Headlining Adhesive Problem...

[RS2junkie]

Tom,

Definitely, DO NOT fix new material over the old....

The only thing (effectively..) holding the material to the board is a thin layer of foam, if this gets damp it breaks down and then you get all sorts of issues with the fabric sagging. If you fix the new material to the old one, you are still depending on this foam, its asking for trouble.

I would take the headlining out, take the old material off, clean the foam away, sail the board with PVA and then retrim. I did mine with alcantara. Because of the issue with the foam backing I chose to use unbacked alcantara, but both will work. I did the A, B, D and D pillars too. Don't forget the sun visors...

Just my advice..

PAUL

[RS2junkie]

Eric,

I was certain the board was not cleaned properly, it was a mess, the old foam was still there in places, it was soaked in thinners (cleaner) and I was not sure any glue was going to hold in this circumstances....

I had a spare headlining so I decided to see how it should look when cleaned, so I had a go at getting the foam off... Have read lots of horror stories about how nasty this stuff is, and they are all true... But, considering that water causes the foam to breakdown, I figured this is probably the best medium to clean it off with... And,bingo, water works a treat... I used a hand pressure spray bottle with hot water, spray and soak the foam, leave it a few minutes, and then wash / brush off.... The board is fiberglass, so it does not suffer too bad from being wet. Need to dry it well, I used a fan, running overnight... So plan be was ready, if I needed it..


I was determined to make the original headlining work so I discovered a thread on the forum which gave a link to a website for auto trimmers which went thru this problem of cleaning the board..... There was a tip about sealing the board with PVA, to fix any lissue of old glue/foam or contamination...... so thats what I did... I spent a few hours cleaning off the old glue and tidying up the board (took longer than cleaning the foam from scratch)... Then I applied 1 coat of PVA sealer (its like wood glue)... It dries to a clear finish but is hard and shiny.... I needed to sand it in a few places, so I used 4000 grit, then gave it a second coat..... Result is a perfect surface for glueing, dry as a bone and neutral..... I am having it trimmed today but I don't anticipate any adhesion issues.....


I will let you know, can't wait, the car has been off the road for 3 months due to this....

Have seen the pillar trim and they look great, ....

Appreciate the help..

I will post up my experiences so others can learn from my mistakes, its a daunting job but not that bad once you know what (not) to do....

PAUL

[Christophski]

How do you refit the headliner around the sunroof? I have this job to do soon and im not looking forward tot he refit of the refinished board.

[urS6Tom]

Thanks for the replies chaps. Seems like there are no shortcuts!

Be great to see any pictures you have of the process and the finished interior

[RS2junkie]

Update,

The glue has held perfectly and all the panels are ready to go back in the car, it looks fab....

Will post some pictures and a write up when I get it done.

Advise for anyone doing this is to definitely seal the headlining board with PVA, it is a perfect surface any also make the board more rigid....

Thanks for all who contributed to my problem...


PAUL

[irishs2]

Awesome news.

Looking forward to seeing it

[RS2junkie]

Some pics of the headlining and other panels before they are fitted, the sun visors were very tricky, all hand stitched, cutout for the mirror was tricky..

Only point where there was a joint was just above the rear view mirror, its very neat butt joint and not noticeable....

[irishs2]

Very nice. I didnt realise you were getting the visors covered, were they originally black ? Another area I found difficult was where the rear load cover catches on the side trims. There is a little recess and to get the fabric to play ball was tricky

[RS2junkie]

Eric,

The sun visors were a dark grey, same as the headlining, would have looked awful against the new alcantara... the trimmer wanted to just cover over the mirror, I said, no way ... do it properly or not at all... It hand stitched.

The bit where the load cover is impossible to cover in one piece, its too tight. I just covered over it, I never use the load cover... Is it comes a problem later, I will trim and patch it....

Paul

[RS2junkie]

Update,

Got the headlining back in the car today, here are some pictures, will do a write up on the things to watch out for when I have a bit more time, there are a few.....

Included a picture taken before for comparison...

Very pleased, I think it was worth getting all the pillar trims covered in alcantara too. It went together much better than before, all tight. New clips everywhere.

PAUL

[RS2junkie]

Hi,

This is the sequence I followed, will only cover the bits that caught me out....

1) Fit sunroof panel - make sure it is fitted in the slides on the side and pushed all the way forward to catch the clips at the front...
2) Fit A Pillars,
3) Fit main headlining panel, hook it over the A pillars at the corners and clip it into the trim around the sunroof opening, this way you know its in the right place before going too far
4) Fit grab handles, the drivers side has no light, the front passenger handle has only one position on the switch, the rears have two..
5) Fit sunvisors, be sure to fit them with the spring pointing down...
6) Fit B Pillars, these have two hooks, one at the top and one half way down, and 2 screws on the bottom, the trick is to make sure the seatbelt adjuster is aligned with the slide in the B pillar, its a bit fiddly, the first side took me half an hour to figure out , the second took 3 minutes.. use your knee to push the middle bracket in and then slide it up...
7) Fit C pillars,
8) Glue back of headlining to the roof, I used contact adhesive, fit the cover strip over the rear glass ( I have one side missing...)
9) Fit D pillars and roof trim, I fitted the middle section over the tailgate first then the side panels
10) fit Boot side panels, I reinforced the hooks at the top near the window with fibreglass, its nice and tight.

I still have the cill covers to go back in and tidy up a few bits on the rear seats, but I ran out of time...

Its all straightforward but need to be patient.

Use all new clips, brown ones everywhere except the boot trim panels which use black ones (2 each side), the A pillars use metal spring clips, and the C pillars use hook brackets.... no clips

Have some photographs if needed...

Paul

[irishs2]

Very nice. You must be well pleased.
Thanks for the tip on the A pillars holding up the headliner.

[mdz]

Here's my latest work and how I'm doing it

This one is for VW Beetle, but process is the same except headliner isn't glued to roof. Sorry for crappy picture quality, my camera broke so I have only old phonecam now

Headliner taken out from car:



Taking out light surrounds



Peeling off old fabric.





Cleaning off everything that's left from old foam using sharp brush





Cutting new fabric to size



Gluing fabric back. I'm using this glue, called 88M. It's made here in Latvia but I have no idea about its availability in other countries. I've used Bison Kit glue, it does the same job, but 88M is two times cheaper Moment glue should do as well.



Apply 10-30cm of glue at the time depending on environment temperature - hotter it is, less glue applied because it dries quickly.



Spread fabric evenly but don't push it hard, because it will stick to headliner and will leave marks.



This fabric is quite elastic so applies to uneven surfaces easily



Fabric is glued on. Leave it for a day to dry completely, it will leave you less chance to ruin it while fitting headliner back



Cut all necessary fabric and holes off and fit light surrounds back. Tip: always take fresh unused office paper knife blade, it cuts fabric easily. Used one will rip the fabric.

Finished headliner.



Didn't took any pictures from it fitted in because it was raining outside and I was hurry to give the car back.
Any questions welcome.

[Greg_S]

Which fabric did you use for this?

[mdz]

Black foam backed fabric. Comes in about 1,5xhowmuchyouwant meters in size.