740 Roof lining

[Philip Fisher]

Hi folks,

Don't normally post on here, as not a 740 driver, but my mum has a bit of a problem with her 1988 740 GL Auto. We have had the car in the family from new and it has covered 110,000 miles now. Anyway, the problem. I has a factory fitted sunroof, with the associated shaped headlining. Above the rear seats, the lining has become detached from the backing and the thin material has come sagging down. This makes the car look very scruffy and I cannot work out a good way of reattaching it. I have thought about a new lining (from a scrappy obviously), but assume this would be loads of work to fit. Also thought about carefully slitting it and glueing behind, but not sure what glue will not make a mess. Anyone any ideas?

Thanks in anticipation.

Funny you should ask, this is most common problem on 740s. I have taken the liberty of copying this text from my own website, accessible by clicking the picture below.

Repair and replacement of headlining in Volvo's

Many older Volvos suffer from torn and sagging headlinings. This is unsightly and makes the experience of the car less comfortable and satisfactory, although it does of course not impair on the performance of the car. The repair or replacement of these headlinings is quite simple and fairly cheap. I will describe the options and then give detailed instructions as to how to go about carrying out the work.

Construction

The headlining is made up of three layers. First, there is a glass fibre board onto which adhesive is applied in order to fasten a cover made up of foam and fabric. What happens to these headlinings is that the adhesive will give way and the fabric separate from the foam, thus making it sag and at this stage, the fabric is very thin and fragile, a rip or tear easily comes about and from there on, the whole headlining soon becomes a mess. Volvo did sort this out in their later models.

Solutions

There are three options available to those keen to fix this problem. The first, and cheapest, is to simply strip the board of fabric and foam and paint it, or replace it with a thin board of other material. This is the least attractive option but certainly does the trick in making your brick at least look reasonable. The other option is to replace the old headlining with a better one second hand. The hardest part of this is finding a suitable replacement headlining as although the most common one is the off-white type, there where also blue, maroon and dark grey ones. If you have a sunroof, the inside of that will be covered in material of the same type and colour as your old headlining which requires you to find a good headlining of the same colour that you have got in yours. If you chose to replace the sunroof too, then you have got to colour match the outside of that unless you want to give your car a re-spray. For my diesel, I was very lucky in finding a very good black one in a scrapped 960 together with a glass sunroof and rear reading lights. This improved the look of the interior of my car dramatically. Third option is to remove the old headlining, clear off any remaining foam and fabric and then recover it with new material, using adhesive. IPD sell these as kits with instructions and glue (www.ipdusa.com) and whilst they are reasonably priced, I failed miserably when trying it on my old 740 Turbo, not least because I ended the whole thing by cutting my thumb and bleeding all over the new white headlining.

Removal

The most important thing to keep in mind when removing the headlining is that it is a thin, fragile glass fibre board and it very easily cracks and bends. Thus, being careful is the most important aspect of this work. The removal itself is easy. Simply do as follows, noting that the instructions below are for an estate but the procedure is very similar for a saloon. The main difference is that on an estate, the headlining can be removed through the tailgate making things much easier, on a saloon, most people find it necessary to remove the front seats and to deliberately crack it in the middle.

1, Remove the plastic trim panel along the top the tailgate opening

2, Remove the cover for the rear view mirror, the mirror itself, the sun visors and their clips

3, Remove the trim around the sunroof opening

4, Remove the trim along the top of windshield (if the windshield has been replaced, chances are this trim has been glued in place and if so, it will crack, a new one is about €/$30 from dealer)

5, Remove the interior light unit

6, Remove the two plastic clips just above the rear seat (this will probably brake too, new ones are €/$2 each from dealer)

8, Remove the grab handles and then the plastic trim panel above the doors

9, Unscrew the screw fixing the A-pillar trim but do not remove the trim itself

10, Pull off the trim panel above the boot windows

11, Sitting in the front seats, bring the headlining down somewhat and gently pull if forward

12, With the headlining lose, gently pull it out through the tailgate

Refitting the replacement headlining or the repaired old one is very much the reverse of the removal, just be very careful!

George

[link:www.ttsservices.co.uk/my%20volvos.htm|http://www.ttsservices.co.uk/imm021.jpg]

'95 940 Polar LPT (B230FK/AW71; 130k)
'87 740 GLE Turbo Diesel Intercooler (D24TIC/ZF22; 210k)

[Peter Milnes]

If the headlining is okay apart from the sag, it is possible to obtain a glue that can be applied with a syringe (similar to a hypodermic needle). This will enable the glue to be injected between the lining and the foam/card layer. All that is needed then is to press the lining back into position with a sponge or soft cloth. With care, and not too much adhesive, a very satisfactory result can be achieved without too much hard work.

All the best, Peter

[Philip Fisher]

Thanks Guys, I knew you could come up with a solution.

The lining is in a pretty good condition, and with me not living near by, means that the glueing is probably a better fix than all the work of replacement.

Just one question - where can I buy this glue? I have seen syringle glues, but these seem to be just a way of dispensing two part epoxy. I have never seen any with a needle tip. Any suggestions on a supplier, or even a name that I can search on?

Thanks again.

[Peter Milnes]

You could try a pharmacy for the syringe, but make sure that they know you don't want it to shoot yourself up with!

All the best, Peter

[JXBURNS]

You can try http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/.

I asked a similar question and was advised QUOTE we do a high heat resistant aerosol adhesive which is ideal for glueing foam
backed headlinings. It come in 500ml cans @ £12.50 per can inclusing post and VAT. The tricky bit is to try and glue it without having to dismantle the car! Also you need to try and make sure the surfaces are as clean as possible. It is our part number 376. We accept most credit/debit cards. UNQUOTE

I have yet to attempt this as hopefully my sibling will take the car off me soon whilst I get myself a V70 D5 instead..

Rgds John

[neil stevenson]

For a cheap and cheerful fix try ordinary staples from an office stapler. Range Rovers are well known for this problem and mine is no exception. I just used a couple of well placed staples and it has stayed in place for over 4 years now.

I went to Woolies on Friday and bought headlining material and this glue. I have just done the headling and am very satisfied. Woolies where very friendly and helpful, by the way, recommend them.

George

[link:www.ttsservices.co.uk/my%20volvos.htm|http://www.ttsservices.co.uk/imm021.jpg]

'95 940 Polar LPT (B230FK/AW71; 130k)
'87 740 GLE Turbo Diesel Intercooler (D24TIC/ZF22; 210k)