Headlining advice

[Drawfiler]

I am about to do the headlining on my Eclat, I plan to use the foam backed lining from Wooleys and their heat resisting glue., I have read the postings here but I still have some questions to ask you.

How much lining do I buy

How do I get the old glue off

Do I recover the vertical edges of the windscreen surround, i.e. From the cant  rail to the top of the dash.

Thanks 

 

 

[silverfrost]

Measure the inside of the roof and add an extra few inches on,  a normal scraper will remove the old glue, i.e the ones you would use to strip wall paer or apply poly filler. 

The foam backed material is very good, just be careful as once you push it down it sticks very quickly and if you pull back up to relocate it, the foam pulls off  the back of the material !   

I would suggest doing the  A post screen cover trims just for a tidy clean looking job as the old material if you left it, would look starnge against teh new headlining 

[The Nut]

Peter,

Hope you haven't done your roof lining yet, have a look at my thread on roof lining, the linings fail and sag due to condensation on the inside. both my cars have a separate head lining on a foam backed/ridged/ roof lining from a people carrier, the éclat is 10 years old now and the elite 4 years. both are as good as the day they were installed.

John

[Neil D.]

I have purchased the woolies and lotusbits headlining. Woolies purchased 15 years ago and stored dry, in the dark. The woolies has no screed and is falling apart: foam separating from headlining.(was purchased years ago)

 Also noticed while gluing that is it better to use a spatula to smooth down the lining. Spatulas that are used to apply large stickers to windows (see picture) Fingers make indents, the contact glue penetrates deeper into the material as you create uneven pressure points. This is minimised with the plastic spatula.

As for A and B posts, mine were originally covered at the factory, Front (A) dark vinyl (as dash), (B) leather imitation same colour as seats, This appears to be a more resistent set up than headlining everywhere.

In my defence, I am yet to tackle the roof.

Neil

[pbharcourt]

I used a non foam backed material like a thick felt, it was recommended by a friend who restores VW camper vans.

It was easy to fit, could be repositioned if you had air bubbles and also had a bit of stretch to form around curves.

Although not original, nobody notices!

[alan.phillips]

As headlining is a job awaiting me in the near future where did you purchase the non foambacked material

[theelanman]

@The Nut I too am looking at doing my headlining.........I cant find your thread...or the topic you refer to.....

could you point me in the right direction please....

thanks

Gareth

[directordanw]

I’m with John on this one. Mount the headlining on a suitable board - I used Proplex from Wickes - and then mount that on the ceiling. That way you can get a beautiful smooth finish without having to work upside down and you get a few mm of extra insulation to boot. I did that in the Eclat and it looked great. 

[pbharcourt]

I bought my material on ebay, was a few years ago and can't remember what it was called but here are some pictures.

[slewthy]

When I did the Esprit headlining, I used Woolies foam backed and it still looks great at around 7 yrs plus.

A nice tip is to use a clean paint roller to gradually apply the lining front to back ( or whatever works for you) - no air bubbles, no ripples and no finger marks. 

Also, cover EVERYTHING not being glued as the spray glues tend to go everywhere!

I have the same job to do on my Citroen roof soon but that is applied before the roof goes back on, and I suspect that the upside down way is far easier as the yet-to-be-stuck material hangs away until ready.

[The Nut]

Garth,

I think I replied to you, but I now cant find it, It was posted on the 14th June 2014, the title was " Replacing the roof lining "  use the search facility in the top right hand corner and you should find it ok. I've done my elite in the same way and both look great and don't suffer from condensation.

Regards to all.

John

[Drawfiler]

Thanks for the  input, I will be using heat resisting adhesive as advised and not spray, I looked at propex but understand it is made from polypropylene and this is a very hard material to glue so I am worried about things staying stuck is there a suitable alternative board type?

How are the screen sides attached as I dont want to break the formers?

what did you do about fitting the lining to the metal strip that is the top of the rear window frame, the foam backed lining is stretchy so hard to line up.

thanks

[Drawfiler]

I have bought a sheet of 3mm pvc, this is used to line things like industrial fridges and food prep areas. It is flexible and will stick ok with high temp glue.

My plan is to get the old material off all the formers and the roof, buy a roll of brown wrapping paper and make a set of patterns, use these to cut the the material to size, I will then cut the pvc to fit the rear panel space .I will then cover my work bench (chest freezer) with another bit of the brown paper and put the material face down on it and coat with adhesive, coat the pvc and fit them together by standing the pvc on edge and slowly swinging it down into position, leaving a 1/2" extra piece along the rear window edge. When set I plan to glue this extra piece to the other side of the pvc so giving a hard edge to the fit along the top of the rear window surround..

Tne car has a lift out glass sunshine roof in the front panel, the Ali frame is thicker than the roof panel so the headlining has had nothing to support it so over the years it has decome detached particularly  where the latches both front and rear fit, I have made a wedge shaped wooden faring to fit between the frame and roll bar and will glue the lining to this,I will also do something similar at the front.

i don't seem to be able to get the windscreen A post finishers off, were they glued into position or must I reline in situ?

As always, any comments and advice is welcome and thanks for your input 

Peter

 

[EXCEL V8]

2 hours ago, Drawfiler said:

i don't seem to be able to get the windscreen A post finishers off, were they glued into position or must I reline in situ?

 

Peter

 

On my 1974 Elite the A-post trim is glued directly in place over foam also glued in place.  This trim was definitely in place before the windscreen was boded in so getting a perfect fit next to the screen will be a challenge!

Pete

[red vtec]

I did one on a jag XJ6, with the woollies material. Wear latex gloves when doing to help avoid getting marks on it.