| Author | Message | ||
     Sean Heisler (Redrover) New Member Username: Redrover Post Number: 12 Registered: 06-2003 |
Recently, the headliner in my 97 Disco has started to sag. Tried a search but found nothing.••••• clues on how to fix or where to buy one cheap (not from the dealer-they want $920 for parts & labor!). SEAN | ||
| ken knebusch (Charlotterover) Senior Member Username: Charlotterover Post Number: 253 Registered: 02-2002 |
Sean, I think it was Greg that recommended using some fasteners from Lowes. I can't remember if it was Greg Davis or Greg French...sorry guys. Anyway, these can be picked up in their specialty bins, painted to match your headliner and put in. Worked great for me. You need to tape the headliner where they will be going, before you drill a hole for the fastener and that should pretty much do it. Do another search for fasteners and see if that helps. I don't have the time or I would have found them for you. Also, Drew Porta has posted on this and can tell you anything you need to know about full headliner replacement. Ken | ||
| eduardo (Jmonsrvr) Member Username: Jmonsrvr Post Number: 44 Registered: 07-2003 |
yeah i just noticed some sag in my disco1 as well today.....bummer. im itnerested on the fixes and cost of new one doing it yourself and paying for it too.. i know its been discussed before.. | ||
| Greg French (Gregfrench) Senior Member Username: Gregfrench Post Number: 633 Registered: 11-2002 |
It was greg french. I'll try to repost the pics. Maybe I should put it in the tech section as it seems to be a common problem. | ||
| Greg French (Gregfrench) Senior Member Username: Gregfrench Post Number: 635 Registered: 11-2002 |
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| Sean Heisler (Redrover) New Member Username: Redrover Post Number: 13 Registered: 06-2003 |
Ken/Greg -Thanks! Greg-would this work for the leading edge on front window? I am having the biggest problem there. | ||
| ken knebusch (Charlotterover) Senior Member Username: Charlotterover Post Number: 254 Registered: 02-2002 |
Sean, I had that problem too. You need to be careful there. I found some small fasteners that worked. I had to cut their length down a little but it worked. I also used some small pins that really can't be seen. Ken | ||
| Kris Carlquist (Kris_carlquist) New Member Username: Kris_carlquist Post Number: 3 Registered: 09-2003 |
If the cloth is peeling away from the backing, you can fix it yourself. Hot rodders make door panels and headliners all the time. I am not sure exactly what the fabric is, but I am sure you could track a something down at a fabric store. The hot-rodders use a spray adhesive to attach the backing to the fabric. I have been meaning to track down some info on the exact fabric and adhesive. Hot-rodders make flame patters and all sorts of cool stuff with foam under the fabric. My cloth is starting to peel away in a few places and I thought how cool would it look with a raised LR logo under the cloth. I will do a little searching and post any good how-to sites if I find them. I just did a search on "Headliner Repair", there are a ton of sites describing the process and the materials needed. I did not find a LR specific, but frankly, a headliner is a headliner. They are almost all made of the same open-cell foam backed fabric. Once the foam breaks down it can no longer hold the fabric. | ||
| Kris Carlquist (Kris_carlquist) New Member Username: Kris_carlquist Post Number: 4 Registered: 09-2003 |
Okay, I found a book that looks pretty good. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931128006/alanhorvaacousro Hope this helps. | ||
| Drew Porta (Ncrover) Member Username: Ncrover Post Number: 60 Registered: 05-2003 |
There are lots of posts here about headliner replacement in a D1. Perhaps try searching on the word "fabric" and maybe you'll hit the right ones? Like Ken mentions above, I did a full replacement and it was a PITA. To do the job right, you have to remove the entire headliner board (which means removing any plastic panel that touches the headliner. Don't under estimate what this requires...a LR shop manual documents the process and is invaluable in this regard. Be carefull pulling the headliner out of the truck...it is brittle and could break if you bend it too far. It only comes out the back door at a diagonal angle (driver side down and passenger side up). Crank the driver and passenger seat backs as far forward as possible. Once you get it out of the truck, you have to pull off the rear light switch housings (remember what goes where or mark it w/ a marker). Next the old headliner fabric is pulled off and then you clean the board as there is alot of "dead" foam still barely attached to the board (use a plastic bristle brush). The foam is the backer for the headliner fabric and over time the foam dry rots and the fabric falls loose. Keep a swatch of the old headliner so you can color match the fabric. I've recovered headliners before and the Disco is a b1tch to recover properly. Take the bare headliner to a local auto upholstery shop and have them recover it for you. Make sure you get the proper width material ordered - I think it is 60" wide. Anything shorter in width WILL NOT WORK. I'd also get about 2.5 - 3 yards to make sure you have enough length. The proper color material (my Disco is willow green and has a light colored headliner - "Bleached Sand" color was what I ordered) will probably run ~$75 for MATERIAL ONLY. Note that not every upholstery shop can get 60" material...if they can't get 60" material then you are at the wrong shop (read: they will do a hack job on your headliner). There are lots of tricks some of the guys here use to hold up the headliner...from plastic tabs to straight pins. All of them work, including a proper recovering, but you have to decide what fits your budget and level of aesthetic requirement. My headliner recovering cost me about $175 and ALOT of my own labor. The same shop offered to do the whole thing for $395 turn-key. Next time, I'll just pay the $395 and be done with it. Note: If you just try and use spray adhesive to tack back up a sagging headliner you will make a big f-ing mess. The adhesive is meant to be sprayed on the back of the healiner fabric foam which is fused to the headliner fabric. If you try and use the same stuff to just attach the fabric, the adhesive seeps through the fabric and the dead foam and looks like crap. Then, you (or the auto upholstery shop) have to somehow figure out how to remove the adhesive-soaked fabric and dead foam which is now glued to the headliner. | ||
| Greg French (Gregfrench) Senior Member Username: Gregfrench Post Number: 636 Registered: 11-2002 |
For the front and rear (where the fabric ends) I used a door edge protector I bought at Pep Boys or something. I'll post pics as soon as I get a chance to be home again. It looks smart. | ||
| Sean Heisler (Redrover) New Member Username: Redrover Post Number: 15 Registered: 06-2003 |
Greg-please post pics...would like to see that fix | ||
| Greg French (Gregfrench) Senior Member Username: Gregfrench Post Number: 645 Registered: 11-2002 |
For Murray | ||
| Drew Porta (Ncrover) Member Username: Ncrover Post Number: 66 Registered: 05-2003 |
If you're anxious to replace your headliner, drop Ho Chung an email and ask him to post the headliner write-up, photos, and schematics I sent him via email last week for the Tech Section. I'm sure he's working on it, but if someone needs it he may bump it up on his list of DiscoWeb priorities... |
