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Saggy headlinings.. threads merged

4K views 54 replies 20 participants last post by  computek 
#1 ·
Saggy headlinings...(Probably been posted before but)

Hi all, I like most other 900/9000 owners have a saggy roof lining and was just wandering what the best way to repair it is? Every 9000 I have seen in the scrap yards have saggy linings too ...so that rules out buying a good one, indeed, are there any good ones left at all? Its looks like a previous owner has tried to glue it theirself and has failed and in the process made the lining looks shabby and dirty :(

Is it best to remove the lining and reglue it or are they obtainable from anywhere new? Has anyone had one made up from a interior specialist or something?

Regards,

Al
 
#2 ·
u cant reglue it...the headliner fabric has foam padding affixed to the back of it so after years of ebing in the car the foam disengrates and leave the fabric falling and saging.....the only two choices u have(and one is a very very bad stop gap just so u can see out the rear window or something) if either staple it :evil: :evil: :evil: which i wouldnt recommend doing..or do it the right way and recover it yourself....its not hard really all u have to do is remove all the handles over the doors, both front visors, the a pillar trim and th ec pillar trim(some stuff needs to be taken apart to get the c pillar off the seatbelt but if your replaceing the headliner with the same color fabric you dont need to worry about that cause the fabric doesnt really come loose off the c pillars anyway), remove the light in the center of the car and remove the plastic bits around your readin light and other light in that plastic situation up front(comes out with one screw) then just open up your doors and pull down the weatherstripping to release the headliner and now open up your trunk(here is where its great to have a hatchback) and carefully pull it out throught the back....now with the board out rip off all the old fabric and get a stiff plastic bristle brush and just "scrape" or rather rub off all the old foam bits and wipe it don well...now just grab your spray adhesive( gets some headliner specific addhesive) and take your roll of 3 yards of headliner fabric you bought and position it(keep in mind u need about 1 yard to do the sunroof panel) and spray the adhesive let it become tacky (u may have to do both sides of what your gluing check the label)and lay it on push and pull till everything is even and looking good trim and staple back the fabric on the underside of the panel(what is going against the roof and not your head) and let it dry then replace it in your car....or skip the entire rehulpostering step and just buy a headlining replacement kit for the car, or have a shop do it for 150-200 bucks.....id do it all myself cause it only take an afternoon and costs the price of a can of spray adhesive(10 bucks tops) and 3 yards of fabric(45)
so for 60 bucks and a couple hours your set and did yet another thing for you car which always gives u(at least it does for me) a sense of pride and feeling of accomplishment


wow, that is my longest post ever

peace
 
#4 ·
if you got a garage or basement or a kitchen table u could probably do it sooner than later really.......the big mess is scraping off the old foam though if u keep a shopvac nearby and suck up the bits every few square feet im sure its not too bad......only thing the board is fragile so it could break in the wind so hold it so as little wind hits it as possible when taking it out..inside its obviously not a problem....ohhh i did forget to mention or rather ask if you have a sunroof or not...to get to that panel u have to remove it through the top which can be a little tricky to figure out...you have to unbolt the sunroof buts its only 3 torx screws on each side

goodluck
 
#5 ·
...Yes, ive got an elecy sunroof. Ive been looking at the sagging today and the sunroof inner blind has sagged too along with the front door cloth trims.

I think I will leave it until summer as its really damp here at the moment, cold and windy, Ive got a garage but my friend's car is in there at the moment - not the best time. Id imagien hotter weather is better for reglueing the lining anyway?

Alex
 
#9 ·
yeah when i did that i was thinking "im so glad my brother bought the hatchback version" lol.....the thin i would do is propbaly split it in two and but brcaes along the back afterwards...though i seem to rember u "can" do it by takiing out the front seat or seats and go through those doors.......not sure
 
#12 ·
boon94 said:
Is it just the old generation headliners that sag? Mine doesnt look like it will ever sag (94). Is it mostly non-sunroof models?
No, it seems just as likely to happen on models with a sunroof. Then again, I can't remember if I have ever seen a 9000 without a sunroof, at least not in person. Oh wait, maybe the shop's '88 9000s loaner car. I would tend to think it's just a function of age and environmental conditions, but possibly Saab used an improved adhesive on the newer body cars? My '87 didn't really start having bad headliner sag until about 300k miles (roughly 17 years old). My '91 is sagging just a tiny bit at 204k miles and 16 years. I suspect the headliners may fail sooner in hotter climates.
 
#13 ·
the foam backing on the headliner fabric deteriorates.....it will happen to every car with that type of m,aterial eventually......climate def takes its toll...inm ny it can easyly get incredible hot in there in the summer time especially with black leather and sunbroof:evil: (only time i wish i have cloth is on those 100 degree days where the black leather burns your...will ummm u know

but eventually it wears outs...ive got to replace my friends headliner on his like 87 or 89 buick soon as its starting to become a hazard seeing out the back...
 
