Tools Needed:
There’s really no special tools needed for this part. But here’s what I used:
- Screwdrivers – having a couple screwdrivers will be handy for removing any interior parts like grab handles, seat belt parts, dome lights, etc depending on the year you’re working on
- Paint scraper – I used a paint scraper after removing the headliner and interior panels to remove the left over glue and junk left behind
Stripping the interior:
My girls wanted to help me in the garage today, so we decided to strip the interior of the bug. There’s not much to this step, but here’s what we did:
Removing the headliner:
There are a couple different styles of headliners – some are simply the headliner and the liners that run down the door posts. In the 56 it has a multi-piece headliner, but they all remove the same. Starting with the liners that run down the side of the door posts – under the liner, there are little bendable tabs that have teeth in them that will grab the liner and as you bend them flat, they’ll pinch the liner to secure to the body. They’re also usually glued with a contact cement or adhesive that can be a little tough to get out if it’s been sitting for 50+ years.
My job was easy since the windows were out – it might be possible to remove the headliner with the windows in, but I wouldn’t really trust doing that since the edges of the headliner wrap over the lip of the windows, then the rubber holds it down. I’ve never removed or installed a headliner without the windows out so not much help there…
There might be a way to save the headliner and re-use it, but I’ve never done that – I know I’ll be replacing the headliner later, so I’m not worried. I guess if you are wanting to try to save the headliner, do these steps.. but more carefully.
We started by going around the windows (windows out) and freed the liner from the glue that held them over the lips of the windows so they were hanging free and the only thing holding it was the metal rods in the headliner in the roof of the car.
Then we moved to the door post liners. Start by peeling the edge of the door post liner furthest away from the door where it closes. I was able to peel those up enough to get a good grip and follow it down the door post liner to free it so it was just attached with the bendable ‘teethy’ tabs along the interior of the door. The girls held the liner out of the way so I could get a flat head screwdriver under the tabs from under the liner and pry them up enough to free them. We worked our way, one tab at a time, being careful not to bend the teeth on the tabs, freeing the door post liner as we went until it was out. We moved to the other side and did the same.
I then removed the metal rods from the roof – these can get a little tricky, but basically just wiggle them around until they free up and pull them out at an angle so you don’t bend them. There are also tabs as mentioned above along the top of the doors, so we got the flat head screwdriver in there and pried them up as well to free the liner around the door frame. The only really tricky part was the front of the headliner where it attaches above the front windshield. There’s a cardboard/particle board like piece that slides up into the lip above the front windshield. It slides in over the lip, then when you pull it, it will grab to the underside of the lip and hold it in place. Mine refused to come out – but I just kept pushing and pulling until it freed from the inside lip and came out and the headliner was clear to pull out in one piece.
All in all, this step is pretty straight forward and the girls had fun helping me, so win win. I finished the time we had in the garage by putting a dust mask on and started scraping all the old headliner pads and glue out from the interior of the bug. Later I’ll be getting this all completely clean when we get ready for paint.t
