Re: headliner - How to replace

[Chuck Van Pelt <cvanpelt@aracnet.com>]

Angie,

Your Jetta is named Fernando? Are you an ABBA fan? ;-)

Anyway, I _just_ replaced my sunroof and had to pull down tha headliner. I
was lucky enough to be able to watch a mechanic pull the used sunroof I
bought from a junked 97 Jetta. If I can do it, anyone can. Keep in mind
that I have a 95 Jetta GLX, but the process should be similar for other A3
years. Here's how ya do it (including some special tips that you won't find
in the Bentley manual...):

BACKGROUND:
The headliner in this car is made up of a single stiff piece of
fiberglass-backed fabric. It is held in place by plastic trim pieces on the
sides and rear, and by several accessories including the sun visors, grab
handles, courtesy lights, dome light and sunroof switch.

TOOLS: Flathead screwdriver, phillips-head screwdriver, pliers, clean shop
towel.

Before you start, lay out a towel or something to put all of the parts on.
There will be plenty of them. ;-) This will make reassembly easier. Also, I
found it helpfull to lower the back of both front seats to allow a lot of
room to move around in the car. I wore socks only so as not to damage the
leather. Also, open all 4 doors now...you will need to be crawling in and
out of all of them quite a bit.

1. Remove the sun visors. There is one screw each and you may have to
rotate the brackets towards the front of the car to get them out. If you
have lighted mirrors, you will notice that a wire comes out with the
bracket. You will find a plug wrapped in foam tape...unplug the wires and
remove the sun visors. This is a good time to give them a good cleaning
with Simple Green. There might also be two clips that hold the other end of
each sun visor. Remove the single screw from each of these and remove.

2. Remove the grab handles from above each door. There are two screws in
each one that are uncovered by prying up the plastic covers over them.

3. Remove the courtesy lights from above the rear doors. They just pry out
from the rear. Unplug them and set aside.

4. Remove the plastic piece that covers the sunroof motor (front center of
the headliner) by prying lightly on the sides. It should pop off. Remove
the dome light/sunroof switch assembly from the front center. There should
be a release clip in the center of the right side. Just push in a flat head
screwdriver to release. Unplug the domelight and sunroof switch from the
harness. Set aside the light/switch assembly.

5. Now it gets fun...Remove the plastic covers from the inside of the door
pillars. These are the pieces of plastic that the seatbelts come through.
You can remove them by prying from the bottom and swinging out. You can
then pull down to disengage the top. This is easier to do than to describe.
Let both pillar covers dangle from the seatbelt. Be careful because there
will be grease on their backsides.

6. By removing the pillar covers, you have revealed two screws on each side
that hold on the plastic trim that supports the headliner. Remove all 4
screws and set aside. Now, starting at the front, pull down the plastic
trim pieces. Just wiggle them a bit and they should come off. There will be
plastic clips that hold the pieces to the frame of the car. You will notice
that about half come off with the plastic trim piece and half stay embedded
in the metal frame of the car. Pull the stragglers out of the frame with
pliers and be sure to slide them back into place on the plastic trim piece.
Most of the clips are angled, so make sure you put them back facing the
right direction. Repeat this process for both front and both rear plastic
pieces. The rear two have the rear seatbelts passing through them, so you
can simply lay them on the rear deck for now.

7. There is a final plastic piece to remove in the rear center. It pulls
down the same way as the others. When you remove this last piece, the
headliner will try to fall down in the rear. Be sure to support it so it
doesn't crease. (This may not matter if you plan to throw it away. :-)
Again, be sure to save the plastic clips and re-insert them into the
plastic trim piece.

8. By this time, your headliner should be sagging down in the rear, held up
only by the trim around the sunroof opening. You may choose to pull off the
trim ring to release the headliner, but I found that it is possible to
remove it without taking off the trim ring. Just start at the front an pull
the headliner down by bending the trim ring out of the way.

9. If you have followed my instructions to this point, you should have a
stiff fiberglass backed headliner in your lap. To get the headliner out of
the car, open the right rear door and slide it out...it should just fit
without bending.

10. While you have the headliner out, this might be a good time to grease
up your sunroof assembly and/or check/repair/replace your FUBA antenna if
necessary. No one wants to have to take down their headliner _again_.

11. Installation is the reverse of removal. Wash your hands first or at
least towel them off! I found out the hard way that greasy fingerprints are
difficult to get out of a headliner. You might have a freind help to hold
up the new headliner while you are attaching all of the bits that hold it
on. If you have opted not to remove the sunroof opening trim ring, use a
blunt flat head screwdriver to help get the headliner back in place under
the ring. Be sure to thread the wiring harness connectors for the courtesy
lights, lighted visors, and dome light back through the proper holes in the
headliner.

12. When putting back the trim pieces, remember to put the rear center one
back first, then the rear left and right pieces, the front left and right
pieces, and finally snap the pillar covers back into place. Replacing the
pillar covers will require you to line up the seatbelt height adjustment
slider properly. You  can tell if you did it wrong because you won't be
able to move the seatbelt height adjuster up or down.

13. Replace the courtesy lights, handles, and sun visors. Remember to
reconnect the wires to the lighted visors...you threaded the wires out
through the headliner, right? Be sure to wrap the connectors back in the
original foam tape so they don't rattle in the frame of the car spoiling
your thumpin' car stereo experience. Also, reconnect the domelight/sunroof
switch assembly and insert into the headliner. Finally, re-insert the
plastic sunroof motor cover by sliding the tab on the rear in first and
flexing the entire piece to engage the plastice clips on each side into the
headliner. Your new headliner should  now be fully installed!

I hope this helps.

Chuck Van Pelt


>I recently found a cigarette burn (gasp) in my headliner courtesy of the
>previous owner.  Is replacing the headliner with a new one too difficult for
>a do-it-yourself-er?  Also, would it be extremely time consuming?
>
>Angie and Fernando aka Jetta GLX
>
><< Takeing down the
> headliner to get to it isnt to hard.  Best bet is to used the Bently Manual.
>
> It tells you how to swap it out.  >>