Help, I have an old car a l986. The roof interior material has fallen and I can't get it back up. This is the third car I have owned where this has happened. The insulation material under the fabric is crumbly and nothing will stick to it. I have tried spray adhesive to no avail. I have tried pins but they fall out with the material. Nothing will keep the material off my head. The material in the back sags so bad it partially obstructs my view out the rear window. I'm not so concerned about how it looks as much as I want it out of my way. Any solutions?
Thanks

 

Rip it out for one and vacuum the foam up with a shopvac . But then you'll have no material there and it will be quite ugly.

Just take the board and fabric out of the car as a unit and bring it to an auto trim shop. They will recover the board for you and you can reinstall it back in the car.

Should be under a 100 bucks to do it, if you take the board out and put it back in yourself.

The reason why the glue won't stick is because the foam degrades and wont allow the material to stick to it anymore.

 

Thanks Joe F.
How do I remove and replace the board as a unit. It looks like it is under the interior trim. I don't want to have to remove three quarters of the interior of the car to fix the fabric. Could I replace the fabric myself with lets say, gingham?LOL!
Thanks!

 

Yup, most of the trim has to be moved or removed, depending on the car. My 80 Trans Am, it was very easy to do. Other cars it's a pain.

You can put whatever you'd like on the board, but if you don't clean it of old foam, material and glue, whatever you put there will droop again. Lol.

 

Hmm, am wondering if clear silicone caulking/adhesive might keep it up and out of way. Stuff seems to stick to any clean dry surface.
Just letting my mind wander.

 

No .

That will make a mess. Again the problem is that the FOAM has degraded and sticking anything to rotten foam is for naught.

If staples (or thumbtacks) won't hold it, you're out of luck with trying to hold up the old one. It has really shrunk!

 

I agree the caulk/adhesive could make a mess if too much is applied or not allowed to get tacky before sticking the two surfaces. And will not work without removal of old foam ("clean,dry surface"). But I have and old '82 Ford truck someone tried to use tacks on. They even tried to incorporate a design, but the fabric still sags between the tacks. Since the tacks were mentioned in the original post, I assumed apearance was not a big factor, but clearing rear view may be. EMCC might try another temporary fix until he decides to have headliner replaced. It will at least clear his rear view and actually look better than tacks, plus no mess. Take some thin flat strips of wood or plastic just long enough to push up between the trim from one side to the other and place at equal intervals from front to back. Make sure the strips are long enough to wedge snuggly between the trim pieces on each side and bow up against fabric. Might check at Lowe's for some plastic trim like goes between the cheaper shower stall panels or maybe some flat wooden molding. Whatever, it needs to be somewhat flexible and most of it is at the length needed for this. May be surprised how neat it can look on an older car. Might even be able to stretch the fabric a little (enough to get sag out)as you put in each strip and then staple through the strips. Did this to an 88 stationwagon once. It really did not look so bad, almost looked natural. Stayed that way until I had it fixed properly and was a lot cheaper!
If you EMCC tries this remedy, I hope he lets us know how it comes out.

 

My son's car was doing the same thing so this was my solution. it worked for the remaining 5 years he drove it though it wasn't visually as pretty as fixing professionally it works. Go to a hardware store and find some upholstery screws. and then apply in a grid like pattern til the problem is solved. it goes thru the cardboard backing and the big corkscrew holds the material to the cardboard. good luck.

 

The large fabric store in my town actually sells the fabric. The colors match perfect. Remove the headliner, clean it good and spray it with 3M or simular spray glue. Put the fabric on while out of the car. Have done a couple of them.