Reupholstering a saggy headliner on a 700 series (including sunroof)
Since the 700 series headliners all go crappy and sag due to the foam rubber that deteriorates, I thought I’ll write this article while doing it myself. It isn’t the most difficult job in the world, but requires you to be a bit patient and not try everything at once. Mine looked like this:
I have to mention that this article is written using a wagon, which makes it considerably easier as you can yank the headliner right out the back. For a sedan, you’ll need to remove the windscreen, the rear window or the back seats in order to get the headliner out of the car in one peace.
Tools required:
8mm socket with extension
Ratchet
Flat head screw driver
Philips screw driver
Filling knife
Estimated time to completion:
4 – 6 hours (this time can be greatly reduced if you do this with two people. A pair of extra hands is really useful for this job!!) or double that if you have an original Volvo sunroof like mine.
Materials you’ll need:
Fabric
3 or 4 cans of glue in a spray can
Thin foam rubber (5mm thick max, you can get this at every car upholstery shop, together with the glue)
Double sided tape (only for sunroof)
Nice weather (only applies to the people who have a sunroof). For people in England, get some plastic and tape.
Total costs:
About $70
Step 1, removing the headliner:
The first step is to remove the headliner. This is done by removing all the trim around it, the interior lighting, the sun visors, the rear view mirror and, if you have a sunroof, the sunroof crank and trim for that. Be gentile with the trim pieces as they break quite easily (the clips and fasteners brake off)!
The trim is removed by unscrewing the handles (that your passengers use when you are flying through corners) by removing the black cover from each handle. It then reveals four screws on each handle. For the driver’s side, you’ll need to remove the two black caps that cover the holes where that handle should be. This reveals two white plates with a screw in them. You then should be able to remove the first piece of trim on both sides. Remove the trim peace in the back of the car by unscrewing the big round plastic screws with a flat head. Then, disconnect the interior light and it should come loose.
The sun visors and rear view mirrors are bolted to the roof with 8mm bolts. Unscrew them and they should all come off.
Be careful on the interior lights that you don’t let the wires touch each other or the car body, as this will blow fuse nr. 5 (20 amp) and your radio will stop, which is annoying. Even better, before removing the interior lights, take out fuse nr. 5 (located in the white block with fuses behind the ashtray). When the interior light in the middle of the car is out, you can remove the metal bracket that holds the middle of the headliner to the roof (don’t know if it’s there in a car without a sunroof though).
It took me about 20 minutes to get it out. It’s that easy!
Step 2, preparing the headliner:
Hurray!! The headliner is out! As you can see, it looks like crap (which yours is also supposed to look like, otherwise you wouldn’t be using this article):
Now that the headliner is removed, you can start by tearing the fabric off. This should go very easily as the foam rubber is all rotten underneath it.
Now it’s time for the most boring bit, which is to get out your filling knife and scrape all the old what used to be foam rubber crap off. This also goes pretty easily. You’ll need to be a bit careful not to tear up all the cardboard stuff underneath the foam rubber with your filling knife. When you are done, it should look like this:
Then take an old T-shirt or other rag and give the headliner a good rub. This removes all the little foam rubber pulp that annoyingly sticks to the board. It helps by putting the headliner against the wall and work from top to bottom, as it will all fall to the ground and not somewhere else on the headliner.
Step 3, getting busy with foam:
Now your headliner is ready for the new layer of foam rubber. First, spray in both the foam rubber and the headliner board with glue. Let it dry for about a minute (depends on what type of glue you are using! Read what it says on the bottle and do that) and glue them together. Gently place the foam rubber on the headliner pressing it onto the headliner from the middle to the outsides, following the bumps and curves in the headliner so you don’t get any folds or wrinkles. Remember, when the two glued parts touch each other, they are stuck together for good! When it is all on, push it all together hard with your hands. Still be careful that you don’t create any folds! Then let it dry for 15 minutes or something (again depends on the type of glue). Time for some coffee.
