excessiveego

Well the time has come to replace the headliner in my t-top Camaro and i was looking on ebay hoping to find an OEM one cheap. All i could seem to find, short of used ones, were aftermarket and made of ABS plastic.

My question is, has anyone used them? How well do they match the original headliner? Are they good quality? and are they worth the $250 price tag. or is OEM better?

I was kinda of disappointed when they said they are colored plastic and not covered in cloth.

1ADan

iTrader: (4)

while i've not installed one (yet), we do sell them. they are cloth covered, not painted abs. if you're looking for samples of the materials, let me know

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

I'm looking to buy a T-Top liner from one of the many EBAY stores right now. 250 to my door. What do you charge, and do we get a Thirdgen member discount?

excessiveego

knowing that, i dont really want to buy one from ebay now, obviously they dont know their product very well, the guy insisted they arent cloth covered.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Every head liner I've seen so far is the same. Basically they replaced the flimsy cardboard backer with ABS plastic, and you cover it, or you can buy it already covered with cloth to match your interior. So long as it fits properly, it's much better than any OEM head liner.

EDIT: 1ADan - Just wanted to tell you that my intent is NOT to "call you out" in public to see if I can get a discount.

Since pretty much all these liners are made by the same manufacturer, I was just interested as to whether you guys at 1A have offer any extra incentive for guys on this board to buy one from you vice going to Ebay - (which I know you sell on Ebay also)...If not, that's fine, since you've helped a lot of people on this board regardless. - Thanks.

hellz_wings

iTrader: (2)

ive replaced mine with an ABS one.... Certain things didnt line up (like mounting holes, etc.) But overall finished product with a bit of modification they fit perfectly... I got matching sail panels and the color was dead one and it's still perfect and it's two years i've had it! Only thing though, it's missing the mounting tabs from the front-middle part (over the dash) so it is somewhat hanging lower than the stock one, but it's very hardly noticeable unless you get close to the car and see that. Oh ya, saile panels don't have mounting tabs either, you have to get double sided velcro and put it on that way (well that's what I did.. works like a charm!). Overall i'm happy with the results.

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (15)

my ABS one left a bit to be desired, it fit fine, but the cutout for the dome light is off 1/4", and there is no provision to mount the headliner in the center of the windsheild, so it hangs a little. Probably going to glue it up one of these days.

but its better than what i had

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Thanks guys, those are good things to know before I buy one. I *think* I've seen some where the holes aren't already cut out....I wonder if that would work out better so my dome light hole doesn't end up being 1/4" off??

I've heard about the complete lack of mounting tabs on these....I bought a 3 gage A-pillar, and it's the same stupid way - no place to put the mounting pins. It's just smooth on the back side.

EDIT - I looked at the 1A website, and it looks like there's a sale? Anyways, you appear to beat the 259 price I found on Ebay for now, plus it seems you have a lot of other goodies too!!

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Here's a thought for those replacing original liners with ABS---

If you're tossing your original away---
pull out the tabs from the liner.

Use something that is transferable to mark the tab slots on the car, all areas where they slide in at & where they stop at.

Have a helper-- hold the liner **in** & transfer the slot locations to the ABS
liner. Measure. Clean the marks. Do it again.

Measure. All measurements the same??
Bond the tabs on.

Not the same?? May take a few tries, but take your time.
Be satisfied marks are correct.

Bond the tabs to the liner correctly aligned.

I've never seen the roof side of the ABS, so IDK if there would have
to be something added to the tab locations to get them to align
correctly from the ** liner-to-roof ** dimensions.

This idea just hit me, so it sounds realy easy, but no, I've never done it, nor seen it done, nor heard of it being done.

Ron U.S.M.C.

