Headliner question - Which Accords had vinyl or cloth?

[moshbrandonmosh]

So, does anyone on here know the differences between the headliners on the 3g Accord? I was under the assumption that they were all vinyl like the other Honda headliners of this era (including the 4th and 5th gen Accords, regardless of trim level or if they were made in the US or Japan) but I went to the yard the the yard the other day and found an '86 LX-i hatch made in the US that had a cloth one! Was this a local supplier thing since the car was made here, or did it vary on trim level for this generation of car? The later two (4th - 5th) generations of Accord all have vinyl regardless of trim level. My '89 (built 10/88) DX hatch has a vinyl one, and the car was made in Japan. Just kinda stumped here!

[forrest89sei]

Any DX 3rd Gen Accord, Hatch or Sedan has had Vinyl

Any LX/LXi I've been in has cloth

[Pico]

all of my Lxi's had vinyl Forrest

[itzdave]

87 lx 4dr - cloth
87 dx hatch - vinyl

[forrest89sei]

all of my Lxi's had vinyl Forrest

Must of been a 1986-1987 thing, I've only been in one 1988 and didn't pay attention when I was hoping not to die was it was CAH's car

[charliekuney]

Every third-gen I've ever seen had vinyl. All of my 1988-1989 coupes, as well as my friends' 1986 LX sedans, my neighbor's 1987 LX-i sedan, and my other neighbor's 1987 LX-i hatch did, too...

edit: I lied. I forgot that one of my coupes had a cloth headliner SOLELY BASED ON THE FACT that it had an aftermarket sunroof. That's the only explanation I have.

[moshbrandonmosh]

Ah! Could have been a first year thing. The car I saw the cloth headliner on was an '86 made in Marysville, OH (VIN starting with 1HG). I parked next to an '89 today that was an LX-i and it was made in Japan, and had the vinyl headliner like my DX. So maybe it was only done early on, either in the states from a local supplier or the cars made in Japan had cloth too! Personally, I prefer the vinyl, hands down. It never seems to come apart!

[YK86]

My 86 EXi had the clothy headliner and pillars. The 89 SEi has the vinyl. I always assummed it was one of the subtle differences between the 86/87 and 88/89's.

[limikjr]

I have an '87 LX-I hatch made in Ohio with a cloth headliner.

[charliekuney]

Personally, I prefer the vinyl, hands down. It never seems to come apart!

Consider yourself lucky because you don't have a sunroof. Practically every car's headliner goes bad and it only gets there quicker with a sunroof (not only leaks, but the lack of tension all the way through).

My 86 EXi had the clothy headliner and pillars.

Say what?

[moshbrandonmosh]

I've never owned a car with a sunroof, but I couldn't imagine how fun it would be to have a sagging, moldy, warped headliner. Ick! Honda should go back to using the vinyl headliners, although it seems that the material they're using is way better than any cloth stuff the domestic cars had for years. One would think that after getting so many complaints about the things sagging after 5+ years, the manufacturers would have thought of something, but noooooo!

[charliekuney]

alcantara > all

[YK86]

Say what?

Yeah, my a, b, and c pillar trim was also cloth (or more velvet-ish than cloth). My stupid front pillars in the SEi has the cloth-ish trim while the B and C are the regular plastic.

I can post pics if you like.

[charliekuney]

DO IT. Please.

[MessyHonda]

all my 3gees from the 88-89 had the vinyl

[YK86]

This is from my SEi with the wrong pillar trim. The headliner is vinyl like it should be while the pillar trim is the clothy type that is identical to what the 86 EXi has. Almost feels like suede. I'd take pics of the EXi too but it's been recovered and I don't feel like ripping it off to take pics. I forgot the sunvisor was also the cloth type on the 86.

[lostforawhile]

i need to find that material so i can cover mine, the pillars are in terrible shape, and you aren't going to find 86 pillars for a hatch anywhere, so the only solution is repair and covering. one note, is you can repair the cardboard in these headliners, you have to carefully peel off the covering, the cardboard will tear some, then you use fiberglass resin and cloth to strengthen it from the back, the front just get creative, it's cardboard

[moshbrandonmosh]

Hmm. I actually may consider doing that to my headliner, or if I can find another elsewhere. I never really thought about fiberglass resin, but that would probably work well! Myself having a hatchback, it's generally impossible to find one that's in good shape, since most of them have wear, or the cars themselves have been crushed. I haven't tried Majestic Honda, but I doubt they'll have anything, so I'm stuck repairing the one I have, or lucking out at the boneyard.

Also - I'd completely forgotten how brittle the tabs become with age on the insides of those A-pillar trim pieces. I've successfully broken all of the ones lining the windshield (D'OH!) but luckily the ones above my head are still intact, so the windshield area part of the trim is being held by the dashboard. Still no rattles! Gotta love good ol' Japanese attention to detail. I guess that's the bad part about ABS plastic. It likes to crack and break with age. Same thing happened to my high mount brake lamp housing and my hazard switch on the steering column. Polypropylene plastic is wayyyy more flexible!

[lostforawhile]

Hmm. I actually may consider doing that to my headliner, or if I can find another elsewhere. I never really thought about fiberglass resin, but that would probably work well! Myself having a hatchback, it's generally impossible to find one that's in good shape from a car in the yard, since most of them have wear, or the cars themselves have been crushed. I haven't tried Majestic Honda, but I doubt they'll have anything, so I'm stuck repairing the one I have, or lucking out at the boneyard.

you can use a sedan headliner, but you need to cut it down, and change some of the holes, you'll also have to relocate the interior light hole somewhat

[moshbrandonmosh]

Haha, the Mac Gyver method always does the trick. Some guy that had my car before me beautifully cut out a piece of MDF to replace the trunk/spare tire liner (which was cardboard, probably, or thin plastic, the cardboard ones like to warp) and I couldn't be more pleased with the result. I think that's what sets us apart from the guys with the later cars. You just can't get a lot of stuff for these things anymore (plus the aftermarket support was virtually nonexistent) so it forces one to be pretty creative with their ride. But someone's gotta keep these cars alive! I've always loved this body style of Accord over any other, and the current US Market cars are big, bloated, and not really my thing (I think the Japanese version of the US Accord is actually called the Saber) but at least we get the Acura TSX, which IS close to the current Accord sold in Japan! Call me strange, but my favorite body style of all of the 3g's is the Aerodeck (gotta love Japanese nomenclature) but of course, we never got that one!