I recently removed the sagging headliner in my '99 DII and chose to paint the shell rather than recover it with fabric. I'm very happy with the results. Others have done good, comprehensive write-ups available here and on other forums, but I have a handful of lessons leared to share.
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August 2021 update --- Scroll down to post #36 to see current pics of the painted headliner in my truck.
- The trickiest thing I encountered was how to remove the second row light. After removing the lens you'll see a small, rectangular hole on the left side of the housing. You need to insert a flat blade screwdriver in the hole at about a 45 degree angle, then rotate the screwdriver handle down to release the metal clip holding the housing to the shell. I would have posted a pic if that option was available, but PM me if you would like to see a photo of what I am describing.
- If your truck has rear A/C you do not need to remove the rear vents before removing the headliner. They come out with the shell, just like the second row plastic panel and cargo net storage. They can then be easily removed when the shell is out of the truck.
- The plastic trim piece running across the top of the rear door opening needs to be pulled forward to be removed, not pulled down as others have said. The plastic is brittle and it's a little scary, but it will come off if you pull it in the right direction.
- You'll also think you are going to break the A-pillar and B-pillar trim pieces. They are made of the same plastic as the rear door trim and are secured by the same type of clips. Just pull. Have faith. But don't forget to pull the weather stripping to get at the secondary clips for the B-pillar.
- I used a 2-inch wide nail puller (pry bar) to pull out the plastic trim fasteners, and in some cases used a 1/4" piece of wood under that to spread the pressure and try to avoid damage to the trim. They all came out fine with no problems.
- Others are correct that the little screw cover flaps on the visor clips are extremely difficult to avoid breaking off, but I just used them as is and won't spend $14 to replace them.
- Perhaps my most important tip is that denatured alcohol was an excellent solvent for removing the adhesive residue that remained after removing the fabric and using a wire brush to remove the orange foam. Just pour the denatured alcohol on a folded rag and go at it. It evaporates fast and there is no chance of any petroleum residue that might cause problems with the paint. The orange foam came right off with a wire brush just as others have reported.
- I did not sand the surface after cleaning it with denatured alcohol, nor did I sand between coats. I just rolled on a good primer, then followed that with two coats of the best quality satin finish exterior latex house paint available from The Home Depot. The paint pro at The Home Depot advised to use an exterior paint because exterior paints are designed to better handle expansion and contraction, and should therefore be less likely to crack from the temperature changes inside the truck.
- A 6 inch paint roller worked great, with just a little brush work required on some of the tighter inside corners. I love the resulting texture. There are a few places where it is sandpaper-rough that in hindsight I might have sanded a little between coats.
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August 2021 update --- Scroll down to post #36 to see current pics of the painted headliner in my truck.
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