A friend of mine sat on the roof of my car and left a nice dent in the top . I was quoted around $400 from the auto shop to fix it. Apparently the dent he left messed up the stability of the metal or something, causing like three smaller dents. Before I take it to the shop, I'd like to drop the headliner and see if there's any way I can just fix it myself. Banging on the headliner did fix it a little bit, so I'm hoping it'll be a simple matter.

Does anyone have experience removing the headliner in the Fit? I'm not sure how to do it at all. I don't even need the whole thing off, just the back half. Thanks in advance.

 

Some who have recovered their liner may be able to help. From the shop manual it looks like a big job. A lot of the trim needs to be pulled off around the edge and wiring disconnected before pulling liner down.

What the hell kind of friend sits on your roof? Must have lots of scratches as well. How did he get up there? He may want to pay the shop bill?

 

Yeah I was hoping there'd be someone who's done it before.

I know he's dumb -.-
I was on the phone and not looking at him. He just kinda jumped I guess. I'm surprised it didn't leave a much bigger dent than it did. It's pretty unnoticeable unless you know it's there.

And don't worry. If I can't fix it myself, he WILL be paying for the bill

 

Hee is link to removal - your buddy will be paying I think.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...-take-2-a.html

 

Thanks for the link. It does look like a pretty involved process :/

Do you think it's any easier on a GE8? I might just try to do it if I have a day free to mess with it.

 

I removed my headliner for sound deadening at one point...
If the dent is somewhere in the middle or rear you'll probably be able t access it without dropping the whole headliner. You'll be able to drop it by removing the B, C pillars and the rear ceiling seatbelt cover. For the most part the headliner is held with the window handles (cant remember the name at the moment) and the dome lights. Pull off the top portion of all door and hatch seals and you'll have access to the headliner.



Just FYI if you do remove the entire headliner you'll likely have to snap off the one time use A pillar clips and have to buy new clips when you reinstall. Also the visors are a bitch to remove, at least for me....I have not figured them out yet, even with instructions

I hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the reply! That's actually a bit reassuring. The dent is more towards the back of the car, just past the half-way point. I can't tell from the picture, but is yours a 2nd gen? How hard/ time consuming would you say it is, assuming I only have the drop the back half?

I'll probably wait until it's a bit warmer before I attempt this, but hopefully I can get rid of it.

 

^ I can't remember how long it took, but I dont think it took take more then 15mins for removal.

My car is a 2nd gen

 

Okay, so I found the shop manual online and am going to tackle this soon. Is there any need to disconnect the battery or anything before I start? So the airbags don't go off or anything?

 

Have you read the manual?

#1 - disconnect battery and wait 3 minutes.

 

Oh, I'm not sure how I missed that. I did read through it a couple times, must have been half asleep . Thanks lol.

 

Geez and you are going to take out the liner eh? Good luck.

 

Thanks for being confident in me lol

Anyways, thanks to both of you for your help. I actually did it today. The removal wasn't too bad and went well. I did break one clip in the trunk by the back bumper. No big deal though, there were 4 clips in a row to hold the piece down and one of the middle ones broke. I didn't take down the whole liner, just removed the front grab handles and everything else to the back of the car. The headliner went down enough to let me at the dent.

It turns out my friend sat right on one of the support beams. I took a rubber mallet and pounded it out. The dent is a lot smaller and really hard to notice unless you're me lol. I might still take it to the body shop, but I was trying to avoid repainting and everything else they'd have to do. We'll see.

 

Glad it went well.

Now just get rid of the fat ass friend.