can even go crazy and install a garage door opener in the driver's visor

[mrbsa]

Can you tell us more about the garage door opener install. What make? Where did you get it. Do you want to start a new thread? This is the first time I have seen one installed in the visor.

Thanks, Harris

[darbysan]

Harris, there's a couple of pictures in another thread. The Homelink unit was purchased off Ebay for $10. I installed it myself when I redid the headliner and visors. Easy job.

http://www.elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?t=34674

Also some more pic's and info here, toward the bottom of the thread.
http://www.montecarloss.com/communit...424#Post795424

Any questions, just let me know

[Wayne Parrish]

Darbysan, Thanks for the info. I have one of the garage door panels in our Mercury .I need to have two new visors built for my Elcam as they were recovered in the past and poor workmanship.I think I'll run by the Pic N Pull and pick up one of the Gar.Door panels and have it installed also. Thanks for the idea and sharing it. WP