anyone recover reupholster sunvisors?
- Thread starter paradigm
- Start date
Good luck with that. Vinyl could have came on the earlier cars as I've done no research on them, but the later ones all had "velour" fabric coverings. And cheesy at that. The foam usually goes bad on the fabric backing and they really get to looking bad, especially if they're used a lot.
The material is folded over like a taco and then sewn along the edges. You really need to get them done by someone who knows what they're doing or you can pretty much figure they're going to look like azz. I got a feeling if you just wrap them, you're going to see it start to come apart soon down the road. Whatever your headliner material is, that's what your sunvisors should be.
Getting them recovered correctly will be the challenge. It seems the material they use now has a slightly thicker foam backing than the original so even if they are sewn properly, they feel a bit "fatter" than OEM. Not a terrible thing, but just something I've noticed.
The material is folded over like a taco and then sewn along the edges. You really need to get them done by someone who knows what they're doing or you can pretty much figure they're going to look like azz. I got a feeling if you just wrap them, you're going to see it start to come apart soon down the road. Whatever your headliner material is, that's what your sunvisors should be.
Getting them recovered correctly will be the challenge. It seems the material they use now has a slightly thicker foam backing than the original so even if they are sewn properly, they feel a bit "fatter" than OEM. Not a terrible thing, but just something I've noticed.
I need to recover the sun visors in my other car. They're covered in typical headliner fabric. I was also wondering. They both have vanity mirrors. What's the trick in removing them without breaking them, of course?
There should be two screws under each of the clear lenses for the lights. How you get the lenses out without breaking them is unknown.
I just brought a set to a local upholstery shop and paid $120 for the pair to redo them. I thought it was overpriced but I don't have the sewing machine or skill to do it at home. I think I had a set done 15 years ago and recall it was under $50 but that was a lady in a small town working out of her basement in ND vs a brick and mortar store in the big city.
It was a set of broken cardboard upholstered set I pulled out of the salvage yard that needed much of the board replaced. I supplied leftover material from when I did the headliner.
You need to be able to sew the hem to do them. My wife that sews blankets and baby stuff said her generic sewing machine can't easily do thick foam backed fabric as it will pull, so unless you have a HD sewing machine you probably can't do it at home. Glue isn't enough.
Brand new ones are $135, it's not worth doing them in many cases IMO
It was a set of broken cardboard upholstered set I pulled out of the salvage yard that needed much of the board replaced. I supplied leftover material from when I did the headliner.
You need to be able to sew the hem to do them. My wife that sews blankets and baby stuff said her generic sewing machine can't easily do thick foam backed fabric as it will pull, so unless you have a HD sewing machine you probably can't do it at home. Glue isn't enough.
Brand new ones are $135, it's not worth doing them in many cases IMO
Thank you for the breakdown of the visors. I should've been a little more specific. The mirrors aren't the illuminated type. which probably doesn't matter. They probably are assembled and removed the same way. I guess the mounting screws are situated behind the fabric. No exposed screws.
Thank you again. I'm assuming there's the two screws and perhaps two hooks that hold the mirror in place.
I don't ever remember paying that much to have my visors recovered. I think the last time was with my wagon visors. I supplied the material from my headliner and the woman at the shop charged like $40.00, which I thought was reasonable.
GM does everything as stupid as it can. When I did my wagon headliner I was lucky enough that my visors were in good shape.
When I did my Jeep Cherokee, the visors unsnapped apart. They unfolded like a wallet. The mirrors and lights were easily accessible. You removed the old material, glued the edge of the new headliner material onto a crevice on the inside, then they snapped back together. And guess what? The three screws that hold the visor to the body? They are the same as our GM pattern. Hint-hint.... And the spring they used is way better than GM's. The visor stays in place, unlike ours that droop.
When I did my Jeep Cherokee, the visors unsnapped apart. They unfolded like a wallet. The mirrors and lights were easily accessible. You removed the old material, glued the edge of the new headliner material onto a crevice on the inside, then they snapped back together. And guess what? The three screws that hold the visor to the body? They are the same as our GM pattern. Hint-hint.... And the spring they used is way better than GM's. The visor stays in place, unlike ours that droop.
That's some rock solid info right there, thanks for sharing it!
Mark,
I assume those are your wagon visors. Thanks for sharing the pics and info. From what I can ascertain looking at my visors. The edges are folded in around the perimeter of the visor, both sides, and then stitched around. I have an old Singer sewing machine that I never used or learned how to sew on. I should have paid attention to Mom when she was trying to teach me. She once sewed a custom floral headliner for me for my first bug.. It looked great after I installed it....50+ yrs ago.
I guess I viewed sewing as a girly thing at the time. Man, has times changed. I would've liked to learn auto upholstery.
Similar threads
