Rebel headlining and (added) Followup On Auto Headliner Ques

[David Ricker]

Hi Ian, Group

What does this headlining you have look like, is it a formed upholstered
panel or do you have to add upholstery to it? I have seen some
of the responses about fit around the skylights but they didn't really
say what the panel looks like. If it must be upholstered I hope my
follow up to my question about auto headliners below will be helpful.

OK, on to part 2 of the Subject line since it may be useful if the panel
doesn't come with upholstery.

Back in March I posed a question to the group about fixing the headliner
of my car (since I figured the someone here probably has dealt
with that and it could be applied to an aircraft headliner also). I
eventually managed to find a company who could supply a suitable
(fabric) material. I say suitable since I was trying to match the look
and importantly thickness of material my car came with
(complications with backer foam thickness and sunroof etc.). My car was
built with .100" foam backer on the headliner and all that the
autoglass shops were offering was .25" and in what I considered a sorry
range of fabric as well.... They said the material wasn't made in
.100 backer.

Oh I should step back here and say most auto headliners are a fabric
with a foam backer glued to a cardboard or styrofoam shell which
is hung in the roof of the car. In some cases the foam disintegrates
with time letting the fabric sag.

In any case I found an OEM source of a nice textured beige/grey material
with the .125" backer which is OEM in some GM cars and
tracked down the Canadian Wholesale rep. & got the material. $112 for 8
feet.

Kraft Automotive Group Inc.
955 Grand Oaks Dr.
Howell Mich.
488438512
Oh 517-545-7500

Call them and request their headliner sample chart (by the way, fire
rated for automobiles) and the name of ther distributor in your area.
These guys are strictly OEM/wholesale, they do not sell to individuals
or individual businesses period, their distributor in Canada is
Autostock and I believe Autostock are in the US also. autostock.com
Autostock also is a wholesale distributor but they happily sold to
me via my Engineering company although I had to call the Canada head
office in Concord Ont. because the local office never heard of
Kraft headliner.

If you don't mind the thicker foam backer or the mouse fur American car
style fabric you can get that at any autoglass shop.

The second challange was to install the headliner since any liquid
adhesive would soak through the thin foam backer if not handled
carefully. I used 3M 08090 "Super Trim" Adhesive which is a 510g spray
can available at any auto supply jobber (NAPA/UAP type).
Get 2 for an average car, don't know how much for a Rebel headliner
since I have never seen one of these!

The secret to applying the glue is to spray it on the headliner
substrate in small sections, about 1 foot wide at a time and spread it
out thin
(an old paintbrush is OK) & let dry a bit until it is good and tacky
then GENTLY press the foam backed fabric into the adhesive. Come
back to any depressions until the glue holds the foam backer. I was
able to do depressions to depths of .75" OK. It is easy to push too
hard here and force the glue through to the surface and have it show so
do several test pieces on scraps first. What ever you do do NOT
spray adhesive on the foam as it will soak through.

Well, don't know if it applies to the headliner Ian asked about or not
but I could see using this material as a headliner covering or doing
"beauty" panels to finish parts of the interior etc if the builder was
so inclined. In any case, I will also send this on as a thanks to the
guys
who responded to my question back in March.

Thanks,

Dave R.
Elite 583


allsure wrote:

G'day Oh Boy. Just how difficult is it to fit that headlining and
make it look good, and I would appreciate some advice and tips from
someone
who has actually fitted one. One of the main problems is where the
headlining panel fits around the skylights/ windows.The instructions say
to put "J"
moulding around the windows, but just how and where do you put it? If
the skylights have been riveted in where do you put the moulding?
Behind the
rivet line and stuck to the Lexan? Over the rivets? I have found that
the headlining panel sits about 1/4" away from the skylights and I can't
really force
the panel up any more to meet the skylights. Any thoughts? Regards
Ian Donaldson

--
David A. Ricker P. Eng.
DARTEC Engineering Inc.
Nova Scotia, Canada





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