Overhead Console Replacement

[Paul Thomas]

10 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

 

Got it, thanks!  Looks like a two person job to get that down while holding it up and having enough arms left to disconnect vents and wires!

I got the front and back out by myself; I think you could re-install by yourself but I'll get another set of hand to make it easier/lessen risk to making mark on the new paint.

[Slick Nick]

8 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

 

Got it, thanks!  Looks like a two person job to get that down while holding it up and having enough arms left to disconnect vents and wires!

I did mine by myself. The headliner needs to drop down in one piece. Once the tubes and wiring are disconnected, you can remove the three screws holding the two halves together and remove the headliner in two pieces. That’s the only way to get it through the door. 

You can see in one of my photos where I reinforced the nuts for those three screws with cement. 

[PT20J]

7 hours ago, Slick Nick said:

I did mine by myself. The headliner needs to drop down in one piece. Once the tubes and wiring are disconnected, you can remove the three screws holding the two halves together and remove the headliner in two pieces. That’s the only way to get it through the door. 

You can see in one of my photos where I reinforced the nuts for those three screws with cement. 

That’s how I did it. When I put it back, I connected the ducts and wires and used some string around the ducts to hold the weight until I could get a few screws in and slip out the string. 

[1980Mooney]

9 hours ago, Slick Nick said:

I did mine by myself. The headliner needs to drop down in one piece. Once the tubes and wiring are disconnected, you can remove the three screws holding the two halves together and remove the headliner in two pieces. That’s the only way to get it through the door. 

You can see in one of my photos where I reinforced the nuts for those three screws with cement. 

 

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

That’s how I did it. When I put it back, I connected the ducts and wires and used some string around the ducts to hold the weight until I could get a few screws in and slip out the string. 

I have also done it alone several times.   I had 2 issues - my headliner is pretty brittle and some of the screws in the headliner are a PITA (especially to find to get started).  While unscrewing the last corner or trying to thread the first corner, I ran the risk of the headliner flexing and cracking.  I used some long pieces of cardboard folded into V shapes as props cut just long enough to support the headliner weight both removing and installing.

[N201MKTurbo]

I finally got tired of sanding and painted my headliner. It was in 9 pieces with some major holes. The plastic was vert brittle. It had the structural integrity of a saltine cracker. I reassembled all the parts with fiberglass and epoxy on the back side. Recreated all the missing parts with fiberglass. Sanded, painted, built it up with more fiberglass until it looked good. It is very robust and about as flexible as the original plastic.