1980 Pontiac Bonneville headliner repair guide

This is a 1980 Pontiac Bonneville that has a sagging headliner that was pinned up with staples by the owner. We used a full sized headliner kit by WLS Headliners to replace this Bonneville headliner. We used one can of stickit adhesive doing the job and had a small amount left over, maybe enough to do the sunvisors if needed. Below are the step by step instructions on removing, recovering, and replacing the headliner in a 1980 Pontiac Bonneville. The job took approximately 2 hours to complete.

Remove the headliner
Remove all the things that attach through the headliner board; visors, side and rear trim. On this particular model, the front trim need not be removed.
Remove the seat belt bolt
Remove the seat belt bracket bolt from the door posts. These need to come off so the headliner side trim will come off.
Removing the rear trim
To remove the rear trim, remove the screw in the center
Rear trim closeup
The rear trim is in 2 sections on some of the automobiles, they have this type of clip holding them. They can be aggravating to try to remove. We slide the trim off the clips like in the picture above.
Closeup of the trim clips that hold the side trim
This is a closeup of the trim clips that hold the side trim on. Push up on the trim and pull it from over the inside lip of the clip, and then pull it from off the back side of the trim and it should come off.
Remove the headliner board
After releasing the board from the top, remove the headliner from the car by working it out the front passenger side door. 98% of all headliners come out this way, especially in American made cars.

Clean the board, and if needed, repair any broken off corners. This board had a broken front left corner which wasn't hard to fix. We sprayed adhesive on each piece and stuck it back together. We also put a piece of duct tape on it to hold it until we got the cloth glued to it. Once the cloth is glued to it, it will hold it in place.
Recover the old board
Lay the material centered on the board, fold it back at about the middle, then start spraying board and cloth with the adhesive. It is wise to work about half of the length at a time so the adhesive won't dry out before applying the cloth.
Recover the rear panels
Recover the rear panels if the automobile has them. We mark the panel on the cloth with a magic marker so we don't waste adhesive.
Replace the headliner in the vehicle
Once you have recovered the headliner and the panels, replace the headliner in the vehicle, replace all the trim that was taken off, and there you go - it looks like brand new.

pontiac bonneville headliner repair, remove bonneville headliner

Comments

No posts found

Write a review

Your items Your items

..