96 gen 3

[CamoFlage]

hey guys ive been browsing this forum for a while now and have come across very helpful feedback..i was hoping you could do the same for me... the roof lining on my gen3 1996 2.2 ltr camry has started to sag..is there anything that can be done to fix this cheers

[quantum]

I'm not sure if you can do it by yourself but there are people who will be able to fix it....probably have to ask around. I've brought 2 of my friend's magnas for the exact same thing and it costs over $100

[CamoFlage]

I'm not sure if you can do it by yourself but there are people who will be able to fix it....probably have to ask around. I've brought 2 of my friend's magnas for the exact same thing and it costs over $100

thanks for the reply will ask around...over 100 bucks quite steep but i guess i gotta pay the price to get it fixed

[redracer]

Overall, it isn't an extremely hard job to repair the roof lining yourself. I repaired mine for the cost of the special headliner glue (about $25 bucks at the nearest auto store). If you do try to repair it yourself make sure its headliner glue, not upholstery glue as the upholstery glue doesnt cope with heat well and will come loose again (learn't that first time round). Basically to remove the headliner you need to remove the four round plastic lugs near the rear windshield, pop off the plastic cover for the interior light and unscrew & unplug the interior light, take off both sunvisors and the rearview mirror then lift and pull the plastic trim around the outskirts of the headliner. After that the headliner should drop down. It is recommended to remove the passenger seat to allow enough room to take the headliner out of the car (but isnt necessary, or recline the seats as low as they go for more room). Once out of the car, the material should fairly easily separate from the material its attached to. Then basically you respray the the whole headliner & let it dry. Once dry, reinstall the headliner reverse of removal. It takes a good day to repair the headliner but is much cheaper than taking it to a shop to be repaired. The only thing to be careful of is that the headliner is quite weak and any severe bending will cause it to snap.

[prometheus]

Yeah , the roof lining on my 1996 Camry is sagging as well , especially in the back .... probably from too much heat and moisture as a result of back seat jiggy jiggy , LOL.

I went to a repairer in the inner west of Melb where they do car upholstery and was quoted around $400 from memory.

Fcuck that , I will keep it as is .... especially as I want to upgrade to a better car in a year or so.

If I was to repair the car myself with the right glue , wouldn't it be easier just to use a razor and cut a slit in the roof lining , then use this to get access and spray the area that is sagging ?

[Wixy]

thanks for the info redracer, and your first and informative post as well! welcome to the forum.

i think redracer was referring to a good and proper job, thus looking at doing it properly rather than just looking at using a knife and slitting the areas that need repair.

its pretty funny how a gen3 camry still has alot of problems with durability. my mum gen3 camry has the same problem, and usually camrys with paint and interior problems are ones that are parked outside in the sun for 100% of the times. speaking of which, my back speaker holdings have melted cuz its so hot, and im only in metro vic. talk about bad design!

[manu_boy]

i have the same problem, so much sag that on a hot day the roof lining actually touches my head when i drive... its a little frustrating, may give what redracer has suggested when i get some time. Thanks for the info... You just beat me to making a topic here about it...

If it gets I will let you know how it goes...

Wixy - another minor camry (gen3) drama is the lifting dash, so you can see the yellow foam underneath it when you look though the windscreen.

but the many pluses clearly outweigh the problems - awesome air con, reliable - starts first time everytime, engines usually last almost for ever, i have seen camrys with high 300,000kms on them I think there was also one just over 400,000 km's ... gotta love the camry

Edited February 4, 2009 by manu_boy

[Whip Cracker]

I know Azza in Cairns has over 550k :P

The heat thing can't be avoided as easily... 25% tint on the boot will stop the speakers from melting hopefully :P Can then do the rear windows in 30% and the front windows in 35% :)

The ceiling will always get the sagging... my car's doin it (only a lil bit) but I'll prob take the whole thing out and re-do the whole lot in a nice black foamish vinyl type thing (as I have already done my door panels in black, which go well with the leather steering wheel and leather shifter).