When you have finished your coffee, cut off all the excess pieces of foam and open all holes again.
Step 4, reupholstering the headliner:
For this bit, you can really use an extra pair of hands in order to get it right. Firstly, make sure the fabric you bought doesn’t have any folds in it. I bought a big piece of black cotton, as this can be glued easily and is cheap. It had a couple folds in it, so I got out the ironing board and ironed it. You then spray both the fabric and the headliner with glue (don’t go crazy with glue, otherwise it will soak the fabric and shine through, which will ruin the headliner). Then, get two friends/parents/brothers or sisters/neighbors/homeless people or anyone who would like to help you, and let them hold each end of the fabric. Let them hold the fabric just above the headliner in the way it should be placed, while you gently push the fabric on to the headliner, starting in the middle and working your way outwards following the curves and bumps nicely, so you don’t create folds or wrinkles in the fabric. Because of the glue, you would never be able to get rid of folds or wrinkles if they appeared! When this is done, it should look like this:
Then, fold over the excess fabric on all sides and glue that to the back side of the headliner. You can also staple it if you run out of glue or have a really cool staple gun.
Cut out all the holes again, but leave an edge in the side for the sunroof. This will be held together with the sunroof with the trim bits. If you don’t have a sunroof, go to step 7.
Step 5, removing the panels from the sunroof:
Firstly, you’ll need to remove the sunroof. This is where the nice weather comes in, and for the English people the plastic and tape, as the weather mostly sucks over there. You’ll first need to remove the four drain pipes in each corner. Then, unbolt all 14 bolts and the whole mechanism should come down on your head, proving that friends are useful.
Now that it’s out, you’ll have to remove the two panels for reupholstering. You start by sliding the sunroof all the way back and removing the flap that comes out and redirects the wind over the hole in the roof by sliding it sideways. It is held on by two pins with a spring on it.
Then, unbolt the rails on which the roof slides and remove the panel covering the cranking mechanism. When everything is unbolted, pull the rails upwards on the front.
Lift out the entire assembly. Put the crank back and crank the sunroof all the way forward and in the tilted up position.
Now twist one of the rails and move it outward a little so you can take out the front slidy bits of the top panel that needs to be reupholstered.
Lift the smaller panel up on the front. You’ll see two springs attached to the bottom of that panel by two hooks. Pull on them to disconnect them from the panel.
Pull the big panel backwards to remove it. It is held on by two clips on the bottom (see the red circle).
Remove the panel from the slides by rotating it.
Remove the smaller panel from the bigger one by sliding it sideways.
Step 6, reupholstering the sunroof panels:
Now tear off all the old fabric. Volvo used some weird double layers of fabric with some foam in between, taped to the back of the panels with double sided tape.
I used thin double sided tape on the top of the panel to stick some thin foam rubber on it. I used double sided tape and not glue because the panel isn’t flat.
If you would glue the foam to the panel, it would follow all the curves of the panel, which would show when you upholster it. Apply double sided tape only to the “higher” parts of the panel, and then stick foam rubber to it. You do this for both panels.
Apply glue to the fabric for the panel and to the foam on the panel and glue it on (same thing as in step 4, only on a smaller scale).
Reassemble the sunroof in the reversed order of step 5 and put it back in your car.
Step 7, put it all back together:
Put the headliner back in and install all the trim bits (Step 1 in reverse). If you have a sunroof, you now need to reattach the fabric of the headliner to the sunroof surroundings
You do this by cleaning all the old sticky stuff of the edge of the sunroof part where the fabric will be attached. Then, apply thin double sided tape again.
Now cut the excess of fabric you left on the edge of the hole for the sunroof on the headliner to the right size for it to be pulled over the edge and stuck to the double sided tape, and attach it.
Reattach the trim piece around that edge and you are finished.
Once it is all in, it will look like this:
Quite an improvement over the old saggy headliner!
