Headliner

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<50miles

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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Hello Everybody,

Well this might be the year the car is done! I have owned the car for almost 25 years and as my user name implies I have not driven it very much. At present the body shop is weeks away from painting the car however there is the question of doing this with the headliner in place or not. While I would like everything off the body to paint it the boss of the body person who is doing the majority of the work thinks it is best to keep it in situ. Given that the original headliner is dirty but in pretty good shape, and there is no sunroof or any indications of any damage under the headliner, what do you think? To me the upside of removing the headliner is that we could paint the roof, but of course the down sides of doing this is that the original headliner would most likely be destroyed in the removal process and a new one would have to be purchased.

Any thoughts?

Andrew
 
Hello Chris and Markos,

Thank you very much for the quick response! Would this be acceptable for a concurs level restoration? On another note based on what I have read over the years I had decided to keep the fenders on the car during the restoration to keep the original seams and lines and have any fender repairs done on the car. Was this a wise or foolish decision?

Andrew
 
If you were in a show and @HB Chris was judging, he would know if the headliner was original or aftermarket. There is only one company (SMS Fabrics) that has come close to original. Their solution is good enough, but not as defined as original.

IMO, I wouldn’t hesitate to use the spray and keep the original. Plus, the fantastic idea of leaving it in place is an added bonus. Don’t get any solvent on it though.

Here is a before and after on some visors I sold last summer. Sprayed with SEM.

Sold: 2x Refinished Sun visor sets. $150 shipped / set

Edit: Dropped the price down to $150 shipped. Per recommendation, I ordered SEM vinyl paint and gave them several coats. New pictures below, as well as original. Hi Folks: I have two sets of original visors. The mounts are all cracked. I’m basing the price on very similar core condition...
e9coupe.com e9coupe.com

<50miles said:
Hello Chris and Markos,

Thank you very much for the quick response! Would this be acceptable for a concurs level restoration? On another note based on what I have read over the years I had decided to keep the fenders on the car during the restoration to keep the original seams and lines and have any fender repairs done on the car. Was this a wise or foolish decision?

Andrew
Click to expand...
 
My headliner was painted, I think the original looks perfect, there is not equivalent replacement. On fenders it only matters if there rust you haven’t found. My fenders weren’t removed and I was lucky.
 
Removing the headliner is quite doable without destroying it.
I never did it before, and mine came out without issues.
Mind you, it is not yet back in. So I cant say if that work will give me problems.
 
eriknetherlands said:
Removing the headliner is quite doable without destroying it.
I never did it before, and mine came out without issues.
Mind you, it is not yet back in. So I cant say if that work will give me problems.
Click to expand...

I wish you will put it back with success.

I was told once by people working with BMW E30 that vinyl headliner is hard to be put back (or even impossible) as the material is not so flexible as it was.
Probably also installing temperature matters and I would rather wait for spring time to do it ... But I have not enough experience to share.
 
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