Dino Saga 070916 _ Headliner Needed Help

Dino Saga 070916 _ Headliner Needed Help

Headliner has been raining brown dust for about 6 years. Happens at every big bump and whenever you keep the windows open and run into 3 figures. Got a quote for a new headliner a few years ago and was shocked. Decided that headliner was OK, just a few stains above the windshield. Sun shades covered stains most of the time. The real problem was the foam behind the headliner. It had disintegrated, just like the foam behind the leather on the driver’s door. I had a giant pile of dust and a few large pieces just waiting to turn into dust at the slightest bump. Smaller pieces could get through the perforations just fine. Occurred to me that it might be possible to pull the headliner above the doors, blow the dust and larger pieces from one side to the other and out. This would solve the problem nicely. When I picked up the seat after the patchwork, I asked Mena what would it cost to open the edges, blow things out and put the trim back. He took a look and said it would take about 15 minutes, “why don’t you bring the car in about 10:00 AM on Monday?” I said “will be there.”

It actually took about 30 minutes. He had never taken the interior trim off of a Dino and neither had I. The obvious screws to start were those on the trim pieces just in front of the doors. #1 Philips got them off easily. Black trim over doors had a little screw at front edge that had been hidden by the pieces we took off. Remove that screw and side pieces slide forward and release. Now the rubber door molding could be pulled free and you could see where the headliner had been contact cemented to the steel around the door. Careful work pulled the headliner free on both sides and my idea of blowing things out seemed child’s play. It was, but the quantity of brown dust was surprising. Mena used a blow gun with a 24” nozzle. It could get into nooks and crannies both fore and aft. He had to get a respirator immediately because the fine stuff got everywhere even though we were outside. I stood way back and watched. I didn’t have a camera with me but I did save one of the hunks of foam that hadn’t turned to dust quite yet. Pictures show before and after a gentle touch. No there there!

Once things blew out cleanly everything went back together nicely. The contact cement still had a little grip so headliner was easy. Rubber was quick, black strip slid back nicely and screw went back. Front strips were trivial. Asked Mena for the charge. “Forget it, come back.” I will!

Weather has been fantastic after the fog and fire. Car is running great and seats feel fine. If you try something like this, make sure that your guy does not add any additional padding to the seats. The relationship between the center cushion and the outer bolsters is critical to staying in the seat in high G corners. The ability to see the 7,000 plus area of the tach is also critical if you push the car at all. An inch of foam may seem like an extra luxury to the upholsterer but be a disaster when driving the Dino in anger. None of this is high tech but is a few of the fine details that make driving a Dino is as great as it can be. I can put up with the few stains on the headliner for a few more years. Looks like you really want all the glass out to replace it. I will pass for now.

John
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