Replacing headliner rods a must?
 

Hi all,

Just wondering what the standard practice is for replacing headliner rods when putting in a new headliner? I believe I read on here a while back that some people believe there is a danger that the old rods could leech rust through to the headliner itself and therefore recommend replacing them. Mine have some light scale on them but not too bad. Also didn't see any bleeding through on the old headliner.

New rods are $65, would rather not spend if not needed. Is there a process to protect the rods so they don't cause problems later. For example, could I sand them down and paint them or clear them, etc?

Thanks!

Not necessary to replace. I sand and paint all rods before re-installing. I have an upholstery shop and have done this for 45 years. No rust through

Gibbs Protectorent, then paint if you want to, probably not necessary.

http://www.gibbsbrandlubricant.com/

Just had my headliner replaced and re-used the original rods. My upholsterer made no such claims and had no issues re-using the original rods.

The original headliner in the car with the by then rusted bows showed no sign of discoloration or other issues that may have been caused by surface rust on the bows. In fact, the only reason it got replaced to begin with is because I was changing the entire interior color from dark green to black.

Why not just wire-wheel or sand away any rust on the headliner rods and then prime & paint with rust inhibitor?

Also, FWIW, the headliner rods in my car had surface rust, but there was no discoloration on the original headliner when I removed it to restore the car. Regardless, there's no reason why you can't simply clean up the rods and use them again. Should only take an hour or two to do yourself.

Not necessary but mark the holes..

I don't like them when painted, they don't seem to slide as easy as bare metal (which is likely why the factory didn't paint them either) Also sometimes you wind up having the sand the paint off the tips where they go into the holes in the roof supports just to get them in.

I just wirewheel the hell out of them until they are shiny again and re-use.

Easy to sand the rods like others have suggested. That is what I did with the rods in my Tempest Custom wagon when I put a new headliner in it back in 1990. No issues at all with it to date,and it is a parchment colored headliner. I used to do upholstery for a living,and I did probably a couple of hundred older car headliners reusing the rods, cleaned up.

Smooth paint helps the listings glide and fall into place. Rusted ones will grab at the listings and make it harder to fit.

Sand them and paint them.

Also once they are painted , it will keep you from getting rusty stain/mess on your hands that will ultimately end up on your headliner when installing.

I painted mine.No regrets.
You need to do everything you can to keep the job CLEAN.

Also , I hung my headliner in the bows and clipped it to stretch it out.I let it set for a week, each day I would go out and tug it a little here, a little there.
It was stored in the box for 3 years before installing it so it had some creases in it. Maybe yours isnt creased. Even if it is, you can genmlty steam out the creases , or be patient and they will eventually dissapear on their own anyhow, becasue it was stretched neatly before gluing it down.

Not saying you have to do this, but it did help it to lay down pretty well before I glued it.

Its not perfect, but my first one .It turned out decent.