I fought the headliner and the headliner lost

[ZeGerman]

I was amazed at what I found when I did a Google search on "DIY headliner" and "redneck headliner". Wow. My imagination is clearly limited by my sanity.

There is definitely some crazy stuff out there. Ill be happy with black suede. I know its a dumbest color choice for overloading but the wife likes it.

You really need to consider a bear skin headliner. Grizzly for oak interior; polar bear for grey interior.

Bear skin would be epic! Trip to Alaska anyone. Lets go runs a polar bears day

 

[BILT4ME]

I was thinking black diamond tuck leather for mine...........

Oh. Wait. I have a 96...Never mind........

 

[scottryana]

Well I will be curious to see what you come up with. Are you going to try and go with the rod style headliner or put down some insulation and just contact glue it up? I had my sunroof removed and welded up and I was going to do a glue up headliner but my paint budget went over about $6k so my interior is currently on hold lol.

There is definitely some crazy stuff out there. Ill be happy with black suede. I know its a dumbest color choice for overloading but the wife likes it.



Bear skin would be epic! Trip to Alaska anyone. Lets go runs a polar bears day

 

[ZeGerman]

Well I will be curious to see what you come up with. Are you going to try and go with the rod style headliner or put down some insulation and just contact glue it up? I had my sunroof removed and welded up and I was going to do a glue up headliner but my paint budget went over about $6k so my interior is currently on hold lol.

I am going with a headliner from a later model cruiser. I can't go through the hassle of using the bars and a soft headliner. It's really difficult to get it right.

I will put down some dynamite for sound and vibration as well as a padded mat for thermal insulation.

Closing the sunroof is a good call man. That thing causes too many people too many problems.

 

[mechanist]

I am going with a headliner from a later model cruiser. I can't go through the hassle of using the bars and a soft headliner. It's really difficult to get it right.

I will put down some dynamite for sound and vibration as well as a padded mat for thermal insulation.

Closing the sunroof is a good call man. That thing causes too many people too many problems.

Dynamite will certainly cure any vibration problems you're experiencing.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

We expect a top notch premium designer headliner.

 

[ZeGerman]

Dynamite will certainly cure any vibration problems you're experiencing.

 

[ZeGerman]

We expect a top notch premium designer headliner.

Im going with something slightly simpler. Anthracite Alcantara I just picked up the headliner this afternoon. I do have to say, transporting a headliner in a car its supposed to go in while not attached is a royal pain in the ass!! Good thing it had the sunroof hole. Got some weird looks.

 

[FJRanger]

I'm interested to see how it turns out. Through all my searching I couldn't determine if the swap was possible and talked someone who has taken a many a 80 apart. He said there were missing pieces to make it work. Good luck, I'll be following your progress.

 

[ZeGerman]

I'm interested to see how it turns out. Through all my searching I couldn't determine if the swap was possible and talked someone who has taken a many a 80 apart. He said there were missing pieces to make it work. Good luck, I'll be following your progress.

It looks very promising.As long as you have the pillar trim pieces that is. After some cleaning and putting in some insulation I will be putting it up. Most likely this weekend. I will be filming that bit. I will either succeed, break it, or it does not fit

 

[ZeGerman]

I am tired and frustrated of constantly screwing. Hundreds of screws nuts and bolts. Bagging and tagging. Vacuuming. Steam cleaning. It's one fight after another. But I'm gonna do it right. There have been several times I just want to say fxxx it and just put all the crap back on.

I ordered the sonic decoupled matting as well as the insulation and butyl mats (dynamat) it's arriving Monday.

I have about another hour till I have stripped the final pieces out of this interior and scraped off every bit of foam and other old and brittle insulation materials.

Tomorrow I will give the interior a high pressure steam clean and Monday is the moment of truth. Will all this new crap fit or not.

I for one can't wait to get this s*** done.

 

[ZeGerman]

If anyone needs photos of whatever section while it's all exposed, let me know

 

[MDarius]

Careful with your electrical on that steam cleaning! Hang in there! Every time you get in this vehicle from here on out you will either notice that one place you took a shortcut or step in with pride knowing you did it right. You don't need the ongoing stress and disappointment of doing it wrong. You've got this!

 

[ZeGerman]

Careful with your electrical on that steam cleaning! Hang in there! Every time you get in this vehicle from here on out you will either notice that one place you took a shortcut or step in with pride knowing you did it right. You don't need the ongoing stress and disappointment of doing it wrong. You've got this!

Words that are highly appreciated!! Thank you!!

I got everything done that I wanted to today so I called it quits. I know I have the cleanest cruiser interior out there now According to the wife, the NYC cab driver small is out!! Woohoo!! Mission accomplished.

The steam cleaner is what they call dry steam. Produces very little moisture. Extremely high Pressure and bloody hot! Kills everything. On the HDJ81 there seems to be far less in terms of electronics. Its almost nonexistent.

 

[FJRanger]

If anyone needs photos of whatever section while it's all exposed, let me know

How about the pillars? Do the 95-97 trim pieces clip or snap into the pillars?

 

[ZeGerman]

How about the pillars? Do the 95-97 trim pieces clip or snap into the pillars?

On the pre 95 they glue a piece of foam to the pillar and just wrap the headliner around the pillar. After exposing that there are quite a few boltholes for seat belts etc. On the post 95 they are actual covers that snap into place similar to the trim pieces around the rest of the vehicle.

Initial measurements of the headliner indicate that all the holes line up for the bolts. I need to make a few modifications because I have the compass and altimeter system up there also. I will need to drill one additional hole in each pillar for the pieces. All the other holes line up nicely.

Here is the back side of the C-Pillar trim piece. The bottom clip does not have a corresponding hole. All the others fit nicely. If those are the only issues, then I will be a happy man. We will find out on Monday when everything goes back in the truck.

 

[FJRanger]

Nice! From the way I understood it none of the holes where there. if it's just one on the C pillar then this may be feasible for all of us with the hanger and bow style. What's your plan for the front seat belts, will the 95+ belts with adjustable height work?

 

[scottryana]

Great Job, I will be doing a similar albeit simplified transition to black interior.

 

[ZeGerman]

Nice! From the way I understood it none of the holes where there. if it's just one on the C pillar then this may be feasible for all of us with the hanger and bow style. What's your plan for the front seat belts, will the 95+ belts with adjustable height work?

When I removed the paneling the openings and all holes were there for the seat belts. My rig did not come with the third row and yet the mounting holes for all seat belts are present. My second row seats only cane with lap belts but upon removal of the paneling the mounting holes are all present. The adjustable seatbelt slider thingy is just a surface mount and the panel goes over that. All the holes for that are there. Ill take photos of how the adjustable slider comes together tomorrow. So far I don't see any reason why any bow and hanger headliner can not be upgraded to the newer style of headliner. We will know on Monday for sure.

The new style headliner is not nearly as fragile as people make it out to be. I transported mine for 60 miles just resting on the seats with the headrests detached with my head sticking out the sunroof portion. I removed it alone and loaded it and unloaded it without any issues. Just don't do it in the wind. That thing is freakishly light.

 

[retrofive]

[hijack] Every time I read the title of this thread the earbug hits, LOL [/hijack]