Since the 700 series headliners all go crappy and sag due to the foam rubber that deteriorates, I thought I’ll write this article while doing it myself. It isn’t the most difficult job in the world, but requires you to be a bit patient and not try everything at once. Mine looked like this:
I have to mention that this article is written using a wagon, which makes it considerably easier as you can yank the headliner right out the back. For a sedan, you’ll need to remove the windscreen, the rear window or the back seats in order to get the headliner out of the car in one peace.
Tools required:
8mm socket with extension
Ratchet
Flat head screw driver
Philips screw driver
Filling knife
Estimated time to completion:
4 – 6 hours (this time can be greatly reduced if you do this with two people. A pair of extra hands is really useful for this job!!) or double that if you have an original Volvo sunroof like mine.
Materials you’ll need:
Fabric
3 or 4 cans of glue in a spray can
Thin foam rubber (5mm thick max, you can get this at every car upholstery shop, together with the glue)
Double sided tape (only for sunroof)
Nice weather (only applies to the people who have a sunroof). For people in England, get some plastic and tape.
Total costs:
About $70
Step 1, removing the headliner:
The first step is to remove the headliner. This is done by removing all the trim around it, the interior lighting, the sun visors, the rear view mirror and, if you have a sunroof, the sunroof crank and trim for that. Be gentile with the trim pieces as they break quite easily (the clips and fasteners brake off)!
The trim is removed by unscrewing the handles (that your passengers use when you are flying through corners) by removing the black cover from each handle. It then reveals four screws on each handle. For the driver’s side, you’ll need to remove the two black caps that cover the holes where that handle should be. This reveals two white plates with a screw in them. You then should be able to remove the first piece of trim on both sides. Remove the trim peace in the back of the car by unscrewing the big round plastic screws with a flat head. Then, disconnect the interior light and it should come loose.
The sun visors and rear view mirrors are bolted to the roof with 8mm bolts. Unscrew them and they should all come off.
Be careful on the interior lights that you don’t let the wires touch each other or the car body, as this will blow fuse nr. 5 (20 amp) and your radio will stop, which is annoying. Even better, before removing the interior lights, take out fuse nr. 5 (located in the white block with fuses behind the ashtray). When the interior light in the middle of the car is out, you can remove the metal bracket that holds the middle of the headliner to the roof (don’t know if it’s there in a car without a sunroof though).
It took me about 20 minutes to get it out. It’s that easy!
Step 2, preparing the headliner:
Hurray!! The headliner is out! As you can see, it looks like crap (which yours is also supposed to look like, otherwise you wouldn’t be using this article):
Now that the headliner is removed, you can start by tearing the fabric off. This should go very easily as the foam rubber is all rotten underneath it.
Now it’s time for the most boring bit, which is to get out your filling knife and scrape all the old what used to be foam rubber crap off. This also goes pretty easily. You’ll need to be a bit careful not to tear up all the cardboard stuff underneath the foam rubber with your filling knife. When you are done, it should look like this:
Then take an old T-shirt or other rag and give the headliner a good rub. This removes all the little foam rubber pulp that annoyingly sticks to the board. It helps by putting the headliner against the wall and work from top to bottom, as it will all fall to the ground and not somewhere else on the headliner.
Step 3, getting busy with foam:
Now your headliner is ready for the new layer of foam rubber. First, spray in both the foam rubber and the headliner board with glue. Let it dry for about a minute (depends on what type of glue you are using! Read what it says on the bottle and do that) and glue them together. Gently place the foam rubber on the headliner pressing it onto the headliner from the middle to the outsides, following the bumps and curves in the headliner so you don’t get any folds or wrinkles. Remember, when the two glued parts touch each other, they are stuck together for good! When it is all on, push it all together hard with your hands. Still be careful that you don’t create any folds! Then let it dry for 15 minutes or something (again depends on the type of glue). Time for some coffee.
When you have finished your coffee, cut off all the excess pieces of foam and open all holes again.
