Interior Modification DIYs - DIY custom headliner 96-00 Coupe DX

Well just did my headliner to customize it and freshen it up. Thought id go ahead and do a DIY
My vehicle is a 1996 Honda Civic DX Coupe.

Tools needed;
small and large Philips screw drivers.
medium/large flat screw driver.
and a clip remover for more ease.
and a hot glue gun helps as well.
and your choice of fabric. i chose slate tweed from http://www.yourautotrim.com/prautw.html
length of material is your choice. i bought 3 yards, but 2 yards is more than enough! i bought extra for future projects to make everything match nicely.

lets start out with the front of the headliner.
remove the rear view mirror trim that is just snapped on, simply pull it down, and remove the 3 Philips screws and the rear view mirror will come down just set it to the side.
next the sun visors using the medium/large flat screw driver remove the 2 bolts on the main visors and set them to the side. now the center visor clips have a small opening towards the windshield, use a small screw driver to push through the back opening and that push in a little tab, and while pushing in that tab TURN the whole piece 90degrees and the piece will just pull down.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-01.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-26.jpg

now moving back, pull the dome light clear cover off and remove the small Philips screw on it and unplug the wire harness and set it out of the way.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-02.jpg

next remove the 2 rear plastic disk clips, just pull them down. a lot easier with a clip remover tool! and the rear hanger hook.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-03.jpg


next pull the front side pillar trim panels off, pull the panel loose a little and move it forwards to free the rear corner and then just pull that panel out of the way.
now that everything is free, slide the whole headliner forwards to the windshield so it clears the rear side panels and pull it out of the car.

now use some GOOD headliner adhesive!!!! DON'T CHEAP OUT this glue is what holds the material up! i grabbed 2 cans. they only had one can of the 3M stuff so the other was just a backup. its also good stuff.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-10.jpg


and depending on the condition of your headliner.... if your headliner is sagging and foam layer is falling apart then you'll need to use a wire brush to remove all the old foam from the cardboard backing.
OR if your material is in good condition just glue directly to it like i did.

now put your fabric over the headliner and leave it a few inches to large on every side for extra room.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-09.jpg


now apply 2 layers of spray glue to the headliner backing, best to put a little extra glue around tight corners and such since the fabric is stretched a bit.
and best to only do half of the headliner at a time.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-11.jpg

now spray a light layer onto the back side of your material and let sit there for a few minutes so the glue gets tacky.
now have a friend help ya position the new fabric onto the headliner and start in the middle working out any wrinkles or bubbles and continue to push down the whole thing and glue the rest the same way.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-12.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-13.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-14.jpg


and let sit for at least 5mins so the glue sticks good and then flip the headliner over and using the hot glue gun apply the glue to the back of the headliner and pull the fabric tight to remove wrinkles around edges and extra strength so the sides don't get pulled off easily when reinstalling.....
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-16.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-17.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-19.jpg

now cut off any extra fabric, also folds on the backside.
and then simply cut some holes through the material for your factory stuff for your hardware and your ready to reinstall! i used a razor blade to cut the holes for the dome light and other bolt holes.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-21.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-23.jpg


now slide the headliner back in the way you removed it and screw everything back together. best to start out with everything loose. hardest thing to reinstall was the 2 front visor clips! that was a huge PITA to get back in and locked!
after you have those 2 pieces in the rest is a breeze!
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-25.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-27.jpg

and if you want to take it another step you can paint the headliner trim pieces. i did a gunmetal paint on my dome light after popping it apart to paint the slide as well. not needed but just looks better with the darker color material.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-28.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-32.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-31.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-33.jpg

i also used some black plastic clips. but IMO if your headliners backing is in firm condition then i don't think you need those 2 plastic clips. i would have left them off BUT i already cut the 2 holes :(
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-34.jpg
i also decided not to install the hanger hook at least not yet!
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-35.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-36.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/headliner/smaller%20pics/96headliner-38.jpg

now sit back and admire your work!!!!! and maybe think about recovering your visors also. i have not yet but will change them to match....
as well as your door panel arm rests, center console arm rest, and anything else you might decide to match....
future DIY will be done for them when i do the work later on.
hopefully this helps you and you can do your own custom headliner.


you can also get more creative with some foam cut into some designs glued down under the fabric first to have a raised design on the headliner.

