I am thinking about buying a replacement headliner from the Fiero Store. Anyone got and I put or opinions? Are they good? Are they easy to install? Is there someone else that makes a better one? Etc?
Not familiar with the Fiero Store headliner, but if you're stock headliner is in decent shape, it takes no prior skill to reupholster it. Russ makes a kit, it's really easy. Dont spend all that money if yours is still in one piece! Just go slow and it will be fine. There is a video on YouTube showing how to do it, too.
------------------ "Discord" Red 1988 GT under restoration!
I've put in a couple of the Fiero Store headliners with the 3rd brake light and sunroof and thought they were of excellent quality. The ABS backing makes them forgiving during the installation. The stock ones are usually pretty old and brittle and therefore easy to damage during removal and reinstallation. I plan to buy a 3rd one for my current Fiero to install during the winter.
I installed mine a couple of years ago, overall it is a pretty nice piece. I think I did do a little trimming around the 3rd brake line opening, but that was about it. I installed mine w/o any fabric. Overall the shape and contour is pretty good, but w/o the foam and fabric you can see a few of the transition gaps with the other interior pieces are not uniform, but this would not be noticable with foam backed fabric that most people use.
I do need to remove it and paint all the interior trim so the colors all match. When I do that, I might take the time to tweak the gaps with some foam on the backside of the headliner and/or reshape some of the edges of the interior parts to better match the headline shape.
Maybe they fixed it in newer versions but when I did one about 5-6 yrs ago the fit was horrible. It didn't fit well at all and was a real pain to get it to align. Don't even talk about the visor screws area. But from what I see here seems they may have fixed the issues. The other problem I had was that after a year an area about one square foot of the fabric started to unglue on the passenger side. If your backing is fairly decent I would highly recommend to use it and save a lot of $$. Just add some fiberglass resin and re-upholster it. I have one saving it for the day I would need it on another Fiero and when I visit a yard that is one of the first thing I look to grab.
[This message has been edited by Alex4mula (edited 09-14-2017).]
I sell the material kit if your looking for close to the original colors and it's a little more expensive. If your not that particular about a close to perfect color match, you can buy the material at JoAnns, one yard should be enough and they also sell the spray glue and save a few dollars. I wouldn't recommend any of the glue if it doesn't say " Hi-Temp" headliner glue. It's not that difficult for a DIY job, even for the novice, as stated earlier, plenty of videos are available. I also have visors, no pockets, pockets on one visor or pockets on both. Some advice, after you glue the material to the headliner, let it sit untouched for at least 12 hours, that way you won't leave impressions where you touch it, the time leaves the glue proper time to set up and cure Hope that helps Russ
+1 on the DIY suggestion. Being small, the Fiero is a lot easier to do than some cars. The biggest potential stumbling block in my opinion is the "valleys" above each passenger's heads. First one I did, I didn't make the fabric tight enough and it got bunched up in the corner of the valleys. I also didn't get my patchwork on the fiberboard smooth enough and it showed through the fabric, despite its foam backing which I naively assumed would hide most flaws. So I found a nearly-perfect board in the JY and re-did it too, which came out much better.
It took about a year of searching the junkyards for a good hardtop board but when I finally did, it was very inexpensive.
+1 on the DIY suggestion. Being small, the Fiero is a lot easier to do than some cars. The biggest potential stumbling block in my opinion is the "valleys" above each passenger's heads. First one I did, I didn't make the fabric tight enough and it got bunched up in the corner of the valleys. I also didn't get my patchwork on the fiberboard smooth enough and it showed through the fabric, despite its foam backing which I naively assumed would hide most flaws. So I found a nearly-perfect board in the JY and re-did it too, which came out much better.
It took about a year of searching the junkyards for a good hardtop board but when I finally did, it was very inexpensive.
This is why I recommend starting from the center and working your way out. \
I don't recommend super 77 by 3m. Let go within a few months. I laid and cut my fabric to size then folded one half over and started gluing it down bit by bit, after i moved on to the other half so I wouldn't have any bunches or seams.
Lots of good responses here already, but I'll share my tips anyhow just in case.
The 3M spray glue works well and is pretty forgiving. If you make a mistake it will allow you to readjust before getting to sticky. There's another glue (can't remember the name) orange can with blue lid, its in most auto parts stores and is hard to miss the orange. It works really well also and I've actually found it to be stronger than the 3M, however it is not at all forgiving. Once the fabric is down it won't come back up. I prefer it because its stronger though.
I would recommend starting in the front middle where it meets the windshield and work to the sides and go back a few inches at a time. Its always worked for me Also be sure to wrap an inch or so around the back side.
Depending on the amount of damage it is possible to fix a broken headliner using metal rods (like pieces of coat hanger) strong thin cardboard and hot glue. I've done it a few times with success.
When my sun roof head liner started drooping years ago, I bought a fiberglass headliner from the FS. ($100) When I took the car to my local upholstery shop, they ask what was it for. I said I was told that the headliner backing always broke apart when it was removed. They said that happens when someone doesn't know what they were doing. They replace the headliner ($160) on the original backing board and I sold the fiberglass one. My headliner is still in good shape for the past 16 years. Terrible that I have a notebook of all the work that has been done on my 87 GT.