THat's a grainy picture of the headliner in the Accord.
It's vinyl.
It's gouged and nasty and covered in sticky 80's vinyl mess.
It's apparently really hard to remove (like, remove-the-dash hard) and vinyl is expensive anyway.
How do I fix this in situ? I essentially am looking for a bondo/sand/paint for my headliner. Does it exist?
Could you cover it with something like non-slip toolbox liner like this:
I don't know if they make it in a wide enough roll to be able to do it as one sheet, but you could probably put a little heat in it to get it to conform and then use Liquid Nails or something like it to bond it to the existing nastiness.
Maybe a sheet of vinyl wrap? The carbon fiber look stuff is pretty thick and can hide a multitude of sins.
Oh, what about just getting a length of vinyl from a fabric store and using it to cover?
Is removal really that difficult?
I bought a partial roll of vinyl at a fabric store closing sale (Jo-Ann IIRC), I swear it was the identical vinyl an upholstery shop redid the headliner in my old Cramit. I used it on an XJ headliner and was pretty easy after removal.
In reply to fasted58:
Opinions vary, but essentially there are lots of weird clips and such, and the A and B pillar trim has to come off, and some trim levels differ. I am pretty sure I'll break it all, as that plastic is all super old.
Jo-Ann's is the place to go for cheap headliner materials. Just take your time, look things up on the internet, and carefully pry or pull the parts off. It's nowhere near as hard as removing a dash
mad_machine wrote: Jo-Ann's is the place to go for cheap headliner materials. Just take your time, look things up on the internet, and carefully pry or pull the parts off. It's nowhere near as hard as removing a dash
I didn't mean to draw a parallel between that and pulling the dash, I meant to say that one of the set of "instructions" on how to pull the headliner started with pulling the dash, which seemed incredible.
Clips are pretty cheap if a few break. Take your time. Once it's out it's not that hard
I think the problem with Honda trim of this age isn't that the clips break, it's that the plastic tabs that the clips attach to break. Once you take the trim off it'll never go back up as well as it is now. I don't have a solution for the headliner, but I can sympathize with your plight.
mazdeuce wrote: I think the problem with Honda trim of this age isn't that the clips break, it's that the plastic tabs that the clips attach to break. Once you take the trim off it'll never go back up as well as it is now. I don't have a solution for the headliner, but I can sympathize with your plight.
Yes. I really don't want to touch it. If there is a putty/spray idea, I'm all for it.
Plasti-dip w/ stipple roller?
Hmm, seems like a coating would work. Plasti-dip, truck bed liner, something. Test a small area and see if it sticks first. Cover your seats with plastic and wear a disposable tyvek suit from amazon. And wear gloves and safety glasses!
and keep your hootis covered!
Wrap it? Why wouldn't that work? It would cover the ugly, cheap, done with the headliner in place, and should stick even better with it being covered in sticky already.
I can't imagine trying to vinyl wrap the headliner in place. I have a cramp in my neck just thinking about it. I've never vinyl wrapped anything, but I can't imagine that being a painless process.
I would try something like this. A little taping and cleaning with acetone.
Fabric paint or dye?
Dusterbd13 wrote: Wrap it? Why wouldn't that work? It would cover the ugly, cheap, done with the headliner in place, and should stick even better with it being covered in sticky already.
I'd try it I guess. I've never wrapped anything before. Maybe a friendly GRMer has a scrap of something suitable?
cdowd wrote: vinyl paint I would try something like this. A little taping and cleaning with acetone.
I like this idea
mad_machine wrote: and keep your hootis covered!
It's rare that I work in the garage naked. It's happened, but not that often.
I don't know that I'd bother trying to spray paint onto something that dirty, etc with holes in it. I don't see this working out nicely without pulling the headliner. My 2 cents.
if you are going to paint it.. go to the junkyard and look at other accords and cut into a managled headliner. I bet the base is a loose glassfibre mold. You should be able to pull all the vinyl and padding with it in place and smooth it out and paint it up
Spray glue and shag carpet should cover the imperfections pretty well. Wether that's an improvement or not only you can judge.
mad_machine wrote: if you are going to paint it.. go to the junkyard and look at other accords and cut into a managled headliner. I bet the base is a loose glassfibre mold. You should be able to pull all the vinyl and padding with it in place and smooth it out and paint it up
I've only seen one of these in a junkyard ever.
pres589 wrote: I don't know that I'd bother trying to spray paint onto something that dirty, etc with holes in it. I don't see this working out nicely without pulling the headliner. My 2 cents.
I was thinking of filling the surface and getting it clean and smooth first. Not sure it's the best idea still though.
How/why do West Coast Customs and OVERHAULIN' etc al make it look so damned easy?
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