Headliner Redux

During one of the drop offs to Randy Forbes, I noticed that the headliner in one of his coupes was sagging.  He hadn't noticed, and I think a lot of people don't notice either.  It's not natural to look up at the headliner.  At any rate, it bothered Randy, as he had an otherwise pristine, special coupe.  While Randy was working the subframe reinforcement on the Coupenut car, Randy asked if I would be willing to trade headliners so he could have a perfect one. Randy has done so much for me and beyond the work he has done directly on my cars, he has helped me with countless questions.  So I agreed.  We pulled the re-done headliner out of the Coupenut car and swapped it for his sagging one.  I will re-do the sagging one in Charleston and restore the Coupenut car a second time.  And, Randy gets his fixed without having to findn an upholsterer near him. 

At any rate, here is the tip.  This is a revision since the first time I did the headliner.  You do not have to remove both seats, you do not have to remove the steering wheel.  You certainly can if you like, as both will make it easier.  But, if the only job you are doing is the headliner, you can get by just removing the passenger seat and pushing the headliner out the passenger side door.  Here is a tip:  lower the driver side seat belt on the b-pillar to the lowest spot.  Put the driver's seat all the way forward, and recline it to maximum.  This will effectively lower the top of the driver's seat.  Then, get a helper to kneel at the driver's door.  The helper's job is to (a) guide the headliner while you rotate and drop it down and (b) protect the center console while the headliner edge rubs on it.

The headliner will bend some.  There is no avoiding it.  Try to keep the bends long and large and it will bend back into shape.  If you have to do it absolutely perfect and can accept no bending, the only choice is to remove the windshield and take it out from the front!