#15 ·
boon94 said:
Is it just the old generation headliners that sag? Mine doesnt look like it will ever sag (94). Is it mostly non-sunroof models?
boon94 said:
anyone replaced their headlinings with any neat fabrics? My sunroof lining is sagging and i wanted to test out a black suede / microfiber cloth and see how it looks, that and the A pillars. Anyone have Pics?



lol

To answer your question though, headliner has a foam back, not sure if you'd be able to use an adhesive that wouldn't bleed through microfiber. What I'd suggest is get some sample fabric swatches of fabric and the spray adhesive and see what looks okay and what will bleed through etc. Dont forget the cpillars in the back are also covered in fabric...the seatbelt runs through em so you have to undo all that......on mine the c pillars where fine and i went stock color, but if you do anything elaborate need to take out the rear seats and undo the seatbelt mounting bolts i believe,
 
#16 ·
headliner 9000

Does anyone have some suggestions for fixing the headliners on the Saab 9000? I have three of them and all three have something big wrong. The 93 and 89 looks like they could be repaired perhaps with somekinda glue or something. The 92 looks like it needs a total rip out. I imagine they would be difficult to replace, so I thought perhaps I would remove the old one and paint the lid? I know shoddy but cheap. Maybe some kind of tacks would work. I do not know and any suggestions would be appreciated. Oh and you were right on Aaron Gilbert the voltage regulator fixed the alternator (10.04$ A&E electric, Tacoma)

Steve
 
#17 ·
Iv never done it but i have seen people replace the headliner, first to fix a saggy headliner you can always buy some spray glue and spray the glue on the foam and press the liner onto the glue, as far as replacing it i have seen people, not in a saab but what they do is they remove the headliner rip off the cloth u can replace the foam, then get some cloth from micheals or rag shop and spray the glue and press the cloth onto the foam and reinstall the headliner

Imran
 
#19 ·
Not sure on the temporary repair thing but they are not that hard to get out if you decide to do a complete reline - just a matter of undoing the fittings and trims. you can buy fabric with the foam backing on to replace the whole lining - use spray on adhesive and a roller. My partner did mine after I removed it from the car and she did a great job!
 
#20 ·
I recently re-did mine. Taking it out is not that hard as long as you have a hatch. Instead of buying the cloth and recovering it myself, I took mine to an auto upholsterer who redid the whole thing for $140. The cost in materials alone to do it myself was in the $60-80 range.


It came out absolutely perfect.
 
#21 ·
sp53 said:

...
Oh and you were right on Aaron Gilbert the voltage regulator fixed the alternator (10.04$ A&E electric, Tacoma)
You got a voltage regulator for $10.04?! That's a heck of a deal! And I thought $30 or so wasn't bad, at less the half the Saab dealer's price... I don't recall suggesting one was bad, but glad it worked out! :)

I'll be recovering my own headliner within the next few months. I just bought the fabric this week. Supposedly there is a guy who does great work in this area (Tacoma), if you don't feel like doing it yourself. I can look up his name and number when I get home tonight.
 
#22 ·
When I did the headliner in my '87, it only took me a few hours and 30 euros in materials (fabric + glue). If I had to do it again, the hardest part would be to find a place to lay the headliner shell and, clean it from the old foam and glue the new fabric in. Space is tight these days :confused:
 
#23 · (Edited)
smooth roof

hey vnv727, thanks for the advice on the roof repair - i recovered the roof of my beautiful babyblue last weekend following your instructions to the letter. In all cost me £15 and 2 hours work. Wonder if I could turn this into a job and fly all around the world fixing saggy roof lining and making sad saggy saab owners everywhere happy again! lol ; )

ps i used spray can of strong upholstery glue - the type that can hold leather. there was no bleed through a thin fleece material - the glue comes out a bit like the webs that Spiderman shoots from his wrists so its fun as well!
 
#25 ·
hey - my roof is beautiful but I can only see it in daylight because now my interior light doesn't work...i've obviously botched the refit of the light somewhere

I was so pleased with my little self :(
can anyone direct me to a post on interior lights? I had a search across the site but no joy?
 
#26 ·
I just replaced the lining in my 9000T (sunroof) DIY quite easy I'll post some pics later of the finished product!
sorry no pics of during But I will be doing it again soon on my other one!!

I just removed the whole roof lid It was in really bad condition where the sun roof was it had split and the fool before me had cut the cloth out with a stanel knife so there was big stress point right across the middle:nono;

so placed it out brushed all the crap off it then i used paper and boncrete
and pretty much paper machaed all the stress and ripped, broken parts!

then sanded and painted two coats of paint to seal so that glue would stick!

first i used a gel glue on the shell, cant remember what its called tell you later!

I then placed plaster board (had it lying around) over the shell so that i could place cloth over shell then started from one side removed piece of board sprayed the cloth with spay adhesive and sticked to the shell then removed next piece and so on! 4 pieces i used.
will Take phots next time so it wll be easier to understand!!
 
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