1984 Cougar, 3.8L
Any suggestions for headliner removal so headliner backer board (assume cardboard) is not kinked, bent or destroyed??
Are you asking about removal from the car or removal from the cardboard?
The backing is in fact cardboard.
You're gonna have to remove all of your interior trim that comes in contact with the headliner excpt the portion of trim on the B-pillar. That can be massaged back out of the way.
The top mount for the seat belts has to be removed as well. On the 87-88's this is mounted with a T-50 Torx bolt and I assume it is the same size bolt for an '84.
After that recline both front seats as far as they will go and open both doors fully. Some wiggling will be involved, but it should come out unharmed. This has worked for me 3 times so far;)
Thanks for responses.
Chooglin -- Good Point.
Was thinking of removal but any suggestions regarding removal from cardboard also appreciated?
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V8Demon
Didn't know whether the front or back windshield had to be removed to extract. Why so many reworks?
Any suggestions on best:
1) type of cloth
2) adhesive
3) supplier
Also any stupid mistakes NOT to make!!!
The original appears that it is pleated in a couple of areas so my guess is sewing will be required to make the pleat?
First time the adhesive didn't hold....Last time I changed the color.;)
this is where I bought mine from
http://www.a-lheadliners.com/products.html (http://"http://www.a-lheadliners.com/products.html")
I also had to do mine twice (did not hold ). I will be doing it for the 3rd time. I will use 3m adhesive this time.
On mine (1983 T-Bird) there was no need to sew the pleats,the adhesive is all I needed.
Thanks for the input
An affirmation of that...
Don't forget to remove the overhead light (Cover + 3 Phillips Head Screws). :hick:
I've done it twice so far, One of the times being at a junkyard with a mint headliner, And got it out of the car still in mint condition this way. :D
Not sure about removing it from cardboard... However it looks messy...
The original headliner from my '84 was completely coming down, And the foam is rotting/flaking, I was going to re-cover it until i found the one at the yard.
LOL I love this...the engine size always helps when dealing with the headliner. :)
Just a heads-up...I recommend complete removal of everything around the perimeter of the headliner. All the trim pieces, both sail panels, etc. Here's why...if you leave the sail panels in place, even just loose, there's a good probability that you will snag the new headliner when you're reinstalling it.
Ask me how I know this. :punchballs:
All the other info is correct, what Pauly said works perfectly, but just remove all the panels to be safe.
I actually keep the panels up to act as a second set of hands...How bad was the snag?
That's in the interior and can TECHNICALLY be considered a trim piece!:shakeass: :flame::hick:
While you're at it swap the light to something a little more modern. I swapped one in from a '97 T-Bird. MUCH brighter inside the car now.
To remove from card board...first tear fabric off. Then use a stiff hand held wire brush and use circular motions to remove foam. Use caution not to dig to deep as you will destroy card board. This worked very well for me and this is how the upholstery shop by me recommends doing it. As for adhesive.. do not skimp on price. Be sure adhesive is recommended for light weight fabric. Heavier glues saturate through the fabric..ASK ME HOW I KNOW...LOL
Um, it wasn't pretty. After shelling out cash to have it professionally redone, the last thing I needed was to ruin it upon installation.
Oh well...lesson learned.
I used to do what you said, using it as a second set of hands, but after that incident I rethought that idea. ;)