Major headliner failure

[captain_dave]

I have two problems in repairing these headliners on my Moody. The ceilings are ok, but this headliner crap is all over the boat up to the ceilings and it's falling down everywhere. My goal is to get rid of headliners altogether. First problem is getting the old glue off. The old liner is not foam-backed. Rather, there's a vinyl outer liner, followed by a some sort of gooey cloth, followed by glue on the fiberglass. I can't get the old glue off and I have tried a number of solvents: acetone, 3M glue remover, paint thinner. Second is what to replace the headliners with. Maybe just paint where bead-board won't work?

Anybody with headliner experience, I'd appreciate your advice.

And whoever designed/installed this stuff, be forever damned!

[Orion Jim]

Cash is king right now. Have an auto upholstery pro give you a quote to remove it. He may be able to replace it at a real attractive price unless your heart is set on doing it yourself.

[Northbound44]

I fixed this issue on numerous boats, usually the headliners are made of a vinyl sheet laminated to a thin sheet of foam . Given that the vinyl coating on the headliner seems in good condition , you could simply cleanup the disaggregated foam with a stiff brush, then glue the foam to de vinyl by using 3M super 77 spray adhesive following by the foam/vinyl assembly to the ceiling or Bulkhead.
Recycling the vinyl saves times and allows to do a professional job similar to the original.

[captain_dave]

I've found a decent solvent for the headliner glue. Common product called Brakleen. It's available at auto parts stores in spray cans. It consists of acetone plus toluene, and a few other nasty chemicals. It's the most effective solvent I've found, and I've tested a lot of them.