Step 4, reupholstering the headliner:
For this bit, you can really use an extra pair of hands in order to get it right. Firstly, make sure the fabric you bought doesn’t have any folds in it. I bought a big piece of black cotton, as this can be glued easily and is cheap. It had a couple folds in it, so I got out the ironing board and ironed it. You then spray both the fabric and the headliner with glue (don’t go crazy with glue, otherwise it will soak the fabric and shine through, which will ruin the headliner). Then, get two friends/parents/brothers or sisters/neighbors/homeless people or anyone who would like to help you, and let them hold each end of the fabric. Let them hold the fabric just above the headliner in the way it should be placed, while you gently push the fabric on to the headliner, starting in the middle and working your way outwards following the curves and bumps nicely, so you don’t create folds or wrinkles in the fabric. Because of the glue, you would never be able to get rid of folds or wrinkles if they appeared! When this is done, it should look like this:
Then, fold over the excess fabric on all sides and glue that to the back side of the headliner. You can also staple it if you run out of glue or have a really cool staple gun.
Cut out all the holes again, but leave an edge in the side for the sunroof. This will be held together with the sunroof with the trim bits. If you don’t have a sunroof, go to step 7.
Step 5, removing the panels from the sunroof:
Firstly, you’ll need to remove the sunroof. This is where the nice weather comes in, and for the English people the plastic and tape, as the weather mostly sucks over there. You’ll first need to remove the four drain pipes in each corner. Then, unbolt all 14 bolts and the whole mechanism should come down on your head, proving that friends are useful.
Now that it’s out, you’ll have to remove the two panels for reupholstering. You start by sliding the sunroof all the way back and removing the flap that comes out and redirects the wind over the hole in the roof by sliding it sideways. It is held on by two pins with a spring on it.
Then, unbolt the rails on which the roof slides and remove the panel covering the cranking mechanism. When everything is unbolted, pull the rails upwards on the front.
Lift out the entire assembly. Put the crank back and crank the sunroof all the way forward and in the tilted up position.
Now twist one of the rails and move it outward a little so you can take out the front slidy bits of the top panel that needs to be reupholstered.
Lift the smaller panel up on the front. You’ll see two springs attached to the bottom of that panel by two hooks. Pull on them to disconnect them from the panel.
Pull the big panel backwards to remove it. It is held on by two clips on the bottom (see the red circle).
Remove the panel from the slides by rotating it.
Remove the smaller panel from the bigger one by sliding it sideways.
Step 6, reupholstering the sunroof panels:
Now tear off all the old fabric. Volvo used some weird double layers of fabric with some foam in between, taped to the back of the panels with double sided tape.
I used thin double sided tape on the top of the panel to stick some thin foam rubber on it. I used double sided tape and not glue because the panel isn’t flat.
If you would glue the foam to the panel, it would follow all the curves of the panel, which would show when you upholster it. Apply double sided tape only to the “higher” parts of the panel, and then stick foam rubber to it. You do this for both panels.
Apply glue to the fabric for the panel and to the foam on the panel and glue it on (same thing as in step 4, only on a smaller scale).
Reassemble the sunroof in the reversed order of step 5 and put it back in your car.
Step 7, put it all back together:
Put the headliner back in and install all the trim bits (Step 1 in reverse). If you have a sunroof, you now need to reattach the fabric of the headliner to the sunroof surroundings
You do this by cleaning all the old sticky stuff of the edge of the sunroof part where the fabric will be attached. Then, apply thin double sided tape again.
Now cut the excess of fabric you left on the edge of the hole for the sunroof on the headliner to the right size for it to be pulled over the edge and stuck to the double sided tape, and attach it.
Reattach the trim piece around that edge and you are finished.
Once it is all in, it will look like this:
Quite an improvement over the old saggy headliner!
Last edited:
. But if you can find the lining material stuff in your area it would be nice, yes. Although i don't know what it costs (i expect it would cost quite a lot?).
