Sometimes we can be **** when it comes to doing your own work, and I'm no different. Most would have been satisfied with vacuuming the interior and wiping off the dash. For me, it's the final outcome that's fueling my drive.

The one thing I'm realizing about this truck is that it's very utilitarian and it comes apart pretty easy.

So to answer your question, am I doing a restoration,no. Bored, far from it. This truck needed some over due maintenance and repair (both mechanical and cosmetic)

 

I am glad that you are enjoying your truck. And you are adding some GREAT infor for future referance.

 

What a pain in the ase. Yesterday I attempted to recover my headliner, was not a good experience. I'll explain, but firstsome basic info to know if you're considering re-doing your headliner.

The standard width for most headliner material is 54".The next size up is 60" which is consider a standard oversize width.In order to do a Disco you will need a material that's 64" wide. So before you start tearing apart yoursaggy headliner, make sure you're able to get 64" wide material.
Not all upholstery shops will have 64" materialin stock. 60" material will not work well.
All you have to do is look up to see why you need64" wide material.The Disco headliner is highly contour, especially the area in front of the alpine windows.
From front toback, the headliner backer board is just less than 8ft so you will need3yds of material.
Most (if not all) 64" wide materials are 1/8" thick. When buying the material,make sure it's 1/8" thick. Anything thicker can cause problem during or after installation.[/ul]
My mistake # 1
Not knowing the difference, I choose to purchase a stitch headliner materialbecause it looked a lot cleaner than the standard fuzzy material.The problem with the stitch material is that it doesn't stretch very easily.

My mistake # 2
For my first headliner job I'm doing the most difficult headliner in the industry.I have a good friend in S. Florida (Hollywood area) who owns an upholstery shop.Before I even started the job he informed me it's going to be a pain because of the material I purchase and the fact that it's a Disco.

My mistake #3
I attempted to do the job by myself. I'm not saying it can't be done by one person. For a headliner novice, itmakes the job more difficult to do by yourself.You're constantly going from one side to the other trying to make sure the material islaid evenly.Since the material and backer board was already sprayed with adhesive, it made it that much more difficult. Ifthe material folded over onto itself or onto apart of theboard where it doesn't go, it was hard (but not impossible) to pull it apart.

In the endI was not pleased with the final results. The stitch material did not stretch properly during installation and you could tell. So I pulled off the new material. I will definitely be buying the standard fuzzy headliner material. The question is, am I'm going to attempt the job again or buy the material and have an upholstery shop do the work?

Since the material only cost me$22.50 for the initial 3yds, I'll probably spend that money again for another 3yds and attempt it one more time.

To be continue

 

Hi Candiman

I have read with great interest what you have done. I have a 96 Disco 1 with asaging headliner and had not worked out how tofix it. Reading your detailed description and looking at the photos has inspired me todo it. I am lucky that the current headlining is not stained and can probably be reused.

Is there a preferred type of glue?
About how long did it take you to pull it all apart?

Cheers
Wizard from Australia

ps this is a great forum

 

I tried to recover the headliner in my M3 which is considerably smaller than the disco, I finally took it to a place that I've used in the past in Stallings/Indian Trail, I believe it was about $60 to cover the headliner, and pillars, parts and labor, I didn't even scuff off the foam either, which I should've but I said "screw it".
I'd imagine you could get the disco done for maybe $120-150. I'll try to find the info of the guy.

 

Usually a sagging headliner can not be fix be re-glueing. It requires replacing the headliner material. The headlineris made of two components, the fuzzy headliner material itself and a foam backing material. Both components areadhere together to create the headliner material.

You may have known that, but the reason I'm telling you this is because once a headliner is sagging, the fuzzyand foam materials have seperated from each other. So applyingadhesive to try and adhere the fuzzy material back onto the foam material usually does not work very well, if at all.

To answer your question is there a prefered type of glue, I have no preferenceon the type of glue but I do have an opinion on the glue application. Once I try to re-apply another headliner material I will tell you my opinion.

 

Mike,

I did mine all by myself, having never done one. I didn't have sunroofs, but that seemed harder to me. One thing is that you should start in the lowest spots possible. You have to get material that is wider than standard. The pockets where the back rises is the worst place to get to. That is where I started.

I went for a couple of years with no headiner, then I found a backer from a guy trashing one. I re-lined it, put it in, then realized I didn't have the metal runners for the headliner to be fastened to. Had to get those from him, install them and put the liner in again. There are pics on here somewhere... https://landroverforums.com/m_38465/tm.htm

I agree it is probably one of the most difficult things I have done to the truck. Make sure and cover the material and the backer BOTH with adhesive. Sticks a lot better. I have one tiny bubble where my sunroof is supposed to be and I know it is from uneven coverage

 

You are correct. Earlier today I checked with my friend in S. Florida and he suggested the same thing. Start in the pocket areas first, then proceed in either directon. The reason being,essentially the material has to be stretch in four directions when doing the pocket areas. If the pocket areas are done first, you have the leeway to stretch the material easily. But if you start glueing from the back or front, by the time you get to the pockets, you havenow limited yourself from stretchingthe material since one side will be glued down.

I also got another 3yds of material and this time I got the regular standard fuzzy material that stretches a lot easier.

 

BTW, thanks for the headliner pics. For a different contrat I also chose a black material and now I know exactly what mine will look like.

 

It's been awhile so here's an update.

Headliner is back in. Pretty much looks exactly like okdiscoguy, except for the dual sunroof. I left the rear trim panels off because I had plans for the cargo area.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?034622-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?034622-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?034622-286

I also took the oppurtunity to replace the boot material on the parking brake and 4-wheel drive handles. Use the original material as a template, cut and sew.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?174822-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?594922-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?265122-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?595122-286

Since I had extra material I choose to wrap the center console cover
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?595122-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?425822-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?425822-286

Remember these seats?
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?360023-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?360023-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?030223-286

Here's what I ended up with.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?480423-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?401023-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?401023-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?401023-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?401023-286

What do you think?
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?351423-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?351423-286

Guess what I'll be attempting to place in these location?
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?351423-286
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...jpg?351423-286