Headliner InstallationHeadliner Installationby Warren Wallingford

Headliner is the general automotive term for interior roof trim. In the DeLorean the headliner comes in four pieces: the front T-shaped piece, the rear rectangular piece, and the two cupped door pieces which are mirror images of one another. The original

headliners were foam-backed cloth bonded onto pressed paper forms that, in the case of the center pieces, were secured to the fiberglass roof by tongue-and latch brackets (fig 1). The door headliners were clipped to the stainless bracing of the door itself with fir-tree type fasteners. Time and the inferior consistency of the foam backing would eventually cause the cloth to separate from the foam and droop down onto the heads and into the vision of the occupants. Changing the headliners had become an occasional weekend pastime for a generation of DeLorean owners. With the advent of modern headliner material and DMC’s fiberglass forms, the unpleasant ritual of core charges and exchanging old cardboard has gone the way of the dial telephone.

This guide describes the installation of headliners with the new fiberglass forms. It is also generally useful for the ones with cardboard backing. The differences will be noted in the text. The original forms are more flexible and forgiving than the new ones.

The first order of business is to remove the old headliners. The door panels just pull off by drawing the seven fir-tree fasteners out of the holes in the stainless. Figure 2 shows their location. There is a tool available for this, but it shouldn’t be needed. (See inset in the Tool List). Slide your fingers between the metal and cardboard and pull the fir trees out. Next, remove the inner door seals from the upper door openings. This will expose the portion of the body’s fiberglass lip that the headliner material is glued to (fig 3). It’s a good idea at this point, to cover the seats with a drop cloth or blanket. Old, crumbly foam will soon be everywhere. Pull the old material of front and rear panels away from the fiberglass on both sides. Remove the two M5 screws that mount the sun visor on each side to the roof. The front of the panel will droop and you can unplug and remove the front dome light from the panel (fig 4). Now slide the whole panel forward to release it from the

Fir-tree

Fasteners

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bracket on the roof and maneuver the panel out of the cabin. By now the old foam will be collecting in your cover. The rear panel is held in place by the two screws [one each side] that hold the top of the rear trim panels against the body (fig 5).

Loosen them until the trim panel is free of the bulkhead. This will allow the headliner to be moved forward and away from the bracket that is holding it to the roof and then out of the car. You can leave the screws hanging in the holes of the trim.

Don’t take the drop cloth out yet. You need to clean the residual glue, foam, and material from the fiberglass lip. You can use a putty knife, gasket scraper, or even an old blending pad (fig 6). Dress and prepare the surface to accept the new material and adhesive. While you’re there, take a look at the inside radius of the lip. Often there will be excess plastic material from the molding process. Grind or sand it out, preserving the thickness of the fiberglass, especially

at the corners. This will cause the door seal to sit upright when installed and prevent the door from pinching and tearing the seal. Once you’ve finished scraping and grinding and sanding, you can take the drop cloth out of the car, carefully, and put the stuff it caught in the trash.

Installation is the careful reverse of removal. The rear panel goes in first. Fit the ends between the trim and the bulkhead (fig 7) and engage the panel bracket with the tongue on the roof. Push the panel toward the rear of the car until it stops (fig 8). Push the trim panels, one at

a time, against the bulkhead and tighten the screw (fig 9). It should not encounter the fiberglass form but draw the panel to the bulkhead so as to hold the headliner in place. Leave the extra material sticking out of the door openings for later (fig 10). At this point, install the dome light

into the rectangular hole in the front panel (fig 11). Then, hook the front panel to the roof in a manner similar

to the rear. Engage the bracket with the tongue and push to the rear. A satisfying clunk means it’s in place. With the front of the panel still hanging down, connect the wires

fig 4

fig 5

fig 6

fig 7

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fig 9

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fig 11

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to the dome light (fig 12). The new metal ones hook up this way: The black wire goes to the rigid blade that is part of the frame. The solid purple wire connects to the gold (fixed) blade and the purple/white wire connects to the silver (switched) blade.

In the case of the front panel, the sun visors hold the headliner next to the roof. Using an awl or scribe, push holes in the headliner material where the screw holes are in the fiberglass (fig 13). You can do this before mounting

the panel, if you like, but the sharp point is useful in locating the captive

nuts that the screws go into. This is especially important with the new fiberglass forms. They are not as easy to manipulate as the cardboard ones. Mount the sun visors by putting all four screws into the captive nuts (fig 14). Do not tighten all the way until all screws are started and the panel is positioned correctly. The edges of the fiberglass panel need to be equidistant to the edges of the upper door openings on both sides (fig 15).

The two center panels are now in place with the extra foam material sticking straight out as much as a foot from the fiberglass forms into the door openings on both sides (fig 16). You

will want to cut slits in the material (fig 17) to keep it from bunching or stretching around the corners. Avoid extending the cuts too close to the lip. If you cut too far, the slits will show below the door seal. You will be able to make them deeper later if needs be. Now glue the extra material to the fiberglass lip of the car’s body. Use any brand product that is called ‘Spray Trim Adhesive’. 3M makes one,

as do many other chemical supply companies. They vary in strength and consistency of spray. 3M’s has moderate strength but always sprays uniformly (fig 18). You should

follow the directions on the can, but generally you spray your glue on both the foam and the outside of the lip in a smooth sweep, back and forth along the junction. You may want to mask the work surface with some pieces of cardboard to limit overspray (fig 19).

Let the glue set for as long as it says on the can. Two minutes will not be too long; our mechanic recommends five. Treat one panel at a time, always

fig 17

fig 18

fig 19

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the rear one before the front, because the front overlaps the rear (fig 20).

When the glue has set, press the panel flush up against the roof and then the material against the lip (fig 21). Run a (clean) hand along the

outside of the cloth to mate the two treated surfaces. Once the material on all of the panels has been glued to the roof lip, you must trim the excess cloth away. Use a single-edge razor blade to trim the material so that the edge of the cloth is flush with the edge of the lip (fig 22). Do not leave any to lap over the top. If you do, the door seal may not fit correctly

and worse, the excess foam will wick up water when it rains and stain the headliner inside the car. Depending on the strength of the glue, you may need to clamp the corners, as shown (fig 23). This is especially likely with the new fiberglass forms.

The door headliners fit back onto the stainless roof of the door itself. Align the fir-tree fasteners with the holes and push. Finish the job by pounding gently with your [still clean] fist to drive all the fasteners in (fig 24). All

that remains now is to reinstall the inner door seal (fig 25). This will complete the installation. Nothing

except perhaps new seat covers ($599 get yours now) can restore a new look and feel to the interior like new headliners.

Tools &Parts List

K111001 or K111002 Headliner Kit

Phillips Head Screwdriver

Needle Nose Pliers

6" Awl or Pointed Scribe

Putty Knife or Gasket Scraper

Spray Trim Adhesive

Single-Edge Razor Blade

6' x 6' Drop Cloth

Plastic Clips

100540 Courtesy Light

A4000151 Blending Pad

Fir Tree Removal Tool

(pictured below)

fig 20

fig 21

fig 22

fig 23

fig 24

fig 25

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