96 Interior and Headliner

[Matt42]

Some headliner project updates, with pictures. These are running a few days behind.

1. This image shows the headliner while it's still sitting in the truck. The worst delamination occurred where the headliner met the windshield area. No surprise.

2. This shows the headliner after I removed the rotten old foam and fixed the worst of the delamination. The image is from before I trimmed the old fiberglass strings off. Where you see the fiberglass strings still embedded in the substrate used to be covered with rotten fabric and rotten roam. No better way to describe their condition, really.

3. This shows the spray glue that I used. My original plan was to use 3M 77. But that has a wide, misty spray. The Permatex headliner adhesive sprays kind of like Silly String, so it is easier to aim it into the delaminated area. It worked really well. (Reading the instructions is a good idea.) I used the water-based spar varnuish along the edges to try to seal them up. It kind of worked, but not really well. So I went to Plan B with the next steps, which don't have photos yet.

 

[Matt42]

Making this into a second post so as not to overwhelm the server.
4. This is the area where the upper console with the outside temperature gauge goes. (Repairing that is a whole `nother story.) This image shows it after the rotten fabric and foam were removed. I got so focused on wire brushing that rotten stuff off that I didn't get any pictures. I used a 2 inch wire brush chucked into a deWalt 20 volt drill, on the middle speed. And I took my time.

Anyway, the substrate looks pretty good in this image, but the looks are deceiving. This shows the "bottom" of the substrate where the original foam-backed headliner had been glued on at the headliner factory. The yellow stuff between the upper and lower layers appears to be porous fiberglass. The pockmarks are places where part of the substrate came up with the foam backing. The pocks are fairly large, up to 1/2 inch in diameter, in some places. I am not planning to use foam-backed fabric again, just dark, heavy weight upholstery fabric. So I need to figure out a way to fill up those pocks with some similar-color material that won't telegraph through. I am still working on that.

The space between the opening for the upper console and the windshield had the consistency of overcooked bacon. Too much handling and it would have broken into pieces. So I had to come up with some ideas to reinforce it. That's done--using fiberglass fabric and resin--and will show up in the next batch of photos. The headliner is airing out now so as to get the resin smell dissipated so my wife can work with it.

Note the oblong hole on the lower left of the image. That's where one of the visor clips fits in. Where various bits fastened in, the foam and fabric kind of vulcanized to the substrate. Some stayed intact, and some made craters when they came out. But even where they vulcanized, the result looked OK but wasn't always OK.

5. This is one of the holes in the back of the headliner where a Christmas Tree clip pops in to hold it to the cab. (It's a Club Cab.) Some of the original fabric is still there, vulcanized in place. The yellow blob to the lower left of the hoe is a place where removing the rotten fabric and foam also removed some of the substrate. Unless filled with something, that may telegraph through even thick fabric. I have filled some of the larger pockmarks with fiberglass resin, minus the fabric, then sanded them to level. It seems to have dealt with the worst. (Pictures pending.)

I was going to post an image of a heavily pockmarked area here, but I think you get the idea.