The Camaro Club (UK)

Hi Gang

I've just removed the roof lining on my 4th gen. It had sagged across both sides so much that I could barely see out of the back window !

It was a really easy job to do and took about 30 minutes from start to finish. Noticed that the coat hooks are a funny design, made a right mess of the plastic now.

Anyway, I just wonder if anyone has had a go at repairing one before or has another good suggestion on how to tackle it. Personally I quite like the bare roof but I'd also like to have a go at putting the lining back, just for fun really and so that I know how to do the job in the future.

The fabric lining is so think now that I would throw it away and buy some new fabric. However, what do I stick it with ? I'd like to use some kind of sticky glue spray foam stuff if there is such a thing on the market. However, I don't want to soak the fabric and make it look nasty.

Any ideas anyone ?

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1993 Chevrolet Camaro - Buck

I'm told these are pretty hard to repair, but I cant see why.

Is it a fibreglass headliner?

You can buy replacement cloth, if its a fibreglass liner you could pour some resin on and brush it over to give it some strength again. You can buy ABS material replacement headliners in choice of colours, but will have to import from USA.

As Rich at Project KITT as he has been making his own to replace the stock ones on a 3rd gen.

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Steven
Webmaster
83 Chevy G-20 A-Team Van 305/700R4

It depends on what the inner liner is made of. If it's a fibreglass one you could stretch & glue on a vinyl cover in a colour of your choice. If you really like the look of the painted roof, again if it's fibreglass, why not repair it with filler until it's smooth & then spray it black, that'd be different & cool at the same time, cheers...Nige

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Too much power...not enough hands!!

I'll try to get a photo later of the liner I have. It's more like re-inforced cardboard than fibreglass the way I know it. I only want a cheap, simple and quick way to make the best of the roof lining but I like the vinyl idea.

I'm leaning more towards some thicker fabric and perhaps some kind of underlay type stuff and maybe trying to re-inforce the main liner underneath. Haven't a clue really aas you can tell but I do want it to be a good job because I want to tackle the Astro next.

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1993 Chevrolet Camaro - Buck

Hiya mate, post up a pic so's we can see what you're up against, cheers.....Nige

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Too much power...not enough hands!!

OK, this is it. I MUST get this fixed before I loose my motivation and plastic the entire roof in artex.

I don't mind doing the job but I just don't know what options I have available to repair it. Suggestion please

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1993 Chevrolet Camaro - Buck

Mmmm, that's a good 'un. Well, you've got three options really, first off buy a new one or,get a used one or repair that one. It's made from the same sort of stuff I had in my Range Rover by the looks of it. It's a kind of hard fibreboard type of thing, covered with foam & then material. Being the cheapskate that I am, I'd probably lay some fibreglass/matting over the top to make it stiff again & then cover it with some more vinyl/material of some kind, stretched over the top & glued to the underside where you wouldn't see it. hth, cheers........Nige

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Too much power...not enough hands!!

My missus suggested that I use wonderweb to seal some new fabric back onto the lining. Not a bad idea but perhaps something a bit stronger may be needed ?

My only concern is that the glue doesn't show through the material once it's on. I'd like a 2 metre squared pieces of sticky back floor tile with a rubber base of some kind to give it some rigidity. I'm going to pop into Ikea of all places on Saturday and try to find something suitable. At least the wife is happy about that.

Cheers

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1993 Chevrolet Camaro - Buck

speak to Rich at Project KITT about glueing the fabric onto the headliner, he's been developing a new headliner for 3rd G that you can buy covered or not, so I guess he knows how to do it?

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Steven
Webmaster
83 Chevy G-20 A-Team Van 305/700R4

Cheers mate. I don't really want to bother Rich, I think he's a super busy bloke with all the KR parts he's trying to knock out and I don't want anything fancy, just a good quality but cheap repair.

I actually went out tonight to find some material. I popped into a B&Q type place (Baywa over here) and asked 2 of the morons (sorry to be so impolite but I was a bit cheesed off with all the staff I spoke to there as you'll read) who told me they had nothing.

Now my German isn't great but I do try hard so without knowing the words for "car interior roof lining repair using some kind of underlay and ordinary fabric/material" I did my best to explain. The first young toss-pot was insensed that I even had the nerve to ask him anything, let alone in broken German so I told him to forget it after a couple of minutes getting nowhere.

I then asked the lady at the front counter who was a little more friendly but still had no clue what I was trying to achieve (my fault, I accept that I could not describe it properly to her). So anyway, I wondered off around the shop to look for something, it was around 20:00 this evening.

Anyway I eventually find the perfect material. Thin, light, black vinyl feel and on a roll about 1.5 metres wide. I asked for someone to me a slice off a bit but I think the geezer said that there was nobody to do it. I said you only need scissors but he insisted it needed a special machine and that I was a bit late to be asking (cheeky sod).

So, the long and short is that I found the right stuff but have to return when someone will cut it for me off the roll. I'm quite excited because I reckon it's going to look pretty good once I've finished, and if it does then I'm going to do a few saggy headlinings more just for fun and practice.

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1993 Chevrolet Camaro - Buck