This may not apply to a T-Top but who knows.Ive never been in a Camaro with a ABS style headliner installed or other wise but may be in the market. Ill be watching this thread to see how fitment gos so please keep us informed. Thought I would share this. Back when I had no liners/panels of any kind I took a old worn original headliner out of a junk yard Camaro. Removed the cloth outer liner. Reinforced the underside (part next to the hood) foam pad with a light coat of fiberglass cloth and spray on adhesive.I also sprayed the outer side of the foam to give it a nice stiff board like feel. Let it completely dry and I sanded the outer side down some to get it smooth. Went to a fabric store and bought a sheet of black vinyl cloth. One large complete piece off a large roll to cover the hole top without any piecing together. (The same you see on weight benches etc.) Sprayed with spray on adhesive and applied the vinyl. Let it set up over night. Did the same with kick and sail panels. It was my first attempt at this kind of work. I can see were I made some mistakes.Don't push on the vinyl to hard with your fingers or you will leave small dimples.Also I did not sand it down enough and every little small wave shows up when using spray on adhesive. I'm sure someone with more experience with upholstery could have done a much better job. If you have a old head liner laying around and have the skills I can see were this technique would work. Like I said I rushed it. Live and learn.

excessiveego

well i think i am going to get an ABS plastic headliner, I still have my factory one, it's pretty messed up from having the t-tops off while it was coming apart, but i think it is intact enough to copy over all of the needed holes into the ABS one before i install it, i will update with pictures and let everyone know how it went after it is done

quick87formula

hey i have an abs one and it fit great. had no problem at all. and i got it off ebay. i think it was a1 auto

hellz_wings

iTrader: (2)

I had trouble lining it up.. I had to cut part of the dome light opening and the sunvisor triangle bracket openings. No biggy, just took some trial and error because I did not want to cut too much so that it would make the hole bigger and noticeable! Precision takes time and patience...

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

I sell the t-top headliners, and I've also installed them. Overall, the fit is good, but not as good as the OEM headliner. It's not a simple R&R job... you do need to take your time and it requires some patience to get everything lined up. That said, once it's in, it's a nice piece.

Due to the difficulty (and expense if you have a pro do it), I think the t-top headliner is a worthwhile purchase. On the hardtop cars, I usually recommend that people recover their factory one because it's a very easy job.

I've got a very detailed installation "how-to" that may be of some help to you:
http://www.iroczone.com/2009/10/inst...irdgen-f-body/

WHTrunner

I got the T-top headliner from 1A a couple of weeks ago. It fit fairly well. It's not as good of a fit as the original, but I'm still tweaking it.

I have the map lights overhead, so I had to cut the hole a bit bigger. The directions said that additional cuts may be required for overhead consoles and map lights. It said that additional directions could be furnished upon request for making necessary cuts. I wondered why the additional directions weren't included with the headliner. Didn't make much sense to me.

Anyways, I solved the hanging problem with velcro. Stuck a piece on each side of the T in the middle. You can't use the self stick velcro without first removing the glue and using something that's heat resistant, otherwise the glue will melt and your headliner will droop. The permanent glue will only be required for the part that touches metal, as this is the surface that gets hot. The ABS stays cool enough to not melt the glue on self stick velcro.

One problem that I'm seeing right now, is that it droops at the rear side of the tops. I can see the top of the headliner and where the backing is cut. I'm still trying to think of a way to fasten that so that it looks consistent all around the sides of the tops.


And here's a tip for anyone who is attempting to replace a T-top headliner:

If, for whatever reason, you have the overhead light holding the center section of the headliner, and you go to adjust it, either (A) remove the light bulb first, or (B) don't touch that son of a B&%#$! My finger is still healing up from that one.

hellz_wings

iTrader: (2)

I would think that the map lights help it stay up in the middle and sag less? But yes I've heard of the velcro technique I have yet to try it (wish i would have thought of that before i put it all back together.. I'll do it over the winter for sure when i do some interior work.

WHTrunner

The map lights really don't do much more than the dome light did. In fact, the front of the map light fixture clips to the headliner.

I redid the velcro with permanent glue last weekend and so far, the headliner hasn't come back down.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Well, I ordered a headliner from 1A Auto.....actually I got the sun visors and sail panels too!

Also got new clutch/brake pedal pads since mines been missing since I've had the car. Thanks to this thread, I think I'll have an easier time with the headliner install.