Did my headliner replacement

It's a common problem, the sagging headliners. So, I've tried it to do it for the first time and I must say, it's a very intensive job. It took me and my youngest son a day. But the end result is very neat, I think.
Let me know what you guys think.

Kudos to you both. Well done.

Good to see a father and son project! Nice job.

Tom

Looks good. The hardest, most time consuming part is getting the old foam off. How much contact cement did you use? Did you spray it, or brush it on?

There is a guy locally who will do headliners for about $75.

The Chevy headliners are a lot easier than the RM and OCCs. The base usually breaks at the vista window opening. I reinforced a Caprice headliner along the back sides of where the RM OCC vista window opening is with carbon fiber (I just happen to have a bolt of it laying around, but you can use fiberglass), filled the hole for the light, and cut the opening for the window. It was easier than trying to patch together an original headliner from an RM or OCC, and get it straight.

Thanks guys. I used a special glue in a spray can that professional companies use. It can resist high temperatures, like it can handle almost 250 F.
The hardest part of the job was indeed scraping off the old foam.
And everything had to come off, all the plastic trim, seatbelt bolts, sun visors etc. I think it cost me around $250 in materials. And it's priceless to do jobs like this with your kids.

Nice Work! Hey a tip for the Oldsmobile and Chevy wagon owners that do this. Go hit the salvage yard first and get some headliner grab handles from a Roadmaster Sedan or Wagon, or a Caddy Fleetwood. Easy mod to add these while doing you headliner and looks great too.

-Mike

Very professional,nice job.

You can loosen the C pillars, and get the headliner out without removing the whole C pillar. Just protect the new one going in, because the C pillar ends have some sharp ends that can catch the headliner material, and tear it.

Be careful with the rear trim. The "screws" are just locks for the actual fasteners, that have to be released by sliding a blade or screw driver under the trim. The locks are easy to break, and impossible to get. Once you have the trim off, do not pry on the rearmost tree fastener against the headliner. The foam crushes, and is not repairable. Use a pivot off of the headliner, and just put your tool under the top of the fastener.

Very clean job, I agree with Texas Mike that the Roadie or Fleetwood grab handles would be a nice addition, I'd suggest an overhead console too if you wanted to add it and get more interior lighting too. I imagine the Caprice dome is a major improvement over the OCC/RMW lighting.

nice job. Really ties the car together.

Sweet! Looks like you had perfect weather too!

Thanks guys, and good weather indeed. That was last summer. Now we're in a typical Dutch winter; cold and wet but unfortunately nog snow or ice.

Very nice job !