82 VW Rabbit headliner replacement

This should not be too difficult, but the previous owner removed all traces of the original headliner and spray painted the cardboard panel that it attaches to. I can see where the front pillars were covered in the headliner, but does anyone have a picture or a description of what it is supposed to look like in the back? I can't tell what was covered by headliner fabric and what was not. A picture or a link to a picture would be awesome.

It is also interesting that there are holes (threaded) in the back for shoulder belts even though lap belts are all that was installed in this model. The same thing was true for my 74 beetle and I added read shoulder belts using the factory threaded holes.

Mike

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Mike Z
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I had this same issue with my 81 Rabbit (back in around 1988 time frame). I ordered the kit from J.C. Whitney - it was pretty cheap. The kit is nice because the headliner panel has two horizontal loops sewn in the fabric, and two ribs to go with it. The ribs hold it up, so the fabric doesn't touch the sheetmetal roof/cardboard.

It took me a weekend to do, but it was pretty fun. The front and rear pillars should be covered by fabric. I used rubber cement applied to both the metal and the foam backed fabric in the kit. It looked pretty good. You should cut the pieces so that they run below whatever is on the pillar. For the front pillars, run fabric below the dashboard a bit. For the middle pillars, it's the vinyl cover that the front belt pivots attach through, but there I had to have the fabric run over the cover, so I put a fold in it to have a clean edge.. The rear pillars have quite a bit of area to them, but again, just remove the plastic side panels (where the rear speaker grilles are) and run the fabric under that. The tops of the fabric panels run up past the place where the headliner will cover.

My car didn't have any cardboard left. Before I started all I had was sheetmetal, and two or three metal ribs visible from the inside. The ribs are glued to the sheetmetal, but mine had come unstuck in some places, and they would rattle. I used a construction adhesive (liquid nails etc.) and a jack and broom handle to hold the pressure. Then, before I put the headliner fabric in, I glued 3/4" foam-board insulation between the metal ribs. This cuts down on wind noise, road noise, and helps keep the cabin warm.

Then put the head liner in, with the ribs etc. At the front, the headliner secured to the metal panels above the sun visors with rubber cement again, and then tucked under the windshield gasket. Similar at the back.

The repair was permanent, and lasted for the four years I had the car, and showed no signs of wear and tear. It was a vast improvement over the sheetmetal!

Good luck, Arthur

Mike Z wrote:

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Arthur Russell

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