Daughter wrecked her car (my car that she was allowed to drive...bad road conditions and an inexperienced driver...I even checked with the witnesses and they said she wasn't going too fast or doing anything wrong).   Took the insurance $$ and replaced the car.    Got a Jeep Grand Cherokee '97.     In-Line 6, good shape, but the headliner was falling down.    

So...I looked up on the internet how to do it....pretty simple.   Take the trim/visors, etc. off, and pull the headliner board out through the cargo area...scrape off all the old foam, adhesive, fabric, replace in car...right?

Nope...

This car has a dealer added sun-roof.   So...no solid headliner board.    There's a part of the board over the cargo area, strips going up the side, then a small part above the windshield.     A couple of gaps between the board and the sunroof mechanism.   Nothing solid to take out.

I covered the sun-roof shade panel with no problems.  

However...the only way to get the new headliner in the car is to hang it in place.

Anyone do that before?

Tips/suggestions?   Back half, then front half?   Start at back and roll forward?  

(No...I called the local guys that do it and it's about 1/2 the total cost of the car...so it's a DIY project or it doesn't get done...).   Have the spray adhesive and foam backed fabric roll already.  

Thanks!

Honestly, if at all possible, take out the pieces, recover, and reinstall.

Otherwise, the old dried out foam and spray adhesive will get on everything and you'll have one hell of a mess.

Or get another backer assy from a wrecking yard, recover that and make a new hole for the sunroof.

Axe and ye shall receive:

From the cargo area looking forward:



Detail at the back of the sunroof area...you can see the cutout and the sheet metal roof of the car...on the far side, you can see where the original headliner board was cut (and the strip going forward on the passenger side of the car).


Detail at the front of the sunroof area..

97 you say?

I'd spray a popcorn texture finish in there and hang some polished brass fixtures.

Period correct and easy to maintain.

Foam and adhesive are off the boards (the pics above were before the final clean up)...done in the car...and that was a bitch also...

The boards up the sides are too flimsy to pull out...they'll break.    So...

Actually Plan B is to bedliner it.    But with all the wires, body of the sun-roof, etc. it won't be purty.

(I asked on the Cherokee forums...and the general response to my question (and those in the past)..."Good Luck, you're fucked".

Expert advice...
Do it in the car. I have not seen a such a poorly hacked up one like that before, and I've done hundreds.
Start with the back and do 1 foot sections. Leave a bit unglued around the sunroof so it will look better that way.
Find the BEST  height heat contact adhesive in a can get a few of them. Spray each side wait about a minute before adhering.

My plan was to:

Lay the roll (oversized) on the outside roof of the car.
Cut a bit bigger than needed.

Take it in the car, and use clips (paperclips, chip clips, clothespins, etc) to hold it roughly in place around the periphery.

Put a board up across the middle of the car. to support the fabric.

Start at the middle and work back.

Then forward.

There's a trim margin around the sun-roof edge...I'll cut the fabric at the edge with a bit of overlap and use the trip to hold into place.

AFARR

I paid a guy $250 to do mine. It was worth it. I wasn't about to try to do it myself. I don't know what he used, but it worked and it looks good.  Yours will be more due to larger roof area and sunroof, but I'd still find someone who does them for a trade.

Yank it all out and spray it with rhino liner to deaden the sound. It's a freakin' jeep.

Man that headliner board looks like a back room abortion.  
I worked at an upholstery shop for 5 years, never seen anything like that.  Do Start from the back and work forward. Leave the area around the sunroof loose with no glue stretch and form to the opening around sunroof.  And like another poster said. Use a good glue, we actually used Formica adhesive that was sprayed from a pressure pot,  most rattle can glues lack true holding power where heat and gravity will be working against it.

Where in PA? I know a place that does them pretty cheap.

Where's your place?  I might need a Civic done if it doesn't grenade first.

I'd have to agree with this guy...

Kharn

All done.   Wrinkles in some places, and I mis-cut in the cargo area and didn't leave enough to fold back over the headliner board near the back windows, but overall it's marginally acceptable.    Better than a falling down headliner, no where near as good as a professional job.   But, it's a drivable jeep ($900 before I did brakes, spider gears, etc.).    

Did it from the back forward.    

Won't do it again.

I would have, except for the exposed wires and drain hoses from the sunroof.     If the one I put in starts to fall down, I'll probably just go that route....

If you have cable, turn on SPIKE tomorrow morning and watch Muscle Car. They covered hanging a head liner today and they repeat the episodes on Sunday.

His is a special case with an aftermarket sunroof. Normal rules don't apply. Plus hey are more than likely to show how to do a suspended headliner with the bows. Completely different.

It actually was a suspended headliner with the bows. However the tips about fitting the headliner that are not related to the bows might still be useful. Worst case, OP gets to see a pretty cool tricked out Monte Carlo.

Some headliners need to have the windshield removed to replace.

Depends on how flexible the backing board is and what type of vehicle.

Should be able to get a Jeep's out through the back hatch.



I've never had luck with trying to re-glue falling headliners. Usually the foam is degrading and spraying new glue on the degrading surface is only a temp fix.



For older cars that you don't want to spend a lot of money on, if you really don't care if they look "stock", what I've done is take straight pins and neatly push them though at an angle. This will hold the cloth up to the foam backing. If you do it in rows it almost looks like its custom. Cheap and easy fix.