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How to remove the headliner?

7.2K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  nicholes  
#1 ·
OK, I am in the middle of working on removing the headliner out of my car (No sunroof, with side curtain air bags). I am at a point where I have all of the plastic trim, visors, etc. out of the car. The only thing that should be holding the headliner in place is the black rubber strips going along the edge of the headliner and the door weatherstripping.

My question is, can the headliner be taken out of the car without taking the weatherstripping off of the car? Please tell me so, I hate messing with weatherstrpping, and don't want to chase in interior water leaks after messing with it. If so, what it the trick to getting the headliner past the rubber strips to dislodge it?
 
#2 ·
No, pull the stripping. Just pull the area down that contacts the liner, you will want a second set of hands to unplug the light harnesses. Oh, don't forget the 3rd brake light. The strip just pulls down and if you olnly pull down what you need goes right back to it's home. You might not like the idea now but once you do it you will see how easy it is. Keep calm and RL on man
 
#5 ·
I got it out, and didn't have to pull the seals from the door frame. I used a plastic trim removal tool that sort of looks like a popsicle stick, and wedged it between the headliner and black seal and slowly worked it along until one side was loose. After that, ithe whole headliner can be dropped out.

Hopefully putting it back in goes a lot smoother. After all of this, I have come to the conslusion that the GM instructions for taking the headliner out are complete crap, becuase half of the steps are either wrong or unnecessary.


Where do I sign up for a shirt?:bigthumb:
 
#8 ·
The headliner is back in along with all of the of the trim, except for that in the rear. I am putting the rear brakelight in, but I don't remember if the tabs on the outside are supposed to go above the headliner or under the headliner (as pictured). I tried mounting it both ways, but I don't know how it is supposed to go. I wish I would have paid better attention during removal.



Is the way I have it installed now correct, or does it need to be installed above the headliner? Do any of you all know which is the correct way to mount the brake light in regards to the headliner?
 
#10 ·
Why were you so dead set on not pulling down the weather strip again? I'm sure it was real fun getting that back in there without rolling the fabric...