Front Headliner Cover Resto

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Russm21
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Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by Russm21 »

So I've been doing some interior work and got around to dealing with my disintegrating front headliner cover. I'm using a combination of tongue depressors and Gorilla Glue to shore up the cracks. However, I'm at a bit of a loss on how to repair the mounting clips. Like most others, the plastic part that the metal clips attach to is busted and my clips are missing (Idiot PO glued the cover directly to the headliner ](*,) ). This is the part I'm talking about:


After a google search, I saw where a guy basically put a bolt through the outside of the cover to attach the mounting clips. My problem is that I don't even have the clips to bolt on. So I'm forced to fabricate a solution. So my question is, has anyone tackled this issue before? If so, what was your solution?

Gracias!
Last edited by Russm21 on Thu Feb 04, 2021 12:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Russell
1989 E30 325ic
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hornhospital
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by hornhospital »

Suggestion: industrial strength Velcro. Worked great on E36 door cards.
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by GRNSHRK »

Russm21, I do have a couple of these front headliners, saving one to repair mine, also damaged by incorrect removal by a P/O ](*,)

I am also going to move your thread to the "Interior" forum, where you will likely get more feedback [-o<

Please PM me if you want to make a deal :lol:
:mrgreen:
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Russm21
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by Russm21 »

hornhospital wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 8:30 pm Suggestion: industrial strength Velcro. Worked great on E36 door cards.
That's a very interesting idea. I'm going to explore this.
Russell
1989 E30 325ic
1986 E24 635CSi
Russm21
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by Russm21 »

GRNSHRK wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 9:00 pm Russm21, I do have a couple of these front headliners, saving one to repair mine, also damaged by incorrect removal by a P/O ](*,)

I am also going to move your thread to the "Interior" forum, where you will likely get more feedback [-o<

Please PM me if you want to make a deal :lol:
Thanks. The one I have is in pretty decent shape, save for the broken clip mounts and missing clips.
Russell
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by anchored »

I designed a part that takes the place of the sunroof motor access panel.

It bolts onto the mount for the sunroof relay and pulls the panel up.

Image
Image
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by Pod »

Those plastic clips always break. In the past I’ve drilled holes through the cover and into the locating tabs in the roof. It is then easy to use black-headed self tapping screws to secure the cover. They hardly notice against the black material. Usually the job can be completed with just four screws and is a permanent solution.
Russm21
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by Russm21 »

anchored wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:39 am I designed a part that takes the place of the sunroof motor access panel.

It bolts onto the mount for the sunroof relay and pulls the panel up.

Image
Image
This is very interesting. What does it actually screw into to keep it supported?
Russell
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by anchored »

There is a relay that controls the sunroof motor.

it has a mounting tab on the side of it and this replaces that screw with a new one that's longer and screws in there.

Seems to work without interference with the motor.
SHRKATK - Red 87' 635csi
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by bpoliakoff »

Repaired my panel which had been bent and cracked during some previous removal. One of the clips was missing due to someone pulling down for removal. I found a broken panel and was able to salvage a clip. I am a firm believer in Liquid Nails and so I glued the clip on with that. As to the crack which did not show through the front, I picked up a thin sheet of aluminum cut a piece that would overlap the crack or broken panel and stuck that on with Liquid Nails. As well. The panel came out good as new
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Russm21
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by Russm21 »

bpoliakoff wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 1:14 am Repaired my panel which had been bent and cracked during some previous removal. One of the clips was missing due to someone pulling down for removal. I found a broken panel and was able to salvage a clip. I am a firm believer in Liquid Nails and so I glued the clip on with that. As to the crack which did not show through the front, I picked up a thin sheet of aluminum cut a piece that would overlap the crack or broken panel and stuck that on with Liquid Nails. As well. The panel came out good as new
I did a similar repair technique. I used tongue depressors and Gorilla wood glue to fix the cracks.
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Russell
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1986 E24 635CSi
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by GRNSHRK »

Ross, did you find hooks yet, or come up with another solution :-?

I still have 2 intact panels, but they are a bit out of reach, so if you still need, I will dig them out for ya \:D/

BTW, nice work =D>
:mrgreen:
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Russm21
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by Russm21 »

GRNSHRK wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 1:13 am Ross, did you find hooks yet, or come up with another solution :-?

I still have 2 intact panels, but they are a bit out of reach, so if you still need, I will dig them out for ya \:D/

BTW, nice work =D>
I've got an idea that I want to try first. I'll post what I'm up when I get started on it. Thanks for the offer.
Russell
1989 E30 325ic
1986 E24 635CSi
Russm21
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Re: Front Headliner Cover Resto

Post by Russm21 »

So there's and old saying, "If it's stupid, but it works. It's not stupid." I believe that is where I ended up with this project.

While brainstorming for solutions to my attachment problem, I started looking around my garage foe something that might solve this problem. I noticed that a hack saw blade was about the same width as the broken plastic clip holders. Amazingly, the blade actually fit in there perfectly. my next problem was how was I going to get the blade to protrude the opposite direction. I first tried heating the blade up and trying to bend it 180 degrees. This didn't work as the blade metal is too brittle. That's when I figured I could rivet 2 pieces together, which I did. I then used epoxy to attach the blade to the headliner. I'd love to post a picture of what I'm talking about. However, I'm being told that I've reached my attachment quota (WTF?).

In any case. I worked! Thanks for all the suggestions. Bobbo, at one point I almost took you up on your offer!
Russell
1989 E30 325ic
1986 E24 635CSi
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