Pat Quadlander

Not having done this job, I imagine that the headliner fabric has hidden
sleeves that slide over stiff suspension "ribs" fastened to car ceiling,
and/or the fabric is otherwise pasted up to the ceiling or stiff suspension.

Whatever the skeletal structure, a small needle puncture in the fabric at
the lowest sagging point of the drooping headliner will allow one of those
small plastic straw barrels to poke through, attached to aim a spray
adhesive (several 3M brand products and other brands) to shoot a thin and
spotty sheet of glue up between the headliner and its support system. You
may even have a few/several very small and unseen puncture points if you
have several droops or droop is very large area. When tacky enough to hold,
firmly wedge some flexible objects up against the headliner in several spots
for the recommended curing period. Pick a glue that does not break down and
fail under seasonal changes (record heat or cold temperatures in your area).

Mind you, I've not tried this. Prob'ly very unprofessional, but what do you
have to lose?


"James Sweet" <jamessweet@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:YIsWd.56502$uc.53740@trnddc03...
>
> "Roger Levy" <rhl@i3e.org> wrote in message
> news:42kWd.69462$8a6.29701@trndny09...
> > I'd like to follow up on two concerns cited by James and Michael. I
> > have an 87 740GL sedan with auto, 159K miles, that I've owned 5+ years.
> > It's running very nicely but it has two problems I'd like to fix. 1)
> > The roof liner is sagging in the rear, and 2) last week I flicked on the
> > high beams and the car immediately downshifted! I flicked them on and
> > off a few times and the car downshifted each time then it stalled while
> > traveling at 40 MPH. BTW, the car had an alternator problem several
> > weeks ago which I fixed by replacing the brush/regulator module and the
> > battery was fully charged when the stall occurred.
> >
> > You guys said the liner and wiring harness are tough problems. I'm
> > guessing that the high beam issue indicates a short. Do you have
> > recommendations?
>
>
> The wiring harness is easy, it can be changed in a couple hours if you
take
> your time, no special tools needed.
>
> The headliner is a several days project, hardest part is getting it in and
> out without breaking it. When they made the car they put it in before the
> windshield or back window were in place, it can be done without taking out
> the glass but it's not easy, you'll have to bend it so far you swear it's
> gonna snap.
>
>

Michael Pardee

"Pat Quadlander" <pquadlander@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:M9mdnX8-U7LOB7bfRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
> Not having done this job, I imagine that the headliner fabric has hidden
> sleeves that slide over stiff suspension "ribs" fastened to car ceiling,
> and/or the fabric is otherwise pasted up to the ceiling or stiff
> suspension.
>
> Whatever the skeletal structure, a small needle puncture in the fabric at
> the lowest sagging point of the drooping headliner will allow one of those
> small plastic straw barrels to poke through, attached to aim a spray
> adhesive (several 3M brand products and other brands) to shoot a thin and
> spotty sheet of glue up between the headliner and its support system. You
> may even have a few/several very small and unseen puncture points if you
> have several droops or droop is very large area. When tacky enough to
> hold,
> firmly wedge some flexible objects up against the headliner in several
> spots
> for the recommended curing period. Pick a glue that does not break down
> and
> fail under seasonal changes (record heat or cold temperatures in your
> area).
>
> Mind you, I've not tried this. Prob'ly very unprofessional, but what do
> you
> have to lose?
>
>
Don't know if it applies to Volvo, because I haven't tried to tackle ours
(it just looks like puffy tan clouds... what's wrong with that?), but I
tried spray adhesive on a Dodge we had that had a droopy headliner. The
problem was that the headliner separated at some sort of foam layer that
broke down. The crumbling foam just kept crumbling, leaving debris glued to
the cloth.

Mike

Stewart Hargrave

On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 18:09:16 -0600, "Pat Quadlander"
<pquadlander@comcast.net> wrote:

>Not having done this job, I imagine that the headliner fabric has hidden
>sleeves that slide over stiff suspension "ribs" fastened to car ceiling,
>and/or the fabric is otherwise pasted up to the ceiling or stiff suspension.

There is a glassfibre shell that the headlining sticks to.
>
>Whatever the skeletal structure, a small needle puncture in the fabric at
>the lowest sagging point of the drooping headliner will allow one of those
>small plastic straw barrels to poke through, attached to aim a spray
>adhesive (several 3M brand products and other brands) to shoot a thin and
>spotty sheet of glue up between the headliner and its support system.

I've tried spray adhesive on mine. Unfortunately it is only a
temporary solution - a few days to a few weeks at best. The headlining
material is a thin (and very fragile) material bonded to a foam rubber
backing. When it starts to sag, it is because the foam has started to
collaps, and it seems there is no going back once it has started.

Replacing the headliner is nearly at the top of my 'to do' list over
the next few weeks. But I'm sure glad I have an estate.

If you need a guide to the job, there is useful .pdf file here

http://www.ipdusa.com/pdf/PI-240headliner700.pdf

--

TSH


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my initials

James Sweet

"Pat Quadlander" <pquadlander@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:M9mdnX8-U7LOB7bfRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
> Not having done this job, I imagine that the headliner fabric has hidden
> sleeves that slide over stiff suspension "ribs" fastened to car ceiling,
> and/or the fabric is otherwise pasted up to the ceiling or stiff
suspension.
>
> Whatever the skeletal structure, a small needle puncture in the fabric at
> the lowest sagging point of the drooping headliner will allow one of those
> small plastic straw barrels to poke through, attached to aim a spray
> adhesive (several 3M brand products and other brands) to shoot a thin and
> spotty sheet of glue up between the headliner and its support system. You
> may even have a few/several very small and unseen puncture points if you
> have several droops or droop is very large area. When tacky enough to
hold,
> firmly wedge some flexible objects up against the headliner in several
spots
> for the recommended curing period. Pick a glue that does not break down
and
> fail under seasonal changes (record heat or cold temperatures in your
area).
>
>

The 700 series headliner is on a molded fiberglass backing. Adhesive alone
won't do the trick, the problem is that the foam itself between the cloth
and the backing decomposes, so the only way to fix it is to remove the whole
thing, painstakingly scrub off all the old foam, then ideally paint the
backing with something to seal it, then apply new foamed fabric.