Headliner

Some people stay away from anything having to do with the headliner. Before this, I had never repaired or installed a headliner. Usually I try to find a write up on a forum or pictures someone else has taken before I start a project. This is especially true when I have no experience in the area. I had no such luck sourcing any sort of tutorial.

I tried to find a picture of the original headliner, but it appears that I never took one. As I write this it occurs to me that I should have taken way more pictures. Just imagine the disgustingly dirtiest sagging piece of vinyl you can. Some rips, some stains, (how does someone stain vinyl?) flopping in your rear view mirror when you check to see how many people are in line behind you on that hill.

Mercedes used no glue (or so it appears 31 years later) to hold up the headliner. There are plastic strips which are heat welded to the edge of the vinyl. These attach to a metal lip underneath what’s left of my door seals and under the stainless steel trim of the sun roof. On the door side, they are clipped in place by extremely sharp metal clips, and on the sunroof side they slide under metal tabs and are pinched down by the stainless trim as it is screwed in place. At the back of the sunroof a cardboard strip pressed into a slot holds up the vinyl, and at the of the roof a metal bow with rotted rubber bushings used to hold tension in the rear of the car. The headliner is then tucked up under the rear windshield gasket. Removal is simple. With the headliner out and mostly intact, I have a template from which to build my new one. The above picture shows my new fabric, and the process of attaching the salvaged plastic strips from the old headliner. As of now the hood of the Mercedes has been replaced by a proper work bench. 

Purchased and learned to operate a new machine as part of this project. 

New headliner ready for install.

An assistant is helpful during the install of the headliner.

The center of the headliner (back of sunroof) was held in place by a cardboard strip about 15mm wide. The vinyl was glued and wrapped over the cardboard and then slid into a slot behind the sunroof opening. The cardboard was decomposing and fell apart in my hands when I attempted to remove it from the old vinyl. I knew I’d need to fabricate something to replace it, thought about gluing wooden dowels together, using some type of wood that could be cut on a table saw, but ultimately ended up purchasing a flat metal strip of aluminum from the hardware store. With some finesse (hammer), and help from Charlie the fit ended up being perfect. The strip is visible in the above picture on the right.

 Final product installed! Clean and fresh. no more nastiness hanging above my head.