How to update the headliner in a car

I encountered the problem of sagging fabric on the ceiling of my Vectra B last year. I entrusted this work to a provincial “master”, which I regretted more than once. The new fabric began to peel off within a month after the restoration. This was the first call. I took the car back for a wrap. However, after the second approach, the light went out in the cabin. Less than a year later, the casing sagged again, and for some reason the “master’s” phone stopped answering. That’s when I decided to try my hand at this new area of ​​auto repair.


Removing the ceiling in Opel Vectra B (station wagon)
One warm sunny day I started removing the ceiling. Since the station wagon body is quite large, there are many mounting points.
To begin with, I opened all the doors and started working from the back of the car. The first to give up was the plastic panel that covers the edge of the ceiling near the tailgate.


The side “slopes” of the windows are also secured with latches. There are two plastic plugs above the luggage compartment windows, which are removed after pulling out the pins.

The backlight is held on by plastic “whiskers”.

Next, you can detach the vertical panels that contain the front seat belts. I did not remove them completely, but only pulled the upper part inside the cabin.

There are handles above the rear doors and above the front passenger door. First, you need to pry out the decorative plugs with a thin flat screwdriver, after which the screws are removed with a Phillips screwdriver. In the rear handles, you need to disconnect the electrical connector from the backlight.

In the front part of the cabin, the central lamp is dismantled, the body of which is held in place by steel latches.

Two screws are hidden under the lampshade. Apart from two screws at the front, the lamp body is held in place by two metal latches.

The sun visors are secured with three screws and an electrical wire is also attached to them.


Inclined plastic panels are fastened with latches near the windshield. Under the left panel there is a bus through which current flows to the interior lighting. It was damaged and I had to give it to an electrician I know for repair. The last fastening element of the ceiling was a plastic “piston” in the central part of the ceiling.
Once freed from its fastenings, the roof panel can be easily pulled out through the trunk door.
Removing old fabric
Once the old fabric has served its purpose, you can quickly tear it off and throw it away, and remove the remains with a wire brush. In my case, the material was new, so I decided to carefully remove it. To do this, you needed an ordinary small knife with a blunt “nose”. It took a lot of patience to peel off the edges and edges, but the central part held on “on my word of honor.”

I tried to remove the material along with the foam layer.

I concluded for myself that during the repair process the “master” violated the technology, which led to the fabric peeling off.
There were traces of glue and foam rubber on the ceiling panel, which I removed using the same knife, as well as a clean rag and solvent 646. The foam rubber layer was also carefully treated with solvent. The choice of glue and the fineness of gluing
Today there is a wide range of fabric adhesives on the market. To restore the ceiling of a car, heat-resistant glue is required, because in the summer heat the roof gets very hot, and the glue can turn from a solid state to a liquid one. The fabric will immediately sag.
After reading reviews on online forums, I decided to try ABRO spray adhesive.

Of course, it’s easy to work with; just turn the sprayer to the working position to apply glue evenly to the surface. After drying there are no odors in the interior. But, despite following all the instructions and daily endurance, the first sunny day plunged me into despondency. The fabric came unglued, but as soon as I ran my hand over it, it bonded back to the base. This happened every time the sun heated the roof.
After a couple of months, I couldn’t stand it and dismantled the casing again. This time I bought a liter jar of Russian glue 88 luxe (universal).

I had to apply the glue with a brush; this is not an activity for weak hands. The composition is very viscous and is well absorbed into the base. I applied two layers, while there was good ventilation (draft) in the room. It should be noted that my fears about the dark composition saturating the fabric were not justified. Nowhere did the glue come out and ruin the sheathing. To ensure that the material sticks to the base and dries, I spread plastic film over the glued fabric and poured sand. The result was a kind of oppression. Two days later the ceiling was ready for installation in the cabin.

I advise you to carry out installation in the reverse order, starting with the visors and the front lamp. The smell of glue persisted for about a week, although I aired the car almost every day. But the fabric holds securely, which pleases both the eyes and the soul. After all, I did this work myself!