NO: Headliner
 

Hello again, I have now fixed my sunroof - but when I attempted to install the headliner the foam just disintegrated and the headliner now has a terrible sag. I was thinking of buying some material from a headliner specialist, light gray/silver velour (I like to keep things as original as possible). I was wondering if someone knew a place which sells a liner similar to Audi's original colour? I checked my VIN and my interior colour code is BT (Lower parts are anthracite black and higher parts are silver/gray).
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...902833a409.png
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...0706916f9b.png

I would cut a section and find local headliner supply to bring sample to "match" it.

I have had decent luck scraping the disintegrated foam off the back of the leather door card inserts and using contact cement to reattach the leather. I suppose I could have used a layer of... felt? or something to give it a little more give and perhaps a better overall appearance.

Some chemicals also eat foam, maybe acetone used carefully in your case would leave you with a headliner you could re-use.

I stopped by one of the biggest stores for cloth and fabric here in Norway and they could not offer anything that matched. I have also contacted Audi Tradition who simply told me that they no longer carry that fabric (but they did give me the exact part number and colour for the headliner, 4D0867505DA87(platinum)). It seems strange that only some headliner repair shop in Australia has a similar fabric, but I'm willing to pay quite a bit to keep my Audi in good shape. Driving it without its headliner simply doesn't feel the same... :(

My idea is to reupholster it, but I wanted to put a fresh sheet of velour in. Alternatively if it's possible to find 2-3mm thick foam sheets I guess it is possible to glue it back on? Although I'd prefer the aforementioned. The old velour has marks and wear to it. My current idea is therefore to buy the foam backed fabric from Australia, it seems to be the best option and the most similar to mine, see image attached.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...be6b729856.jpg

Try this company: https://www.perfectfit.com/

pillars
 

Hi. I've got some sunroof frame rattles and am curious how much of the interior needs to be removed to get the headliner out. Do the pillar trims and airbags need to be removed/battery disconnected?

P.S. I cheaped out and used upholstery tacks to hold my sagging headliner, for now. Someday, I would love to do it the right way.

Thanks

Hello, sorry for the late response, I've been busy with finishing my master's thesis. At least for the PF you need to remove the A and C pillars (it is recommended to remove the B pillars, but I've been able to do the headliner without - if you have a facelift model you may have to remove these). If you have a post-1997 vehicle with side airbags I recommend disconnecting the battery. I'd also recommend reupholstering the headliner as the process is a PITA to deal with once, let alone twice.

As for my part, I did receive the headliner material from Australia... Only to find out that the shade of gray is off. At this point I'm seriously just considering cleaning off and gluing the old headliner fabric over the new one - I really want to keep the OEM look, and there doesn't seem to be anyone who has this headliner in stock anywhere.

EDIT: Reference picture below
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...a39aa6c347.jpg

There is a very simple way to do this. Go to a shop that specializes in headliners and have them do it. I have had headliners drop in both my TT and GTI, and in both cases a local shop had a multitude of matching samples. It's their business after all. I picked the sample and it took a few hours for them to do an absolutely perfect job. And the price was reasonable. If you are truly wanting to replicate the look of the original why would you want to do it yourself? Really, you bought an Audi but you want to save a few bucks by taking on a task which you have probably seldom, if ever, done before? It may look simple. It may be simple. But why not let somebody who does this all day long fix your headliner? I bet they know some tricks you don't.

So after a bit of forth and back I decided to just roll with it. I've cleaned off the backing plate and am now about to cut out the holes in the fabric. It's an awful job but it feels nice to see all the old foam going away.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...c5a2584ec8.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...8dac1e53fd.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...c5c8e0d5f9.jpg

I can afford taking it to a shop, but nobody really specializes in it here. Norway is cold, and headliners generally do not go bad as fast as they do in i.e. Australia or Florida (I still had the original headliner after 29 years), plus I live in a very rural area. Original headliner fabric is impossible to find, and after a lot of reading I found out that headliner shops actually cannot match the headliner colour 100% either (https://wlsheadliners.com/how-do-i-m...headliner.html). Besides, I've done everything on my Audi myself so far, from things as simple as a 12V battery change and seat heater troubleshooting to transmission fluid/filter service and oil cooler pipe replacement, so why stop there? I've saved thousands and thousands of dollars on it, which is significant even when you do make money.

Great project. Looks good!!