Painting the headliner: getting a smooth finish

[NZDisco]

The sky is falling. I want to paint my headliner, and I'm looking to get a nice smooth factory-ish finish with a matt paint in light grey to match the interior.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I plan on spending a bit of time getting it right. I haven't done anything like this before so need a few tips.

My plan is:

- Clean off all the old crap
- Primer
- Fill the surface with something like Bondo or body filler?
- Sand
- Maybe a high build primer and more sanding?
- Paint

Questions:

- How smooth is the surface once the crap comes off?
- Can I sand the fibers in the fiberglass or is that not ok?
- Will a coat of bondo and sanding be enough to get it super smooth for painting?
- Is it possible to achieve a factory-ish finish this way?

 

[LuisC]

I'd be interested to see this. Post pics as you do it.

 

[1MITCH1]

I painted the headliner in my classic, it looked decent but was far from smooth, I didn't care it was a trail rig p.o.s. I used a roller and some latex interior left over from my living room. I suppose a light sanding between coats would help, but how smooth do you want this to be. The fabric didn't have a smooth finsh. I think that bondo would be a terrible idea. The headliner is pretty flexible and I don't think it would take much for the bondo to pop off.

 

[BajaXJ92]

I would have to disagree with the bondo idea as well. The headliner does need a fair amount of flex to be able to be fit in and out of the vehicle so you'll likely crack the bondo when re-installing it.

I was thinking the same way when I did my headliner, however about halfway through the project I got a bit impatient driving around with wires hanging in my face so I threw it back in without painting it.

I tried painting over the fibers after removing all of the glue and that just didn't work. The paint WILL soak in.

I ended up using Rustoleum rubberized undercoating to give it a flexable, yet paintable surface. I never did end up painting mine, even though I have tan interior so it remains black. I'm not sure how easy it is to paint over the undercoating. I would imagine it will take a fair amount of priming to get to the color that you want. The black/tan combination actually doesn't look too bad.

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/8053/rustoleum.jpg


How it turned out:

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5923/headlinerc.jpg


FYI- Even after about 5-6 cans of the stuff, I can still see some of the woven fibers, so unless you lay the stuff on pretty thick, you will still see the fibers in most areas.

 

[lunchbox]

So...you used 5-6 cans of paint on your headliner? How much was the paint? $5 a can? You can get a headliner done for $75, and it will look...well like a headliner, not a painted piece of cardboard. This seems to pop up often as a topic. Why? Not trying to be a dick. I really don't get it.

 

[yesmar]

yeah but with this you don't need to do it ever again . i got my cloth off and as much gunk as i could on mine. i was going to spray it but never got that far. i think it looks pretty cool as is kinda like tan/brown velvet.

op i wouldn't sand it or put bondo on it if i were you. you may get that plastic ish look mixed with fabric ish... imo. i would just get as much shit off it that you can and spray it with truck bed liner then spray a couple coats over that whatever color you want. but idk that just what im going to do when i get around to finishing the job

 

[JSQ]

So...you used 5-6 cans of paint on your headliner? How much was the paint? $5 a can? You can get a headliner done for $75, and it will look...well like a headliner, not a painted piece of cardboard. This seems to pop up often as a topic. Why? Not trying to be a dick. I really don't get it.

Precisely.
Just get the headliner done. It will be nice and fresh and will probably last longer than you own the truck. Why anyone would go to so much trouble to do something that will inevitably make the whole truck looked hacked is beyond me.

 

[yesmar]

i don't know man, sometimes people want something permanent. and don't mind giving it a try by themselves. beyond you or not, i don't think that matters.
it has come out very nice for some...

 

[pinba1173]

While I had mine out I installed a bright cargo light near the rear door. Don't miss this chance to do any pre-wiring for possible future mods. Also I was not happy with any of the combinations of bed-liner, primer, or paint that I tried. In the end I covered it with tan felt. Glue and material was under $20 bones. The Headliner material available at my local fabric store was not wide enough. Could have gotten on-line but was in a hurry and wanted to practice with a cheep fabric.

 

[JSQ]

i don't know man, sometimes people want something permanent. and don't mind giving it a try by themselves. beyond you or not, i don't think that matters.
it has come out very nice for some...

Bullshit.
Post a pic of one that doesn't look hacked.

 

[knewsom]

While I had mine out I installed a bright cargo light near the rear door. Don't miss this chance to do any pre-wiring for possible future mods. Also I was not happy with any of the combinations of bed-liner, primer, or paint that I tried. In the end I covered it with tan felt. Glue and material was under $20 bones. The Headliner material available at my local fabric store was not wide enough. Could have gotten on-line but was in a hurry and wanted to practice with a cheep fabric.

Felt is a great idea - I was actually thinking about using canvas for mine, but I think a softer fabric is better - will absorb more sound, and felt is ?ber durable.

 

[NZDisco]

Hmm I didn't think about the surface filler cracking when it flexes.. That wouldn't be such a good look. I may just get it recovered and be done with it.

 

[DiscoJen]

I don't critize much when folks are trying to tackle DIY projects on the cheap, but painting a headliner just looks like crap in my opinion. Even paint isn't permanent so I don't buy that excuse. I'll buy doing it to be different maybe. Especially when you are considering the cost of 5 cans of paint and all the hours of sanding and scrubbing to get most of the fibers off. Recovering it yourself, or at a shop, if done right will last the life of the truck or at least until it's next engine replacement.

 

[lunchbox]

Wranglers don't have headliners. Just saying...

 

[dmonares]

Plasticote makes a flexible filler primer, you can try to smooth out the headliner before priming and then shoot it with a can of that.

 

[yesmar]

Bullshit.
Post a pic of one that doesn't look hacked.

i think this one looks good.
http://landroverforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26219&highlight=headliner

yeah you guys are right about spending the money and having something done right. but were talking about cheap old 4x4 trucks. that are covered in scratches from the trails and its not exactly a classic or a new car...

 

[mjbrox]

why not just use an interior paint and roller.

It would take all of two min to paint, so you could give a ton of coats