1999 Volkswagon Beetle headliner installation guide

Step by step installation instructions for removing, recovering and replacing the headliner in a 1999 Volkswagon Beetle. The original headliner started sagging in this car so the headliner board was removed and recovered with new headliner material and then re installed. Below you will find the installation instructions and you will also find that it isn't that hard a job if you will take your time and do it right. The color we used for this Volkswagon Beetle headliner was 2173 light graphite.
A small to mid sized car headliner kit will work for the Volkswagon Beetle headliner.

As you can see by this picture of the roof of this 99 Volkswagon Beetle, it was in serious disaray - a couple more months and this one would have been in the floor of the car. The trim around the doors is the pinch type, easily removed. The front plastic trim along the windshield needs to be popped loose, as well as the trim around the rear of the headliner. None of the trim was completely removed from the car, just loosened so the headliner would slide out from under it.

Most everything in the Volkswagon Beetle was attached with phillips head screws. As you can see from this picture, the screws are neatly tucked behind the grab handles with a trim cap. Remove the plastic caps and you can see the screws.

The 2 screws that you see in this picture in the overhead center storage container have to be removed so the headliner will fall free from the top. Simplest way to do this is to pull the storage bin from the housing - it pops out and pops back in - SIMPLE! The little door is attached to it.

The Volkswagon Beetle has a strap for the passenger in the rear seat to grab to help them get out of the car. This strap has to be removed and the trim pulled loose so the headliner board can be slid forward and freed from the trim. Once the trim plug is removed, it has a phillips head screw that can be removed. Once the screw is removed, and the plastic slid off the strap, there are 2 more screws behind it that hold the strap assembly in place.

The sunvisors are held in place with one screw that has a plug over the screw hole. The sun visor support has a plastic cap over it, once this is popped off, you can see the 2 screws that hold it in place. We didn't take a picture of the rear view mirror being removed, but this is how to do it. Pry the cover down that is around it, and pop the rear view mirror off or pry it straight down with a screw driver. It is spring loaded and pops out, there are no screws.

When everything that attaches through the headliner board of the Volkswagon Beetle has been removed, slide if forward and free it from the trim. Remember, none of the trim has to be completely removed unless you want to, it can be freed from the trim enough to fall free. When it is down, unclip the wiring harness from the lights and then you can remove the Beetle headliner board from the car.

The headliner board can be twisted around so it will come out of the passenger door of the Volkswagon Beetle. It is removed very easily because the door is much wider than the headliner board. The headliner board in the Volkswagon Beetles are made well, which means they are very resilient - you can tear them up, but you will have to be trying to do it.

We took another picture of the VW Beetle headliner overhead storage bin. You can see by this picture, it slides straight out - there are 2 plastic clips on the back that hold it in place. Once this is out, there are 2 screws on either side that hold the housing in place. Remove them and the storage housing will come off so you can recover the headliner board. The dome lights will pop out, we didn't remove the small metal pieces in the dome light openings, we covered over them and cut a slit in the headliner, then popped the lights back in place.

The Volkswagon Beetle headliner board is bowed like the roof of the car, plus it has a lot of curves and dips. It would be wise to do the back first, and then work toward the front. The big hump where the overhead storage assembly fits makes the vw beetle headliner a bit more aggravating. Before spraying the adhesive, lay it over it and give it a dry fit so you will know where to pull and push to get it right. The headliner material is very workable and moldable, so take your time right here and get it worked around the hump well. If you need to, you can cut the material where the 2 holes are in the headliner board for a little extra slack in the material.

The 1999 Volkswagon Beetle headliner has a lot of nooks and crannies, but it can be recovered and look like brand new. Patience is always the key to getting the best effect. Once the headliner is recovered, replace it just like it came out and you are done. The cost is about 40 dollars, give or take a few cents. A job like this should take about 2.5 hours for the novice.

Once the headliner board is recovered and the excess headliner material trimmed, replace it in the Volkswagon Beetle just like it came out of the car. If all goes well, you won't be able to tell anything had ever happened to it in the first place. That's the way it supposed to be!

1999 volkswagon beetle headliner repair guide, volkswagon beetle headliner installation instructions