Making A Headliner For my 1977 Cherokee Chief

[Manimal70]

Very nice job! Looks great!

[ghcoe]

Very nice job! Looks great!

Thanks.

[whsii]

Holy (insert funny expression here)! I need to go to the sign shop and check this out! I was going to buy the abs replacements from a vendor on the mothership but you, YOU my friend, have made one jobless coal miner a hopeful man!

VAG,

Sorry to hear of "the Jobless Coal Miner". I was born and raised in WV, Summersville. I have too many friends that are in the same situation.

However, It is nice to see that the "Coal Miner's Cadillac" still fits! My 87 GW was my Dad's last vehicle, he did 47 years in the mines, and was as proud of his GW as any vehicle he could have owned.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

[Fury5]

Great job on that headliner. Looks really good.

One question (maybe I missed it in your write up). Did you glue the poly-iso sheets in place or are they just being held up by the cross braces?

Thanks.

[ghcoe]

Great job on that headliner. Looks really good.

One question (maybe I missed it in your write up). Did you glue the poly-iso sheets in place or are they just being held up by the cross braces?

Thanks.

Thanks,

It is just held up with the cross members. The first cross member is pretty tight and the rest I layed on my back and pushed the cross member up while I tightened the bolts. It is not going anywhere....

[66stepside]

Whoa, nicely done!

[koda279]

Before I continued with the headliner I wanted to install a new heat barrier. The Jeep had a thin foam barrier at one time. I removed that a long time ago because it was falling apart and coming into the cab. For the new barrier I will be installing 1/2" Polyisocyanurate foam insulation panel. The Polyisocyanurate foam will withstand the heat better than extruded polystyrene foam insulation. 1/2" is a tight fit between the roof and the forward cross member so I moved the cross member back as far as I could so I would not have to try and install it with the foam in, plus it will help to hold the foam up in the front as I slid the foam forward.

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Once I got the foam pushed all the way in I had to cut off about 6" to clear the rear panel. Then I reinstalled the other two cross members, using slight pressure to make sure I had a good tight fit on the foam to the roof. Now when I open and shut my doors I do not get a tin can effect and it sounds solid.

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So the only thing you used was the cross members to hold up the insulation? also did you just cover the main area of the roof not the sides?

[ghcoe]

So the only thing you used was the cross members to hold up the insulation? also did you just cover the main area of the roof not the sides?

Yes and yes.

Also, since I installed the headliner I did get some sagging in the middle of both panels and a weird expansion issue on one side.

I believe that the panels need to be allowed to float a little. On one side I think the front window garnish and the coat hanger must have been too tight and there was a little buckling in the side panel. If I were to install it again I would make sure that the coat hanger hole was larger and not install the coat hanger real tight. For what ever reason the other side is fine.

On the sagging. I really did not have great templates to get a good cut out so I am not sure if the sagging is due to the material or if it is due to the template or a bit of both. The original cardboard, I believe, was pretty tight against the roof supports to help hold a slight curvature along the roof line. When I installed these I noticed that I did not have a tight fit against the roof supports, but figured that the material would be strong enough to support the center. It was fine until it got hot and then started to sag some just like the original but quicker. I think making the panels a little wider on the center part would have been better but I was working with what I had. I will probably make another run at it at some time. Right now it is better than what it was.

[Tatsadasayago]

I tried the same thing with 5/16" MDF as a one-piece and had a similar problem with the original liner shrinking much more than I thought.

When I get the time, I'm re-doing it like yours since putting the MDF in by myself was a real circus.
Painting was a good idea also as I found my new fabric kit was sagging after only a few days of 112 degree temps regardless of how much glue I sprayed on it.
Congrats on a well executed headliner!

[ghcoe]

Thanks! I do believe it is a viable replacement, but needs fine tuned. A good template would make a big improvement for sure.

[SJTD]

5/16" MDF, really?

That would weigh a ton! Even 3/16" would be pretty heavy. I looked at 1/8" but the stuff isn't flat. I wonder if it will flatten out when you put it into place.

I'm glad this came back. I was going to search it up and ask for an update. So gh, the corplast itself sagged but you think it's because it was a little undersized and didn't have enough arch when installed?

I wonder if the lines would show through with the foam backed material.

[ghcoe]

I'm glad this came back. I was going to search it up and ask for an update. So gh, the corplast itself sagged but you think it's because it was a little undersized and didn't have enough arch when installed?

I wonder if the lines would show through with the foam backed material.

Yes. I do believe the sagging is because it was a little too narrow and did not have the slight arch to help hold it in place. It actualy held pretty good untill the heat of summer.

[koda279]

I'm glad this came back. I was going to search it up and ask for an update. So gh, the corplast itself sagged but you think it's because it was a little undersized and didn't have enough arch when installed?

I wonder if the lines would show through with the foam backed material.

Yes. I do believe the sagging is because it was a little too narrow and did not have the slight arch to help hold it in place. It actualy held pretty good untill the heat of summer.

I was thinking gluing a second layer of insulation between the cross members then gluing the board to that...

[Tatsadasayago]

I agree ghcoe. Even the 5/16" MDF wanted to sag around the dome lamp areas on my first attempt. Those 'folds' at the sides puts the main part of the liner into compression and I believe having a good side fit so that compression remains is the key to keeping the sags away. This compression arch acts in a similar manner as the arches seen on bridges etc.--self supporting and all that.

I guess I'll start a companion headliner thread show how NOT to do it.
I took photos but didn't want to admit I blew it.

[ghcoe]

So here are some pictures of the headliner after a year.

This is the location where I had some buckling issues. It was the worst on the passenger side right above the door. Like I said, I do believe it needs to be able to float some. Also, the headliner is a little too narrow, as seen by the below picture of the sunvisor cutout, and does not fit in the channel firmly. The drivers side is fine so I think having the headliner firmly in the channel helps with keeping it from buckling too.





You can see a slight downward bow in this shot.



So, when I do get around to redoing the headliner I will making it wider so that there is enough side pressure from the roof supports to keep a slight upward bow like the original. Also, make a larger hole for the coat hangers and not tighten the hanger down too tight.

Outside of these issues I am still quite happy with the results. Just needs a bit of tweeking.

[Mdcptman]

That is a really awesome job!


Ummm......You look like you could use some new visor cups.....pm me if ur interested.

[Dr. Marneaus]

Old thread with a ton of good info ready for a bump!

Did you ever redo the headliner?

What about the idea of simply running some more carpet trim pieces along the roof and sinking some self tapping screws through them into the roof supports? Would that be a viable option?

[SJTD]

I used a different version of Coroplast on mine: http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=164564

[Dr. Marneaus]

And you say it's still sagging? I wonder if you're right in that the center trim strip and rear trim strip will hold it up.

I know it's cheap but it would be a shame to it to not work out after all that effort. I Also wonder about adding some wood or aluminum strips across the back of it too.

[SJTD]

Yeah but if if I push up where the lights are it takes out the sag so I think it'll be fine but you don't have the rear light. I'll try pushing it up at the center and rear and see how it looks.