I am looking into doing a suede headliner and pillers, but I am wondering from those who have done it; How much will I need? and what do you use to attach it? Any any other tips would be appreciated.

 

My headliner will be the last part I do in my interior. Not sure if you saw my past posts on the topic, but I've done suede recoverings of the beltline wood trim, the rear deck, the e-brake shroud, the rear ashtray cover, the "pocket trays" in the center console (ie, the coin pocket next to the shifter and that little shallow dirty strip in the pic below, just in front of the e-brake sleeve - they're suede now), and the A-pillars so far. B and C pillars are next (this week hopefully) and then once it warms up some more, I'll do the headliner.

Best tips I can give you are:

1 - start with a decently-larger piece of suede than the piece of trim you're covering. You can always cut away the excess

2 - do the largest flat surface, or the center of the panel, first, and work outward from it. If you have some fairly radical bends, or compound curves, take extra time, glue small areas at a time, and let them cure before pulling the suede taut around the next part.

3 - use 3M spray adhesive. I'm using the extra-strength stuff and it's awesome. Be careful to spray light coats of it though - spray too much and it'll soak through.

4 - wear latex gloves and change them a lot - it's very easy to get glue on a finger, and then get it on the suede. Then you have to start over.

5 - when pulling it tight around a small-radius curve, cut the excess "fold-over" part into a lot of thin strips, and pull each one over individually. Try to bend too wide a piece over a curving corner, and it'll wrinkle. Cutting it into strips will alleviate the wrinkles.

6 - BE PATIENT AND TAKE YOUR TIME. Don't get antsy and try to rush because you WILL screw up and have to start over.

7 - with the excess suede that is folded/pulled over the edge of the panel and glued to the back side, don't cut the excess away until you have it glued and anchored well. That way you know you won't have it all come undone once you cut the extra material off.

That's about it. As for how much, it depends on what's available to you. Our local shop sells it in 54" wide rolls, in one-yard linear increments. Take some measurements of your panels and you can see what you'll need once you find out how big the rolls of suede are.

Here's a few pics of my installs so far:

E-brake sleeve:


Thread with the pics of the beltline trim:
https://www.audiforums.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=127078

Shoot me a PM if you want to discuss more in-depth and I'll help you out with any of it that I can.