[SS427]

Today was headliner installation day. I usually like to stay home for these. LOL First thing people need to remember is to route their dome light wiring. Forget that and it will ruin your whole day. Cover the floor in padded blankets or towels as well as any part of the body that is exposed so no glue gets on it. I also cover the dash area.

From there it is really a matter of getting the headliner very warm prior to installation (hard in March) and to stretch it evenly, carefully and slowly. Make sure you use a quality commercial glue and NOT one from a spray can. None of them work. We use both a steamer and a heat gun to help remove any wrinkles and crease marks from shipping though laying it out in the sun before installation works best. Be careful with the heat gun to not apply too much heat. This will not only over stretch it but will gloss up the black headliner in the area that received too much heat. Caution must also be taken with a steamer to not get it too wet or over steam it.

We cut some used headliner side molding trim into many short pieces about 4" long to use as clamps when gluing. Office spring clamps also work well but do tend to get in the way. After everything is up and glued then I replace the pieces with the stock moldings to help hold everything in place but this cannot be done until the sail panels are in place.

I reused the factory insulation pad under the package tray as it was still in good shape and simply glued it to the replacement package tray.

The said panels are usually the worst. I always order mine as non glued pieces. I then slightly dampen the cardboard and place it gently roll it over a large piece of PVC tubbing to give it a slightly bowed shape. Then I let it sit overnight with a weight on the center and propped up on the outer edges to retain the shape. Once it has taken a set and has dried I then gun spray glue the headliner material to them. This will allow the sail panels to conform to the C-pillars without the headliner material bubbling due to you trying to curve them after they have been glued. During installation I glue Velcro strips to the face of the C-pillar as well as the back of the sail panel. This will then hold the C-pillars to the shape you made them in. Todays installation took about 3 hours.

Weather permitting, roll the car outside in the sun, close the windows and allow it to bake the interior especially on a very hot day. This will pull the headliner even tighter and remove any small wrinkles and creases not already removed. If you recovered you seats, have them in the car as well as the heat will do the same thing to them. Hope this was helpful.

Note: The black tape holding the intermediate wiring harness to the floor was only done so that it did not move around while we put the headliner in.