Nice writeup! The part about adding foam for custom designs is a great idea. You could probably use a sewing machine (or hand stitch) a tweed sleeve to go over the visors so they match. If cut right, it could be snug enough to not move around or need glue to hold it in place.

ya ill try to figure out the visors tomorow maybe. ill have my dad sow the sucker with his machine out in the shop. my only problem is i have NO IDEA how these mirrors is held inplace! but so far im thinking cutting the outter edges with a razor blade and just pull it off like a sock and try that... ONE AT A TIME OF COURSE... just incause it doesnt turn out, only my passenger will be without a sun visor.LOL
but im thinking worst case scenario.... ill just fiberglass them and smooth and paint them, or just make a two piece visor and simply sandwich the 2 wraped pieces ruff sides together... (hey thats a good idea ;) ) brain storm! maybe even two magnets for a small hidden compartment for cash in the visor. safe keeping and no one will ever know. (you guys better not tell anyone.LOL )

Hit up a salvage yard and get a sacrificial pair just in case?

PART TWO...
door arm rests recovered.

tools needed
dremel
hot glue gun/ or epoxy
and your fabric and spray adhesive.
philips screw driver.

for the DX manual windows you can use a screw driver philips or flat to pull the rear clip off the window crank, first pull the speaker cover off and put the screw driver around that area flat to aim it behind the crank and spin the crank over and the screw driver tip should catch the clip and knock it off and then you can just slide off the crank handle.

then pull the philips screws one around the door handle, one on door handle pocket on the arm rest. and 3 more holding the stock speaker inplace and unplug the harness off the speaker, and then 3 more screws around the door speaker area.

then pull the door panel up and out of the way.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-01.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-02.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-06.jpg


then bust out the dremel and cut the melted plastic dots. i used a cone shaped stone so it was pretty straight. grind em down alittle and push from the other side and you should feel it push in alittle when youve gone far enough.
continue around the panel and pull the whole section out.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-08.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-07.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-10.jpg

then simply pull off the old ugly fabric lay it out over your new material and cut out your material. then spray some glue on the back of the fabric and some glue on the trim piece and just give it a minute or two to tack up and then apply and work the fabric around to remove wrinkles. and keep pressing the fabric around the trouble areas to get them to stick good, it will take afew minutes for the glue to dry and stick good to hold the fabric inplace...

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-11.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-12.jpg

now you can either use hot glue like i did or go stronger and get some 1min epoxy.
either way only do about 3-4 mounting spots at a time until the glue or epoxy is dried or cooled hard then work to the next 3-4
i used hot glue and the low temp setting.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-15.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-14.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-16.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-17.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-18.jpg

and simply reinstall

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-23.jpg

and the BEFORE/AFTER
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-24.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/96doorpanel-25.jpg

took me about an hour (minus the fiberglass fix)

tomorrow ill do the passenger door, and then the arm rest.

looks good addiction, i might actually do that but not feeling like doing anything else right now, this will be my future project

thanks... gotta love cheap easy mods!

Nice DIYs. I think when I get that EK I'll probably wrap the door panels and armrest. It doesn't have a headliner, and honestly, I kind of like it that way... the half stripped interior sort of gives it a comfortable bare-bones look lol

But great job on the write-ups

looks like I'll be using a few of yours lol... the climate control led conversion, the guage led conversion, the door panel wrapping, etc :D

nice write up
i'd like to add, stockinteriors.com has a kit for doing this, that comes with material and the adhesive, for like $30 in a bunch of colors
http://stockinteriors.com/autoheadliner.asp?Itemid=6729&MakeId=10&ModelId=233

great write up thanks! Im getting ready to do my headliner with the foam backed fabric. Do you think that would make much difference? Also, how do you take the front side pillar trim panels off? Just pull?

yes the front side pillars need to be removed.pull the pieces down some and push the trim forwards down into the dash and then the rear will clear the rear upper pillar trim.

the foam backing doesnt make much difference. it sthe same way BUT if your redoing your headliner because its droped/falling down then you need to remove the old foam/fabric thats on the board.... a wire brush works to remove any loose foam or glue or if you have a power sander just use it to sand off the foam to be somewhat smooth and try not to go into the cardboard backing.

just remember measure twice cut once! if you cut it to short that whole piece is a waste...


and i still have yet to try to recover the sunvisors.... i do have a backup set of sunvisors that im going to cutup and see what i can do. i plan on TRYING next week, thats when parents SUPPOSEDLY leave for florida so ill have plenty of time to continue work on my civics.

sick write up, i wanna do mine, but i feel that what ever i choose for a headliner would look wierd becaus ei have a tan interior.

theres plenty of materials that will match what ever you have...
just recover a few pieces on your car to all match ;)

if in doubt about how it might look... go to a junk yard and buy a headliner for your civic and use it to modify and experiment with.... that way if it doesnt turn out you still have your stock headliner....
when in doubt buy extra parts to modify ;)

Thank god you did the door panel diy, I was going to rewrap mine during thanksgiving break, but now i see i can be lazy and not write up a diy and knock it out in about 30 minutes, lol.

o ya the door panels are quite easy.... just keep rubbing the new fabric so it stretches to the shape alittle better and the glue sticks good. i still have yet to do my other door panel :( ive been to lazy and helping my dad pack the motor home for there trip to florida. as soon as they leave im gonna be hot and heavy on it again!

