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headliners and pillar plastics of a PT Cruiser are either
Light-Taupe or Light-Slate. In this car I wanted a darker interior, so the headliner was re-covered in Black and the pillar plastics were painted. - An overhead console from a Chrysler LHS was added at the same time. |
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Remove all the
pillar plastics, sunvisors, lights, etc. There are 2 'button clips' over the rear hatch, just pull down on the headliner, the clips stay in the headliner. The headliner is held up along the sides by the door weather strips. |
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Here is a 'what's
going on behind' view of the seat belt anchor covers. 2 metal dimples catch the cover. Slide a screwdriver behind the cover to clear the dimples, and slide the cover up. |
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The pillar plastics just pull off. 'A' pillar is the windshield, 'D' is the rear. Wiggle the B pillar cover off of the seat belt slide. (click picture to see full size) |
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The center dome light just pops out. |
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Here is the B
pillar seat belt slide. The red arrow is where the bolt goes. I spoke with a Chrysler technician, he highly recommended NOT trying to remove the knob to remove the slide. |
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Once loose and
falling, remove the headliner out the rear of the car. I found it helpful to recline the seats. |
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A paper template
was made to check for any obstructions for the overhead console. It turns out there were not any, but I'll show you how in case you use a different console. |
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The paper template was transferred to the back of the headliner. |
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A general pattern
was drawn, no problems. The original dome light wire is glued to the headliner, and was moved. |
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A center line was
drawn in caulk and the console was positioned. |
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The headliner
'board' cuts easily with a razor knife. The console has a 'backside' however there was not enough clearance room. Small blocks of wood were glued to the back of the headliner to attach the console. |
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The new console
had a 'lip' at the front, a piece of foam was glued on to fill the void. (see the yellow foam?) In general- Covering a headliner is easy. Use 'High-Heat' spray contact cement. (they sell it where you buy headliner material) Fold the material back half way, glue one half... |
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Then do the other
half. Notice how the edges are all too long. The factory cuts a blunt edge, I recommend you roll the edges over and glue them 1-2 inches onto the back. - Your new headliner will last longer than factory. |
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Here is the
finished headliner. Edges rolled, wooden blocks glued on, wiring harness altered for the new console. |
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Back in the car... Before re-installing the headliner... |
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I glued up a layer
of 'closed cell' foam. (they sell this where you buy headliner material) It is very dense but thin, and does 2 things... 1. No more "TWANG" when you tap on the roof. 2. Makes the car a lot quieter in a rain storm. And stuffed the cavities with fiberglass, why not? |
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The pillar
plastics were painted with 'Krylon Fusion' plastic paint. This was a test, I had not used this paint before. It worked very well, and has held up great. The interiors of cars are traditional dull. I used 'satin' gloss to keep the shine down. In my opinion they are still too shiny, I would use 'flat' next time. Clean and wipe the parts with Acetone first. |
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Done. This car has reversing radar and the LED display was originally stuck on the dash. Mounting the display in the new console seemed the thing to do. Works great, one naturally looks into the rear view mirror when backing up, and there it is, blinking and beeping. Click here to see the rear radar install. |