Replacement hard headliners, whats best?

[Ol'forest]

Got a pretty beat-up headliner so betting it won't be easily repairable, was wondering about replacement options. I see there's a hardboard one that comes in two pieces, which I'm thinking the join won't look original, and there's an ABS version, that I'm worried will warp and go funny on a hot day. What experience has anyone had out there with these headliners?

 

[72bluNblu]

The ABS version doesn’t warp. I’ve had one in my Duster for a few years now, it gets parked outside in sunlight in temperatures that have hit 109*F outside and I haven’t had any issues with the ABS warping.

If you do get an ABS one, get one that’s uncovered. They do require some trimming to fit right, which is hard if they’re already covered, and I did have issues with the fabric covering separating from the ABS in the heat. I re-glued it with a heavy duty 3M adhesive and haven’t had issues since, but I basically had to recover it myself so there wasn’t much point to spending the extra money on a covered version.

 

[Biff]

The ABS version doesn’t warp. I’ve had one in my Duster for a few years now, it gets parked outside in sunlight in temperatures that have hit 109*F outside and I haven’t had any issues with the ABS warping.

If you do get an ABS one, get one that’s uncovered. They do require some trimming to fit right, which is hard if they’re already covered, and I did have issues with the fabric covering separating from the ABS in the heat. I re-glued it with a heavy duty 3M adhesive and haven’t had issues since, but I basically had to recover it myself so there wasn’t much point to spending the extra money on a covered version.

Where did you get it ?

 

[Ol'forest]

Do you think the fit of the abs one is good enough that an uncovered version could just be painted rather than covered?

 

[72bluNblu]

Where did you get it ?

I bought mine on Amazon, I believe rock auto sells them now also

Do you think the fit of the abs one is good enough that an uncovered version could just be painted rather than covered?

Personally I’d just leave it bare, but yes, I think the uncovered version could be used without covering it. The abs does have a light texture to it. You’d probably want to use an interior vinyl dye or something to paint it, you probably wouldn’t want to use straight automotive paint without at least checking to see if it would react with the ABS.

 

[Ol'forest]

Thanks, all good news

 

[j par]

Or just make one using your old one as a template. Like this...

3M contact spray.

I was into it about $23 until I started getting exotic and bought the expensive glue and $37 fabic. The regular auto fabric would have been $20. But one could spray paint it for $6 and have it all done under $30.