OK, so you just finished replacing your headliner. You go to put your sunvisors back on and realize that they are faded and dingy and look like crap next to your new headliner. Now what? In this tech article (my first) i will explain how to recover those dingy sunvisors using the same material you used for your headliner. That way it all matches and everyone will ooohhhh and ahhhh.
(Sorry in advance for the pic quality, my camera decided to break on me right when I started this project so I had to use my phone.)
Materials needed:
1 can headliner spray glue
left over headliner fabric (about 1/2 yard)
1 bottle permanent fabric tack
12 large binding clips
1 adjustable razorknife
large piece of scrap cardboard
2 dingy sunvisors
about 2 1/2 hours and a six pack of beer
Ok down to it. First off since you just replaced your headliner your sunvisors should already be removed. If not, remove the two screws on the outside of each sunvisor bracket and keep them in a safe place.
Lower the sunvisor assembly out of the headliner holes. You'll see why I call it an assembly in a second.
With the sunvisors removed, find a clean place to work that you can throw away afterwards, a clean piece of cardboard at least twice the size of the sunvisors works great.
Note: Do not use newspaper or anything that can rip easily, you are going to be using spray glue, it gets everywhere and paper will stick to the edges of your project ruining all your hard work.
Now grab your trusty razorknife and slice along the seam in the sunvisor all the way around.
The sunvisor should open like a book.
Pull out the plastic sheet and the paper donut and discard. (You don't really need them, they are part of the factory's fabric bonding.)
Carefully release the six tabs holding the mirror to the sunvisor frame, being careful not to rip the cardboard. (It's also glued down but time has destroyed most of the bond) You need to reuse the cardboard unless you are going to cut a new one yourself. I did not opt to cut a new one so i will not be explaining how to cut a cardboard template here. Its pretty self explanitory anyway. (If you do, I'd suggest using a manilla file folder its about the same thickness.)
Once the mirror is removed, carefully remove the mirror cover from the two tabs its attached to. You'll be reusing this piece also. I know its not the same color as the new material, but you won't see it unless you are using your sunvisors. Anyway, I kinda like the contrast.
With the fabric and cardboard removed from the frame start peeling the foam off the cardboard. Be sure to remove as much of the debris and crud from the cardboard as possible.
Now cut a piece of headliner material about four inches larger than the cardboard sunvisor frame.
Spray both the material and the outside of the cardboard with spray adhesive following the directions on the can and press them together.
Let it dry for about 30-45 min before you proceed. Now take your razorknife and adjust the blade depth to cut through the foam and
only the foam on the headliner material. If you are not using foam backed headliner skip the next step.
Carefully cut through the foam right next to the cardboard all the way around. Then using your fingers push down on the cardboard and pull the foam off the fabric.
With the foam removed all the way around cut the fabric around the cardboard about an inch from the edge. Now cut the fabric so you can fold it around the corners and holes.
Spray the edge of the cardboard and fabric and begin folding the fabric over the edge of the cardboard. When you come to a corner, the smaller the folds, the better it will look when you get done. Do the same for the hole.
Using your razorknife cut slits for the mirror tabs to go through. Slide the mirror cover back onto the tabs and carefully push the mirror through the slits in the cardboard and fabric.
Position the mirror tabs behind the correct side of the plastic sunvisor frame and push into place.
Apply permanent fabric glue to the fabric about 1/8" from the edge and fold the sunvisor over till it is pressed together.
Use the large binding clips to hold the edges together until the adhesive is dry, about an hour or two.
Repeat the steps for the other sunvisor.
Now remove the clips and reinstall your brand new sunvisors. Don't they look good.
Thanks for reading my first tech article. If you have anything to add or a better way of doing it please let me know. The how-to above was performed on a 1g.
How to Re-cover your sunvisors