^ I've already done it a numberous times. I'm just redoing them because I'm tired of seeing a different color red than the rest of my car. I'm gonna use an all black fabric to match the floormats.

well i decided to get off my butt for a few mins and cut apart my sunvisors...

actualy was lot simplier than i thought!!!!
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/93a196ac.jpg

use a razor blade to cut the joint on the visors fabric.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/bac877e1.jpg

and then simple OPEN the visor.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/5348b50a.jpg

use a small screw driver to pull the clips off the visors flap and the clips just fall out the back.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/feb1fb5c.jpg

TWO WAYS TO SEPERATE the small bezel and mirror. another way i just thought about is after opening the visor use a small dremel to cut off the melted tip on the back.
you can kinda see the small platic melted tabs along the top.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/5348b50a.jpg


second way is, i used a small screw driver to slightly pry off the inner bezel.
BE CAREFULL pry to far and the actual bezel snaps like mine did :( WOOPS o well no big deal alittle drop of epoxy should make it look perfect again... i also plan on painting the bezel and flap also gunmetal to match later on.
and i MIGHT replace the mirrors in mine since they dont look that clean anyways... just an idea. the mirrors just lay there. so once the bezel is removed it will fall right out.

to remount the little bezel will hopefully just take alittle 5min epoxy to run down into the holes to lock the bezel inplace again.... just dont forget to put the mirror back inplace before glueing it ;)
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/25cf97db.jpg
WOOPS....
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/b301d113.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/90a9562c.jpg


http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/e68ce0ba.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/4cca10f6.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/addiction2bass/96%20Civic%20DX/sunvisors/bc9b7627.jpg

now simply open trace the fabric ruffly an inch or two larger and spray glue it just like the headliner. spray both the sunvisor and new fabric and let sit for afew mins before puting together.
then just glue the tabs over like like your original fabric was. and either make small cuts for the bezels tabs to go thru OR LEAVE IT AS IS and delete the whole mirror assembly...

and reinstall the center clip as well.
then cut the fabric back so its only inside the visors backing maybe an inch or half inch. and then use some kinda of glue to hold the visors back together and simply put the glue/epoxy rufflyright next to your cut fabric on the cardboard backing and just close the visors and put a book or something heavy ontop of the visor while the glue dries. best to leave it on the visor for awhile to let the glue dry fully.... otherwise the glue might not be totaly firm and might try to open the visor crack some.
and IMO if your using a thin material, it should be best to glue the visor together the day after you glue the fabric to it... that way the glue will be firm on it and the stock foam so when you press the visor back together that the glue wont be forced thru the thin material making it hard to the exterior.

i havent glued mine yet... i have to go buy some more epoxy. so no pictures done yet.

turns out the visors is alot easier than it looks ;)

you make this look dumb easy. i wanna do it bad. im to lazy though ill get around to it it will be one of my winter projects =] thanks for sharing it with everyone i can look back now and do it. =]

it actualy is dumb easy.LOL i thought the sunvisors where gonna be really hard BUT hell after sacrificing 1 visor i myself feel stupid for not doing this along time ago!

but at least this way i cut up some worn dirty visors and i can sell my good visors on ebay ;)

damn dude looks great, you never stop surprising me with randomly great mods

im seriously impressed. =] i wanna use micro-suede. do you know anything about that material?

sorry never used it..... i used some kind of fake suede on my arm rest and it didnt contor very well at all :(
but i have heard for some materials you slap them in the dryer to heat them up and some materials stretch better.

but i try not to comment of products i havent used...

and thanks jpnolan.... not bad for someone that cannt spell for shtt. LMFAO i like the little touches.

sorry never used it..... i used some kind of fake suede on my arm rest and it didnt contor very well at all :(
but i have heard for some materials you slap them in the dryer to heat them up and some materials stretch better.

but i try not to comment of products i havent used...

and thanks jpnolan.... not bad for someone that cannt spell for shtt. LMFAO i like the little touches.

my spelding is fien :D

ADDICTION - I need help getting the side pillars off. Is there a trick without busting them? Which way do they slide or do I just yank? I feel like a moron but mine are really on there. Any words of wisdom would be great!

i had to do this its a little of a pain on the front ones they yank out and on the back ones there are screws that are a pain to get to

Nice writeup. I am probably going to do this to my civic when I have a chance, just not sure what I want the fabric to look like.

just go to any local craft/fabric store and see what they got see what you like the looks and feel of....
ive just wanted to use tweed for the longest time and this weave should look great for my final product!

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2338395 this is DIY on an EX incase anyone was wondering =]