How to Remove a Roof Liner

After parking in direct sunlight for an hour or so, the underside of a cars roof becomes extremely hot. This causes the contact adhesive between the foam-backed roof liner material and the headliner board to deteriorate. If your cars roof liner starts sagging, the manufacturer probably saved a few cents by using a standard product, instead of a high-temperature contact adhesive. When this happens, you can remove the roof liner panel and replace the material yourself, instead of taking the car to a trim shop.

Instructions

1

Remove all components attached to the roof liner, such as visors, visor clips, coat hooks, grab-handles and the dome light, with a Phillips screwdriver; after unscrewing the dome light, carefully pull the electrical spade connector off the terminal. Place all screws in a suitable container and lay the components to one side.

2

Carefully remove the side trim pieces from the door openings, using a trim removal tool or a flat-head screwdriver. Start at the lower rear side and carefully pry the trim off a few inches at a time by hand without bending it; these plastic trim pieces can break easily with rough handling.

3

Remove the trim pieces from above the front and rear windows the same way. Once removed, loosen a few inches of the upper side trim pieces that overlap the roof panel on each side of the rear window. Support the panel to prevent it from falling on your head.

4

Slide the roof liner out the rear opening, if you are working on a hatchback. Alternatively, push the right seat back as far as it will go and maneuver the panel out of the right front door.

5

Place the panel upside-down on a workbench or on a sheet of plywood supported by two saw horses.

6

Take a snapshot of the panel with a camera phone or digital camera. Use the snapshot as a reference to locate the cutout positions after installing the new liner material; you may find extra holes in the roof panel once you have stripped the old material away.

7

Mark the underside with a felt marker pen wherever you see material wrapped over the edge of the panel.

8

Invert the panel and peel off all the old material from the foam backing. Carefully scrub the foam backing off from the roof panel with a stiff plastic-bristle scrub brush. If the panel is made of sturdy material, you can speed up this process by using a hand-held wire brush -- but be careful not to apply enough pressure to damage the panel while doing so.

9

Cover the panel with a sheet of new foam-backed roof liner material, facing the foam side downward and the edges overlapping the panel evenly on all sides. Fold the rear half of the material back over itself.

10

Spray half of the exposed foam and the bare roof board with a liberal amount of high-temperature contact adhesive evenly onto the surfaces. Use a smooth side-to-side motion and hold the nozzle 6-to-8 inches away from the material while doing so. Allow both surfaces to dry until they no longer feel tacky.

11

Fold the material loosely back over the board by the corners without allowing the two surfaces to make firm contact with each other. Start in the center and smooth each side of the central contact area starting point sideways with the flat of your hand.

12

Work your way forward while holding the fabric away from the board, and smoothing the rest of the material down gradually the same way. Start from the center and work your way outwards. Do not stretch the material or allow sections to slacken and cause wrinkles while doing so.

13

Repeat Steps 11 and 12 until the front half of the roof panel is fully covered. Once this is done, go over the entire surface and give the material a good rub-down with the flat of your hand to ensure full adhesion.

14

Turn the board over. Identify the areas where the material should overlap the sides. Use a felt pen to mark the relevant 1-1/2-inch wide overlapping tabs. Trim the rest of the material flush with the edge of the board with a single edge razor blade. Use the edge of the board as a cutting guide while slicing the material. When you reach the tab areas, follow the cut line to leave the required 1-1/2-inch wide overlapping tabs.

15

Coat the overlapping tabs and panel sections with contact adhesive. Allow a minute or two of drying time and fold the tabs over the inside face of the panel where necessary. Smooth down firmly to ensure proper adhesion.

16

Turn the panel over once more. Refer to your snapshot and cut out the necessary openings to allow you to replace the components removed earlier.

17

Slide the panel back into the vehicle and lift it up into position. Fish the dome light wire out. Connect and reattach the dome light fitting to hold the liner in place.

18

Screw all the relevant fittings back on. Carefully snap the side door opening trim pieces back into place, followed by the front and rear window trim pieces. Finally, secure the few inches of rear window edge pieces loosened earlier to complete the project.