Headliner - Modern Style?

[MiniDave]

Modern headliners are simply a foam/cloth sandwich glued to a fiberboard moulded to the shape of the roof of the car. So, has anyone done one for a classic Mini? My customer is really tall and his head rubs the headliner - without going to a different seat he was thinking that would be a way to gain some extra headroom.

I guess an alternative would be to simply glue the foam/cloth headliner directly to the roof, only problem there is the brace running across the roof from the B pillars, I guess one could glue a vinyl over that to cover it......don't know how all that would look.

[jedduh01]

About 1 year ago i had a local guy loose his original headliner..  Plastic tip broke on the bows..  headliner blew out while going down the interstate = much flapping.  So he cut it out and  moved on for a while. Finally wanted to tidy it up.. but after pricing it all up = and i told him that the glass would have to come out = he wanted to try different (cheaper ) way to headline.

We tried it = to glue the foam backed Headliner fabric to the roof.   While the Majority turned out OK.. the roughest and worst part was the edge trimming.   In all = it COULD be done nicely= but again = The windshield , quarter seals + rear glass seal should all come out for a nice tidy tight tuck around the lips and edges and door seals. ' just as the factory does" . We did not pull the glass trying to save time and effort .... This is why it failed.

As a whole = I still spent  2-3 hours still trying to glue this thing up and trim it out well.  keeping all the edge tidy and tucked under.   But it still didn't look great.

Funny Lumps= Funny places where the edges met=  Tight corners where the upper corner of the windshield and A pillar meet. and  too much fabric in other places causting bunchy lumps. As a whole = I tore it out.

Sure this way could be done = and perhaps a true aphulstry person could handle it better= but my ameatur job didnt turn out well.

This car didnt have a brace at the B- pillars = cant say ive ever seen one.. and the trimming around where the interior dome /side light goes was a difficult spot to deal with too.

After the failure = the one way to do it will be  OEM style.

Pulled  all the glass= New Headliner vinyl + bows = in the end it Wasn't hard. 

   Key tips for installing NEW OEM headliner.. USE DOUBLE SIDED 3m Tape around your edges..
  DO it in a HOT garage - or on a WARM day to have the vinyl STRETCH

work around the car slowly = let it pull= see it = pull it some more... Use a friend to pull together for taughtness.  Patience.

[BruceK]

I was wondering about this the other day.  I looked up at the headliner in my '88 Mini and noticed it has a few wrinkles.  Since it is the later type, it's a major PITA to try to correct, what with the need to remove glass and so forth.

Dave, have you seen the headliner in the blue Mini currently on BaT?  There is lot's of missing interior trim on that car such as on the pillars and the sunvisors, but the headliner looks like it could just be what you are asking about.  Either it is material glued directly to the inside of the roof, or it is a take on a using a more modern approach with some kind of fiberboard/fiberglass.  It looks to be the modern foam-backed material that was used.  In an event, the end result looks pretty good from what I can see.   You could ask the seller about it.

[MiniDave]

You know what? I'm going to send him to an upolstery/top shop and let him deal with it. It's nothing I would take on anyway, so there's really no reason for me to even mess with it.....I think you have to know when to say when.

Thanks for all the replies, I already told him all the glass would have to come out and he wasn't bothered by that as he wants to replace the front and rear window seals anyway....again something I would not be doing for him. I'll let him ramrod this project and I'll stick to what I'm doing - rewiring all the ancillaries and fixing problems like the roll up window and other mechanical bits.

[94touring]

It should be easy to glue to the roof.

Sounds like you need a good filet tool!

[MiniDave]

To do the trim in the front/rear windshield rubbers? I have one of those.....

According to Jedduh it's not an easy job.....

My Jag headliner is glued right to the metal.

[94touring]

Ah, takes all of 15 minutes if you've done it a couple times.  Lube it up good.

[MPlayle]

The headliner in the blue Mini on BaT is a MK-1/MK-2 style on the full frame, not the later style on rods and tucked under the window seals.

Much easier to get it nice on the separate frame.

[jeff10049]

Good upholstery shop could glue to the metal no problem. I think you would still want to remove the glass.

[MiniDave]

I went up to the local upholstery shop today to talk about it, he said the foam/cloth type headliner material won't work, it doesn't stretch properly to fit the round edges and corners, but he had some other material that would work - so Monday I'll take the car up there and let him and the owner discuss what can be done.

[BruceK]

I've been wondering...  can the early style headliner be fitted to a later car?    The look much better IMO (I like the band of painted metal visible around the edge), and they are much easier to deal with.

[MiniDave]

I'm not sure, but I think I read on TMF that the cant rails are made differently and won't accept the early style support rods.

[MPlayle]

The early style is a 2-piece.  Each piece is a full frame.

Dave is correct in stating the cant rail is different in MK-III+ cars and will not support the earlier frames.

The same holds true for the back of Estates versus Vans.  The Estates have more cant rail in the rear to support the rear headliner frame and the Vans do not have it.

[BruceK]

Okay, thanks Michael.

[MiniDave]

So, it is doable...after a sort. The shop used a foil insulation on the roof first, then glued this carpet like material to that, rolled it over the cant rails and glued it under the seals. I think they did a terrific job and I think the owner will be very happy with it - and with the extra 2 or 3" of headroom he'll gain. Fits nicely into all the corners and into cracks and crevices nicely.....

My only niggles are with the color - I would have preferred a lighter cream or something - and I think I would have kept vinyl over the cant rails and around the seals and such....but the idea works for sure and he will gain some real headroom.

[MPlayle]

Wow!  They did do a very nice job on that.

[MiniDave]

Yep, reasonable price too - about $400.

[Willie_B]

That does look nice.

[jedduh01]

Great Job!  That's for sure 2 more inches of headroom!
  I can see the tucks and the structures they worked around = Nice tucks and stretch to make it good.

Pro's are worth the cost for  Many things.

[BruceK]

Looks very nice!

[MiniDave]

When the owner came to pick up the car he was thrilled with the headliner but mostly because he now could sit comfortably in the car - he would have rather had a cream or lighter color but this was the lightest color they offered in this stuff.