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[Ddedman]

so I recovered my sons headliner this weekend. Question for the experts.. the original headliner was made of foam backed fabric and a glued mesh type of fiberglass as the base formed structure. The fabric and foam had already delaminated leaving the fiberglass material. I glued the new headliner material to this and it shows most of the uneveness. What would have been the best way to prep this for a smooth finish?

[frankscustomupholstery]

Yea the fiberglass with mesh type is a real pain in the neck. You must be extremely gentle when removing the old material and prepping the board. Yours looks good for a DIY job, and although it has a few bumps I have seen worse come out of supposed professional shops. Try steaming it to help soften the imperfections.

[John]

Yeah like @frankscustomupholstery said those headliner types are really bad to work with. There are 2 options I recommend to avoid this. If you can buy a new headliner board this is the best option.
1. Glue down a layer of 1/8 inch closed cell foam and sand out all the imperfections leaving a smooth surface.
2. If your looking for perfection you would have to lay fiberglass resin down and create a smooth surface using body filler.

[Ddedman]

Thanks gentlemen. The majority of the imperfections or balancing out for the most part. I’m learning more every day.

[Kuph]

As long as you can get the headliner stripped down to the fiberglass you should be golden. I use a wire brush and/or wire wheel to remove the degraded foam backing.

Sometimes the bottom of a broom or a old rag is abrasive enough to remove the sticky foam layer. Really anything works.

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[Ddedman]

Yeah that type of fiberglass would have been nice. I was dealing with what I can describe as glued and compresses fiberglass insulation type material. Nothing really substantially firm about the sub structure. Yours looks as if it cleaned up nicely.