Redid the headliner, now I am pimpin :)

[lunarc]

So my headliner, like most E36s was sagging and was once tried to be fixed (very half assed) by the previous owner. I am a person who likes my cars to be as perfect as possible, but money is tight so rather than buy another headliner or have someone else replace it, I read some tutorials on this site and others and decided to dive in and do it myself.

I went to a few fabric stores and didn't find what I wanted. Discouraged and wanting to do this job this weekend I decided to try one last resort. Walmart! Well sure enough the mega store had a fabric department and they even had Microsuede for $3.99 a yard. So, I purchased some sweet grey/blue microsuede for $10.99. I also purchased a couple cans of spray glue (as a backup, I had a half of a can of Super 77) and some plastic spatulas to smooth out the headliner for a $1.99.

So total expense of replacement....
$18.59!

I would say one of the most time consuming parts of the whole thing is removing and installing the headliner without damaging anything. The prep, removal and application of the new cloth was around 2hrs. Overall I think it went very well, while it is not perfect it is sure 100x better than it was before. I do plan on doing the pilars soon but I wanted to do the headliner fist since I had a limited amount of fabric.

Anyway here are some progress pics of the process and the end result!

Ghetto Liner!

Some bad fixing (notice the dimples of where they glued it)




Headliner Out

Yep Staples

Cloth removed almost in one piece

If anyone was wondering the exact size of the cloth 43" Wide

57.5" Long

Glue Removed with wire brush and some "Goof Off"


Tested fabric size (I cut it to 72" long since the suede does not stretch much, and it is the normal 54" wide)


Fabric laid with spray glue


Finished headliner, I did not cut out the lights, oh sh*t handles, I used a razor and cut an X for each hole to allow for a tight fit.


Done and installed!





Let me know if have any questions!

[richbarn2]

looks great

[thedude60126]

Man that looks great and thanks for the pics as I am looking to do the same thing this summer.

[benpegg]

big improvement. did you have to remove any seats to get the ceiling panel out?

[jijacob]

Do the sunroof. It is fairly easy to do, and it makes it look 10x better. There is a DIY in a thread I made somewhere... Otherwise, good job! Microsuede is awesome as a headliner

[lunarc]

Thanks guys!

Yah the sunroof is for sure another project. It was more of a time issue than anything else.

No seats need to be removed, you put them all the forward and lay the backs as far back as you can go. From there it is pretty easy, just make sure not to bend it.

[mxxmikexx1]

looks great! this gives me motivation to finally do mine now. i have a black interior and all the pillars and headliner are gray, and ive always wanted them to be black. I would of never thought walmart would have the material, who would of thunk.,,,

[poni]

Wow, looks great. Nice job, i like the contrast of the hood and sunroof

[WV Jim]

It really does look nice. Excellent job. I actually like the sunroof a different color; they're both light colors, so it's not stark.

Again, good job.

[BMRSEB]

Nice job!!! What did you use to "scrape" off the old glue? Was it really stuck on? You laid out the fabric on the headliner, then sprayed the glue section by section as you smoothed it on?

This should be a Sticky if there isn't one already! Subscribing for a future project!!

[Nacanowhere]

That looks really great! Nice going.... made it look easy.

[M3Rob95]

Looks fantastic with the tan contrast!

Awesome

[93bimmer325is]

looks great...and also a good write-up.

[jasonf860]

Wow, that really IS pimpin!

[18rabbit]

ok two questions:

where can i get a new square piece (one that holds sunroof button)?

Can you put fabric on the sunroof part without removing the headliner? (replaced my headliner but i left the sunroof in 'cause it was in good shape at the time but has since fallen off..) Can i take it out through the roof?

[lunarc]

Nice job!!! What did you use to "scrape" off the old glue? Was it really stuck on? You laid out the fabric on the headliner, then sprayed the glue section by section as you smoothed it on?

This should be a Sticky if there isn't one already! Subscribing for a future project!!

To get off the hard glue, I used a metal bristle brush, and for the remainder I used "goof off" comes in a orange spray bottle, it may be different than other goof off products. It worked great and I made sure to let it dry overnight to make sure there is no moisture left in the headliner before I sprayed the glue.

The way I worked it was dividing up the headliner in quarters and starting in one corner and working my way around. Always work from the middle out, the glue isn't super tacky so you can re-adujst a little bit if you get wrinkles.

[lunarc]

Looks fantastic with the tan contrast!

Awesome

Tan?

I swear it is gray...maybe re-adjust your monitor?

[Goon]

Looks great, not a fan of microfibre though, it always looks messy unless brushed the same way.

Tan?

I swear it is gray...maybe re-adjust your monitor?

Maybe you are the one who needs your monitor adjusted. Did you desaturate your screen?


He's talking about the tan sunroof/visors against the grey headliner.

[kingston]

Great job!! That came out really, really nice! I'll have to do this myself in a few weeks.

[Funez]

Very clean. Looks awesome man. I wish I had the balls to try that, but I know mine wouldn't come out this good

[Bris328is]

DIY-- that rocks-- looks great

[zarbat007]

Do the sunroof. It is fairly easy to do, and it makes it look 10x better. There is a DIY in a thread I made somewhere... Otherwise, good job! Microsuede is awesome as a headliner

IIRC you also did the headliner.
How is it holding so far?

[zarbat007]

To OP:
How did you work out the curves?

And in pic #14, the fabric does not seem to be glued (left side), or its just the pic?

[Top Dogxxx]

nice ... i 'm impressed .. that looks really clean.

i would get the sun roof done, just to have the color match too?

[mywhip]

the two tone is teh hotness....