| The
headliners and pillar plastics of 01-05 PT Cruisers 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. |
|
 |
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, cover over them with the new material. The headliner is held up along the sides by the door weather strips. |
 |
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. |
 |
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) |
 |
The center dome light just pops out. |
 |
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. |
 |
The headliner is held up along the sides by the door weather strips. Pull the headliner away from the strips. Once loose and falling, remove the headliner out the rear of the car. I found it helpful to recline the seats. |
 |
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... |
 |
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. |
 |
Here is the
finished headliner. A custom overhead console was added to this headliner. |
 |
Back in the car... Before re-installing the headliner... |
 |
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. |
 |
The pillar
plastics were painted with 'Krylon Fusion' plastic paint. It worked very well, and has held up great. 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. |
 |
Done. The sunvisors were sprayed with the Fusion paint, this worked well. A Chrysler LHS overhead console was added. Click picture to see more about adding an overhead console . |
 |
This headliner
recovering technique can be used to add a specialty material,,, such as tweed, fake suede, or a printed cloth as Colby did here. Look for a material that is slightly stretchy, is is easier to work with. Remember to use HIGH - HEAT spray contact cement. |