BUILD THREAD 81 Buick/Olds Turbo Wagon 02/15/2024 More Parts!

liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Thanks for the tips Jack, right now it's pretty time consuming getting the old glue off. Once I get that, I'll get the wife to help like you said.
 
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Injectedcutty

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Nov 24, 2014
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Thanks for the tips Jack, right now it's pretty time consuming getting the old glue off. Once I get that, I'll get the wife to help like you said.
Speaking of glue Jim, what are you using to remove it? I will be attempting to recover mine at some point. I had it professionally done over a decade ago and the glue is still holding strong.
Thanks man!
 
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liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Scott,
I am doing a few different things to get the old headliner and glue off. This headliner was replaced before, so the material is in good shape, and so was the foam, but it was only sticking in a few spots due to poor glue, poor prep, or both. So I am not taking any chances.

First thing I did was flip it so the roof side was up, or the back, and clean all the old foam and newer material from the edges. There were a bunch of cracks and the typical damage at the visor holes. I cleaned the board with isopropyl alcohol and used a combination of the white tape with the string in it, and gorilla tape. Some people use fiberglass resin, and I've tried it, but it doesn't seen to "stick". The tape is just to keep the cracks from getting any worse while removing and re-gluing the headliner.

Then I took a razor blade and cut it in pieces as I was pulling it apart, being care not to damage the already fragile and damaged board. After getting that off, I used a wood handled stiff wire brush to get the deteriorated and loose foam off. Since there was still some good foam on there, I used a cup wire (soft) on my pneumatic die grinder. After all the foam was off, I am using a 36-40 grit roloc disc on my pneumatic right angle die grinder to get all the glue off. It's time consuming, but these boards aren't available and are impossible to find.

It may seem like overkill, but I don't want to do this again. Also, I bought a gallon of DAP WeldWood, and a spray gun for it. I've NEVER had luck with any spray can adhesive, 3M, any of them. After a few 100+ degree heat cycles they seem to release.

The guy that did the interior in my 32 Ford used the DAP Weldwood, and that was 15 years ago. The car is parked outside all year round under a cover and no problems.

I hope to have it finish cleaned tonight and start gluing on the new material.
 
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Longroof79

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Oct 14, 2008
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Jim,
You've got the right idea using the Weldwood adhesive. I agree that the spray can adhesives don't seem to work that well doing large areas like headliners.
First off, it doesn't seem to get enough coverage. I have what looks like dry spots, or pockets where the glue didn't bond that well. I'm a bit disappointed. It is time consuming work, no doubt. To help with the cracks, I used foil duct tape, but the stuff that you mentioned with the reinforcement strings should work really well...probably better.

Using the Weldwood in a spraygun, does it need to be thinned?
 
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liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Jack, it doesn't say anything about thinning. We'll see how it goes.

I used 5 minute epoxy, mixed with some fiberglass hairs to fix all the cracks. The epoxy melded in with the foam awesome! But, the visor corners were so jacked up, I had to rebuild them. I. Doing so i took away the holes. Now I have to figure out a way to located them, without putting the headliner board in.

Hmmmm. Going to finish prepping it tonight so I can glue up the material.
 
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Ribbedroof

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Jan 4, 2009
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Headliner board cracks....the way I fix them is with the plastic scree.mesh like is used for drywall , covered with epoxy on the top side.

I actually use a product that we use at work for repairing bumper covers, but it's essentially the same as what I wrote above, and the drywall screen and generic epoxy are probably cheaper to buy than the "professional" stuff
 
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Longroof79

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Headliner board cracks....the way I fix them is with the plastic scree.mesh like is used for drywall , covered with epoxy on the top side.

I actually use a product that we use at work for repairing bumper covers, but it's essentially the same as what I wrote above, and the drywall screen and generic epoxy are probably cheaper to buy than the "professional" stuff
That's a good tip, Brian.
The drywall mesh tape already has an adhesive backing. Wish I would have thought of it when I was getting mine ready to do.

I had used fiberglass matting and resin in the past to repair cracks and those dreaded sunvisor mounting areas which always seem to be compromised.
 
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liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Brian, great tips! I tested the liquid 5 minute epoxy and it really melded/bonded to the foam board. So I used it, the fiberglass hairs I had laying around, and figured they would sand well.
 
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liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Jack, your right about the visor area, they always seem to be in bad shape.
 
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Longroof79

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Jack, it doesn't say anything about thinning. We'll see how it goes.

I used 5 minute epoxy, mixed with some fiberglass hairs to fix all the cracks. The epoxy melded in with the foam awesome! But, the visor corners were so jacked up, I had to rebuild them. I. Doing so i took away the holes. Now I have to figure out a way to located them, without putting the headliner board in.

Hmmmm. Going to finish prepping it tonight so I can glue up the material.
The fiberglass hairy strands, or even the gorilla hair...whatever they call it, should work very well. I also had to re-drill most of the holes for the sunvisors. I forgot how I lined them up. I think if you can hit at least one hole, you can use the sunvisor as a guide to hit the others.

I know the Weldwood adhesive is kinda thick. I suppose if you have the right gun to apply it, it shouldn't be a problem. That's why I thought thinning was necessary.
 
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