head liner repair

[mjsouleman]

This past year Discovery had a deck re-core and in doing the job, the fiberglass guys opened up the head liner.
Of course not all the staples came out nicely and there are some tears.

While the place is messy, I just had to think it was a good time to replace the old wiring while everything was open.

The nut of this request, has anyone done headliners before or have suggestions.

MJS

 

[Christian Williams]

There are half a dozen threads here on vinyl headliner, but unfortunately none is very complete (unless I missed it).

I've dropped and reattached several square yards, and found the job pretty easy.

The factory stapled the material tight, by hand, as you would upholstery. It is held with rusty staples, which do the job just fine.

I use a $20 hardware-store "heavy duty" stapler such as the Stanley TR250, with T-50 staples. I have found stainless steel staples to be ridiculous overkill, and hard to get out.

With the covering battens removed, the material is revealed as merely stretched fairly tight and that's the highly technical goal putting it back together.

If a fold or ugly lump appears, just pull the staples for a foot and start over (which is why Superman staples are not a great idea).

In nether regions where the stapler won't fit, use thumbtacks.

If a section is badly damaged or stained, Sailrite has replacement vinyl.

If you have any sewing machine, it's easy to add an extended edge to any piece. But that means removing the whole section, which I've never had to do.

 

[markvone]

Hi Mark,

I've got the edges of the headliner un-stapled along the top and bottom of the cabinsides to replace the teak plywood that surrounds all the ports and portlights. I have pictures and diagrams of how the factory attached the headliner and the various trim pieces they used. I'm missing some of the trim in the head so I will be making a few pieces of both the visible teak trim and the (not visible) pine spacer in the next few months. Many of my staples were completely rusted to dust where they were soaked by leaking ports/portlights. Many came out in pieces. I took my time removing them and was careful not to damage the headliner.

I already had a small air stapler that came with my compressor but testing that on some 2 x 4 pieces with the smallest stainless staples it could use seemed overkill. I also have an electric Arrow T-50 stapler and some stainless T-50 staples to try. I've had poor performance with manual HD staplers in the past on other jobs but it really depends on what you are stapling into. I generally fall into the ridiculous overkill category for the materials I use in the labor intensive jobs that I expect never to repeat but Christian brings up a good point. I will probably have to remove the staples to open up some area of the headliner in the future and the staples shouldn't be any harder to get out than necessary. I've avoided removing and re-stapling the headliner for previous projects by leaving all the other small areas of the headliner that I've removed loose and unstapled because I knew I had another job to complete later in the same area.

Now that most of my deck projects and upgrades are nearing completion, the time has come to re-attach the headliner in a number of places so the interior looks less like a work in progress. I will be experimenting with the various staplers and staples in the next few months. You're welcome to come up and have a look anytime and I can also share any new tips I've found during the process.

Mark

 

[Pat O'Connell]

Headliner Tightening

Hi Christian Hi Mark
I was looking at headliner above the galley yesterday and it is nearly unstretchable by hand. Is there a tool that you have used to grab the piece of headliner and stretch the piece of headliner into position for a staple?
Best Regards
Pat O'Connell
1981 E28 Chips Universal 5411

 

[Christian Williams]

As I recall, I have run into a few spots where the old vinyl edge was ragged or "short". When I used pliers to stretch it, the local overstretching made wrinkles in the rest. It took me a few tries to get a compromise stretch of the entire section. Another set of hands helped.

The headliner is just there to make the overhead neat, so we're free to do what it takes. This might means adding or moving or building up furring strips to make an easier staple base.

Not much help, call it sympathy and encouragement. These are awkward jobs but all it has to do is look OK.

 

[e38 owner]

upholstery 101

They make tools for stretching but you they would most likely damage the vinyl. If the vinyl is old and brittle the problem is worse. If using new material cut it large enough to stretch then cut off the extra. If you have enough extra fabric the easiest way to stretch the fabric is to create a right angle around the top of an air gun and push the air gun into place then staple. If the fabric is every short you may be able to use pliers to create the right angle around the gun rather than your fingers.

 

[Frank Langer]

I wonder if it would work to put a wrap of that rubber self-sticking/self amalgamating tape around the teeth of the pliers so that when you grip the headliner with them, they won't leave teeth marks. If you use a small vice grip, you could regulate the gripping pressure so you get just enough grip without damaging the vinyl, still using the rubber tape to minimize teeth marks.
Frank

 

[Grizz]

Hair Dryer to soften and make malleable?

This trick works, depending on the material, age, brittleness and how far past the 'ratty edge' you need to staple, but a method that served well to reattach localized sections of headliner: warm the area adjacent to the edge to be stapled, imparting increased stretch. Index (stretch) the headliner into position, staple and repeat as needed. And yes, it's much easier with a 2nd pair of hands, but manageable with 1 pair.

Would discourage use of a heatgun (too hot), but a hair dryer adds sufficient heat. Warm to the touch is plenty, at least with an O-34 headliner. Your results may vary...

 

[Pat O'Connell]

Stretching Headliner Vinyl

Hi Respected Owners
Thanks! That's very helpful advice. I think a little heat will help and the boat is still in its 35th back yard storage year where power is readily available. I was thinking of the heat gun but that would probably cause the vinyl to sag. Yesterday morning when I tugged on the vinyl it it was cold and old. We have a little pair of vise grips that will help too. My wife is a great helper so we will work on it. Thanks also to Glynn Judson who coached me thru a patch years ago. We had to add some cherry wood strips to staple to.
Best Regards
Pat O'Connell
1981 E28+ Chips Ericson 5411

 

[Pat O'Connell]

Headliner and Duct Tape

Hi Respected Headliner Experts
Plan B was to use Duck Brand beige duct tape. 1 1/2 inch margin on vinyl and the rest under the molding. Then rescrewed the molding down. Looks pretty good and I think it will have a 2 year or so life before we do again. The area fortunately does not get a lot of light. Heat and visegrips just could not get us more than 1/2 inch of stretch and we needed about 3/4 inch for a good staple.
Thanks for your counsel that got us to a pretty good plan B.
Best Regards
Pat
1981 E28+ Universal 5411

 

[mjsouleman]

Head liner work

Thanks for the advice everyone,
The original question was from free thinking an interior re-wiring project.
Getting behind the fiberglass partitions is a pain, so I thought why not run all lines up and over?

Thanks
MJS

 

[seabreeone]

Heat gun

Had a issue with my headliner falling down and last owner didn't do anything about it. I bought a heat gun from Harbor freight for like $20.00 or less. I heated the liner up very hot but didn't burn it and was able to stretch with ease. Stapled it and as it cooled down it fell into place and looks great. It really didn't take to long to do. The vinyl is very easy to work with when hot, just need gloves.

 

[Pat O'Connell]

Headliner Repair

Hi Respected Headliner Experts
Good to hear that I could have heated a lot more. The hair dryer worked but just not enough heat for our needs. The beige duct tape repair looks pretty darned good but it probably won't last forever. The vinyl was available at Michaels Craft Store. I think I will buy a sample and test it with a heat gun to get the confidence that I need to stretch it. Gloves are a good idea too that I did not try.
Thanks very much.
Pat O'Connell
E28+ 1981 Chips Universal 5411