I am sure some of you have read about my Trunk Weatherstrip issue, it may not have anything to do with the water getting inside to my rear floorboards, but I'll link the thread just in case.
https://www.gmforum.com/buick-172/tr...cement-309740/

I tried to use some Dorman Headliner retainer thingies to keep the headliner fabric from falling down on me, as it was starting to droop, well for a while they would screw in fine, now in some area it feels like moisture may have gotten to the fiberboard, as some won't screw in and hold at all.
Yes I know I could have tried to re-glue the fabric, or get new fabric, and I know the holes pretty much ruin the fiberboard, I did what I could afford to do at the time.
It feels like even the fiberboard is starting to sag a little, and like I said I think all of the water in my car during the summer evaporated, and ended up slowly/repeatedly soaking the headliner, which started it coming lose.

Does anybody know of anywhere that sells the fiberboard already cut to fit?
I mean if I had to I could try to cut it to fit, but a custom fit one ready to have fabric glued to it would be much easier.

When I do take the headliner down I'll keep a watch on the parts near the upper windshield area, to be sure there are no leaks there, and before replacing it all I'll be sure I have no more interior leaks.
I am just trying to get an idea of what it is going to cost me to replace this.
If it is too much, with all the little issues compounding, I may just get a newer Park Ave, and throw a tarp over my current one, and save it for an emergency vehicle, one where once I have a good reliable job, I could put a little money into it and get another 15ok or so miles out of it, it is only att 138.5k atm...

I could take it down, inspect it, and if the fiberboard is not reusable I could just leave it off, it is mostly in there for looks anyway, and at this point it would look better seeing the metal than it would seeing the headliner being halfway held up with like 20-30 Dorman black screw in retainers...

I work for a large company that supplies interior components to most of of the OEM'*. We manufacture and supply headliners for Ford, GM, and Chrysler just to name a few. The hard substrate is not just cut to shape. It is preheated, then placed into a heated mold with the various layers of foam and face material, than molded into shape under heat and pressure. The laminated assembly then goes into a fixture where the outer perimeter and all the openings are cut by water jet. If the headliner cloth starts to drop it is not because the glue has failed, it is because the layer of foam between the substrate and the face material has failed and starts to disintegrate. That is why just pulling the cloth down and spraying some glue in between the cloth and the substrate doesn't work. You are just gluing to the foam that continues to disintegrate. You have to pull the headliner, completely strip off all the old glue and foam, then glue new cloth to the substrate. If the substrate is no longer usable you will have no choice but to purchase a new headliner. Since the substrate is formed at the same time as it is bonded to the face material, no one will have a substrate without cloth on it. You also can't buy a flat piece of substrate material and cut it to shape, as it needs to be a formed shape.

The primary function of the headliner is appearance and sound absorption. You may get an acceptable appearance by pulling the headliner and painting the sheet metal, but you will be surprised at how much more road noise there will be in the vehicle.

As previously suggested, pull the headliner and see what shape the substrate is in.

Appreciate the response Roy, I'll pull it down ASAP, and see if I can find somewhere suitable to work on it.
I watched some youtube videos that show how to brush off the old glue, and failed foam off.
Before I even attempt to glue any new material onto it, do you have any suggestions for filling the small holes I made using the Dorman Headliner Retainers?
I may not have many issues if I don't fill them, as they are probably not too big in diameter, just asking just in case.

As for road noise, I don't particularly like it, but I have gotten used to it, because since a lot of the carpeting sound deadening material was soaked, and had to be removed.
At this point I just want to get it in decent enough shape that I can get a few more years out of it, after a few years with a good job I should be able to get something newer, I could get something now, but I am hesitant because getting something newer could be a bit of a gamble, yeah all parts are newer, but if I go with a 3800 II like I want, then I have to check to see if the LIM/UIM work was done, etc..
I was anal on mine when I did that job, I grinded the port openings on the LIM so they were all at actual spec, and knocked down some of the rough inside the runners, of course I did not polish it, just knocked down the rough from poor sand casting.
Almost all of my sensors are new, or close to new, water-pump is fairly new as well.
I just hate to think I could get another vehicle, and have to do most of those things again, even though I do not mind doing the work, it is all the money sunk into the work..

I am trying picture William removing the headliner to work on it outside of the car.
I am not so sure if even removing the headliner without damage, is possible.
Unless it is cut half LOL..Thing is HUGE!
Suddenly removing the front windshield sounds like a good plan!

Yeah I have no idea how I'd remove it without damaging it, I hear it can fold a little, but I am skeptical.
If it comes to having to remove the windshield I'll just trash it and deal with the road noise..
I'll enjoy the sound of the rain hitting the roof at least, always liked the sound of it hitting something like a tin roof..

Right now the headliner retainer pin I put in are holding up, I'll mess with it when they start to fail, hopefully they make it till Spring.

Short of removing the windshield.... LOL..
May heat on the interior/headliner be your friend.
I would remove one of the front seats and try to roll or bend/ slide it out that way.. Fun!!

William, My parents replaced the headliner material in a suburban a few years ago. They peeled back the weatherstripping at the doors and pulled away as much perimeter trim as they could. Then they pulled all the fabric off with a pliers and scraped it it clean with a putty knife. It makes a mess, the deteriorated foam gets everywhere. When you get that all scraped off you will end up with a surface similar to masonite. You might be satisfied with just painting that. What they did was buy some headliner fabric from the local fabric store and glue it on while the headliner was still installed in the vehicle. Since you are working basically standing on your head it is hard to get a really quality installation. They used spray adhesive on the headliner. With three people, one standing outside the drivers door, one standing outside the passenger door and one laying on their back inside the vehicle using a roller to work the fabric into place. There were a few small wrinkles but overall it worked out fine. They drove it for 5 more years and it stayed secure.

I think that is the way it comes out on the 92-99 Bonnevilles, and it comes out the drivers back door.

Do you want me to find and remove a headliner for your car ?