Good luck.

[redracer]

first off i'd like to thank wixy for the kind welcome to the forum. Overall, I've had to repair the headliner twice to my parents car (first time with upholstery glue <_< ). It worked well for a few months but began to sag again . So second time around I did some more research and found Permatex Heavy Duty Headliner & Carpet Adhesive. The headliner was quite dirty so i bought a roll of grey tracksuit material and replaced the old headliner with the tracksuit material. Since using this glue I haven't had a problem with the headliner & most of the time the car was parked under the sun at school (it looks nice too with the new material).

In regards to the gen3's durability, ive noticed the most common problems for these cars are the sagging headliner, lifting dash & the door trim material separating from the door. Luckily since I purchased my 96 Vienta Grande 6mths ago I haven't had to face any of these problems yet! Unfortunately for my parents 96 Vienta CSI i've had to attempt to fix all these problems (except for the lifting dash, a dash mat hides it anyways)

[prometheus]

"" its pretty funny how a gen3 camry still has alot of problems with durability. ""

Well , don't forget that the Gen 3 is now approx 12 years old , most other cars of the same age have even more problems.

[CamoFlage]

ok guys thanks for all the input especially redracer i followed the steps and it wansnt so hard at all...i did a DIY for those who are willing to give it a go...imo it turned out quite well:yahoo: well i took a few pics and all up it took about 2-3 hours... the toughest bit was getting out the headliner from the car as it is very delicate but even that wasnt too bad just need patience..ok here goes

ok this is the old headliner that i ripped off the board..oops forgot to take a pic of the board..anyway the headliner was quite dirty and had foam stuck to it wud've have been quite a long procedure to get it all off so i just bought fleece material from spotlight and yea once the old material is off the board will have quite a bit of foam stuck to it so make sure u take as much off just by rubbing with the palm of ur hand

this is how it looks in without the headliner board in the car just for those who are curious

ok this is the spray glue i bought from a upholstery place because i couldnt find anything in the auto stores that would stand the heat

ok here i am sticking the new fleece material to the board..make sure u do it in steps and not stick the whole lot at once meaning spray quarter of the board with glue then stick wait about 10 mins and do another quarter and so on

here i have fixed it back in the car and all done!! make sure to be careful cause it can break

ok all up costed me 30 bucks for glue and 25 bucks for 2 metres of fleece material....not bad huh compared to the $220 i was quoted for by a pro upholster.

[redracer]

well im glad some of my advice came in handy.....that 3M glue should be fine (fingers crossed)....& by the looks of it you did a great job :)

[Whip Cracker]

Looks awesome mate... where did ya get the material from again? Lincraft? Spotlight??

I'm wanting to do mine in black, but in the same fabric :P

[CamoFlage]

Looks awesome mate... where did ya get the material from again? Lincraft? Spotlight??

I'm wanting to do mine in black, but in the same fabric :P

Thanks man...yea material is from Spotlight..its a double sided fleece material..wat i mean by that is that the reverse side is black ..i was thinking of doin it in black as well but black looked too heaty cause it attracts heat...the white gives it a more cool effect imo..but hey u go wit the blak, shud look good either way cause u goin with the black theme

[Whip Cracker]

Yeah... my car's "Storm" or "Gunmetal" Grey as is... Black door trim so far, black leather steering wheel and shifter... would suit for a black roof. My car gets hot anyway due to the colour, so a black roof ain't gonna matter anyway :P hahaha

[manu_boy]

Top stuff mate! Looks great...

Between your inspiration and the sagging material sitting on my head while im driving it is now something that looks alot more reasonable and obtainable, I may give it a crack this weekend if I get the time.

Looks neat!

[h3ctic]

yea it looks like ill hafta look into this one real soon as well. my headliners goin down in patches.... its painful to watch lol