A question for the collective.

[grouch]

I seem to have fallen into a new business. I recently did the headliner in my Dakota extended cab truck.



Several friends have asked me to do their headliners now. I've got 7 lined up waiting for me to get to them. I'm charging $150 per piece plus fabric.

Now my question, does anybody know of a tool to remove the old headliner foam? The green one came out great (the photo was before final trimming) but I spent the better part of a day and a half with a wire brush. I tried wire wheels in a drill but it just bogged down. Anybody know of something like an orbital sander in operation that has short teeth to remove the glued on foam? My needle scaler would be a bit rough on the cardboard, or in the Dakotas case, fiberglass headliner board.

One of the headliners is out of a Ford Excursion. About twice as long as my last one.

 

[wjburken]

I seem to have fallen into a new business. I recently did the headliner in my Dakota extended cab truck.

View attachment 413377View attachment 413378

Several friends have asked me to do their headliners now. I've got 7 lined up waiting for me to get to them. I'm charging $150 per piece plus fabric.

Now my question, does anybody know of a tool to remove the old headliner foam? The green one came out great (the photo was before final trimming) but I spent the better part of a day and a half with a wire brush. I tried wire wheels in a drill but it just bogged down. Anybody know of something like an orbital sander in operation that has short teeth to remove the glued on foam? My needle scaler would be a bit rough on the cardboard, or in the Dakotas case, fiberglass headliner board.

One of the headliners is out of a Ford Excursion. About twice as long as my last one.

Would something like this work?

4" x 5/8"-11 Nylon Wire Cup Brush

The BHA 4 Inch Nylon Wire Cup Brush for variable speed polishers and angle grinders are made to reduce work times when sanding and prepping uneven surfaces. These 4 inch cup brushes are made with abrasive infused nylon filaments that do not spark, are heat and shed resistant. BHA 4 inch cup...

www.empireabrasives.com

The body shop my son works at uses an outside place for headliner stuff. I’ll ask him if he knows what they use.

 

[Fast_AT4]

I did this on my 2006 M5 when the OEM started drooping. Took a bit of time but ended up proper. I purchased new foam so im of no help here. But it was a rewarding project when I looked in my rear view mirror and didnt see the droop.

 

[grouch]

Would something like this work?

4" x 5/8"-11 Nylon Wire Cup Brush

The BHA 4 Inch Nylon Wire Cup Brush for variable speed polishers and angle grinders are made to reduce work times when sanding and prepping uneven surfaces. These 4 inch cup brushes are made with abrasive infused nylon filaments that do not spark, are heat and shed resistant. BHA 4 inch cup...

www.empireabrasives.com

The body shop my son works at uses an outside place for headliner stuff. I’ll ask him if he knows what they use.

I tried a nylon brush, not a cup though. The nylon bit the foam and nearly tore the drill out of my hands. It didn't do much good.

While I've done several headliners for myself, I didn't plan to do it this much and for other people. I do some work for people in need and I'm thinking of starting a 501C nonprofit and use the profits from this to pay some of the expenses I've been paying out of my social security.

I plan to head to Harbor Freight tomorrow and see if they have anything that might work. I wonder if an air sander with a cheese grater face would work.

 

[gooffeyguy]

My ex-wife's uncle used to repair headliners and did one for my dad's crown vic back in the 90s. He used an air powered drill or die grinder with a wire wheel

 

[grouch]

My ex-wife's uncle used to repair headliners and did one for my dad's crown vic back in the 90s. He used an air powered drill or die grinder with a wire wheel

I tried to use a wire wheel. The foam was not wanting to let go. The previous owners of the truck were HEAVY smokers. While I was talking to them, they kept lighting new cigarettes off the butt of the old one. A friend who helped me unload it is a fairly heavy smoker but even he said it stunk. That may have affected the foam as I don't remember others being this difficult and labor intensive to prepare.

When I put the heater core in, I cleaned the heater box. There was a steady stream of yellow nicotine running out of it.

I've seen videos of people cleaning the foam but I never could see what the tool was using to break it away. Headliners are like body work. The end result depends on surface preparation.

 

[B-train]

I've never done this, but would some sort of sharp scraper work if the backing is strong enough? Maybe get big chunks off, then use some sort of powered tool to clean up what's left?

 

[Mean_Green]

I had mine done at an upholstery shop. Little hole in the wall place, kind of nasty as a matter of fact, but they are constantly busier than they can keep up with.

I did most of the work towards removal, but had them help me with getting 'the board' out and left it for them while I ran some errands. They were running behind and hadn't gotten started by time I got back.

Guy pulled the felt off and then went at the stuck on foam with a drill and scrubber disc/brush like you showed above. That was taking forever, so I started in helping him scrub the foam off.

Between one of these ...



... and one of these ...



... we had most of it off in very little time and he used the drill brush to clean up the tight recessed areas. The bristles on both of those are stiff enough and strong enough to do most of the work with some elbow grease.


He would have charged $450 to do the whole job including trim removal and replacement, but only charged me $200

The headliner material they use already has the foam attached and they used a spray glue on both surfaces before aligning the new surface.



By the way, this thread should be out there under Interiors where everybody can see it.

 

[grouch]

I used a wire brush to get the foam off. Afterward, i used a battery powered orbital sander to finish the lest bits. I mostly used a wooden handled wire brush to get the foam off. Very labor intensive. That's why I'm looking for a faster way.

The headliners are removed and brought to me. Except for the fabric, my price is inclusive. My first couple were sprayed then centered. I've refined that. The fabrics can be whatever you want. What I usually use runs between $10 to $20 per yard. I did one for a guys wife and she picked out some darned expensive stuff. I think it was $59 per yard and it needed two yards. It looked great when it went back in. (That's why the owner supplies the fabric.)

I trim the fabric to fit. About a 3 inch border to allow to custom fitting. Once I lay it out, I pull one end back and spray the 3M headliner adhesive on the board and fabric both. I'll then lay it down and word the wrinkles and folds out. Once it's smoothed down, I'll pull the other end and repeat it. I let the glue age over night. The next day I trim the edges and glue them down. I can do two headliners for a regular cab pickup a day. Extended cabs take a little longer due to more foam to remove. I'm dreading when I get to that Excursion.

If the mods want to move this topic, all I can say is go for it.

 

[Mean_Green]

The surface area of any wire brush I've seen is quite small compared to the stiff bristle brushes. We had the whole thing cleaned off in less than an hour. Mine was older so maybe the foam was decayed more, but a couple of swipes and most of it just crumbled to dust. A few more swipes and it was all but gone. From there, cleaning out the nooks and crannies with the drill mounted wheel took very little time.