HEAD LINING

[andy b]

HAS ANY ONE REPLACED THE HEAD LINING IN THEIR EXCEL IF SO HOW MINE NEEDS REPLACING

[robertverhey]

Hello

This is not difficult but time consuming. The material you need is foam backed, available from motor trimmers supplies, or Woollies see http://www.woolies-trim.u-net.com/ . You'll need 4 metres plus spray adhesive, make sure it's the high temperature stuff. The centre roll bar cover, front sunvisor section and rear C panel covers all come off quite easily, revealing two large flat sections. Try not to tear the old sections when removing: all old sections can be used as templates. Sewing is required in a few places, and if re-covering the sunvisors you'll need to make a "sleeve" and sew the last edge carefully along the outside. There's also a bit on the B panels which is a bit fiddly.

It's well worth doing, really transforms the car inside.

Hope this helps

Robert

[chrisw2811]

Terry Bailey posted info about headlining on the old forum. I think he went with a high temperature type of Evo-stick adhesive to resist summer temperatures. Woolies have sent me some samples so I'm about to take the plunge and replace the headlining in my Excel. Robert, how did you avoid wrinkles in the headlining - apply using a soft roller? Can you re-position the material or is the adhesive too strong to allow it? Did you stitch or turn over the edges of each section or will the headlining simply cut to size/shape? Thanks, Chris

[robertverhey]

The glue I used (a 3M spray provided by the fabric supplier) was a once only type affair, (ie once applied, it ain't moving). Wrinkles? Well I didn't avoid these altogether, as the fabric is being applied to a convex surface, it's hard to avoid some convergence.....but I used a big plastic ruler to smooth it, starting from one end. Re sewing, I basically replicated exactly what they did at the factory, ie a line of stitching along rear near window, stitching at ether end of the front seciton (near sunvisors) and stitched hem at bottom of side panels. Once you've dismantled the various sections and removed the old headlining, the method of re-glueing will become evident. Many others have done this job, so I'm sure there's a few other tips others could give....

Robert

[terry]

To avoid wrinkles you need to apply the contact adhesive to both the roof and the fabric, just before it's tack dry, slightly stretch one of the edges, and touch the first inch or so, parallel with either of the doors? Then get a new 12"foam paint roller, support the material , roller across the roof.Make sure you mark where the side rails etc come to using soft pencil on the roof, I've got a suspicion that if you use felt tip it may "osmose" through.

Terry

[Doc Si]

The trickiestbit I found was the back edge,To avoid glue on the rear screen I masked it first. I also made paper patterns for all the pieces first as the old pieces were sooo... scanky when taken off. I used the high temp spray adhesive but I'm not sure that a spreadable migghtn't be easier. Either way it looks excellent now.

[Pnut]

Just about to embark on fitting a new headlining and found this usefull link.
But can anyone advise on what tools to use when taking off the C panels etc. Is there a need to buy new clips or fasteners? Any likely problems to come across?

[terry]

You have to make some practical decisions on what you do with the B posts and the C panels. On the b posts,I chose not to sew the foam to the leather, but tuck it behind the leather, glue it and seal the edge with a very very thin bead of clear silicon, masked using low tack tape. It looks OK. The rear panels were another decision, as these panels get a lot of heat, and the foam usually falls apart from the UV, I did the rear bits, from the 90 degree bit with carpet matching the rear shelf, and the rest with grey foam. After trying to get the panel back properly, using those silly metal clips, I drilled some holes to line up with the plastic fitting, and used black "fir-tree" push ins. this fixes them very positively, and the black "button" looks OK.

Terry

[terry]

Phil the fuzz, if you need to talk through it, give me a bell, during the day, on 0791 939 2374.

Terry