TheSamba.com :: View topic - Install a DIY $100 headliner instructions & how to pics

Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:14 pm

I hope this will help others. I made and installed my own headliner for about $100. Bought eight yards of headliner material from Colorado Auto Trim for $56. Eight yards made it but 9 would have been easier. Bought a roll of 24” X 25' of foil lined bubble wrap insulation and a can of 3M #77 adhesive from Home Depot. The roll will exactly cover the ceiling. I tried other spray adhesives, but 77 dried in 30 seconds & the others took 15 minutes. Adhesive is applied to both the ceiling and the back of the insulation. Spray on a small area, attach to ceiling, the do another small area & push that up, then another small area, etc.

To start the project, I removed the old headliner around the windows & door pillars with a razor blade scraper. Then I removed the inside rubber seals from the windows. I had earlier purchased new seals from West Coast Metric. Total for all side windows, windshield seals, cargo door seals, & both front door seals was $195. They all fit perfectly– Thank you WCM. I cut the old seals off the rear fixed side windows and removed those two windows. After removing side window seals, I took a wire brush wheel on a drill & cleaned up the pillars and the gunk & rust on the window sills. Then I touch up painted the sills.

Remove sunvisors & rear view mirror and headliner bead. Mark the locations of the seams just below the headliner so you'll know where to place the bows later. To remove headliner, carefully pry up the metal flanges around the airvent and above the front doors and over the windshield.

You have to remove the two long triangular pieces above the windshields by ripping off the headliner material and removing the 3 screws holding each one.

Remove rear grill from fresh air vent. The bow/seam in headliner just behind it should be about 3” back from the vent hole.

When I removed the old headliner I found a complete birds nest up there! I made a pattern from the old one to make the new headliner. I had some thin vinyl tubing that is used for piping on upholstery for stiffener along the edges. I just sewed right down its middle & it came out flat. The material I bought was 55” wide. Unfortunately the width I needed for the pattern was 56-1/2” wide in some areas, so I had to cut the pieces lengthwise instead of across the width. The pattern of the new headliner is absolutely flat rectangles – no curves. The channels to hold the bows are one inch wide toward the front and 1-1/2 inches wide toward the rear. You have to cut the channel about 3-4” back from the edge so the bow sticks out before it reaches the outer edge.

Now I installed the bubble wrap insulation all over the ceiling. Spray adhesive on a six inch edge of foil and a six inch edge of the ceiling. Wait 30 seconds & put it up. As it is hanging from the glued edge, spray the rest of the foil and the rest of the ceiling area that it will cover.

I ran speaker wire through the pillar at the right front windshield and back down along the edge of the ceiling to the rear panels to eventually install speakers there. Better to do it now that not have it later.

I started installing the headliner at the fresh air vent. Put the bow up that is just behind the vent & set it 3” behind vent rear. It won’t stay there on its own, so I temporarily duct taped it to the ceiling. Insert the edge of the headliner along either side of the vent under the flanges. Go in from underneath and use a block of padded wood and a hammer to flatten the flanges.

Put up the two short bows. Use hairdryer to stretch headliner toward front and over the doors. Here is where I used a can of contact cement to attach the headliner to the front above the windows and under the flanges over the doors. I got the cement from an auto upholstery shop and it dried much faster than the Home Depot kind. Need fast drying or else it will take you forever. If it comes through the holes, a little Goof Off will take it right off. Follow with a rinse of windex or water since you don't want to leave goof off on for very long.

Now, working your way back, I used a trick at each bow section to hold the bows tight. Otherwise, they flop over sideways. I ran a string to a hole I drilled (Ouch) in the next rib toward the rear and pulled the bow tight with it. Don’t do all bows at once, just one at a time. Contact cement as you tuck in edges of headliner & use hair dryer if needed. When dry, flatten the flanges over the doors.

Headliner is up! Now I installed the headliner material on the pillars around the windows and doors. Save the stuff you cut out of the window area– you might need it for the rear panels. I glued these areas on with contact cement. Spray will make a mess. I glued six inches at a time.
Now I reinstalled the rubber window and door seals. I used silicon on spots to hold them in.

The side cargo door seals had to be shaved on the back side to accommodate the raised hinge areas. Then I installed the long triangle pieces above the windshields and flattened the flanges along the top edge..
The rear windows are another story. At first I swore they would not fit back in their holes after I put on the seals. Soap around the top edges helped. I used a very little silicon sealer at the bottom. I later figured out that a piece of wood and a mallet tapped lightly on the rubber seal (not the window), will push the windows in against the lip while you pull on the wire that was inserted in the rubber channel.

I used the same technique on the windshields which I also removed & replaced. $40 each from Wolfgang Int.. There is headliner material at their tops too. Last, I put the headliner bead back in. After figuring in the cost of the material and the insulation and the adhesives, I think I had about $100 in my headliner and about 4 days work. 2 days for the headliner & 2 for the pillars working alone. Here’s the finished product.

Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:29 pm

Very, very nice. I'm amazed at how well it turned out. Congrats!

Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:30 pm

great job! thanks for taking the time to take the pictures and write this up! this should go in the FAQ

Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:33 pm

I might suggest to use a face mask with all spray adhesives but especially super 77. Man, that shit is STICKY! I have a strong hunch that gettin that in your lungs is a very very bad idea.

Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:01 pm

Nice, I'm working on a 21-window bus right now and am thinking I might have a go at doing the headliner. Can't look any worse than it does now and it looks like the investment is pretty low.

Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:16 pm

As a proff. upholster my hat is off to you :D Very nice job!

Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:21 am

i just finished putting a headliner in my 15 window. Awesome post, nice pics.

Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:23 am

where did you get the white piping that goes between the top and side headliner?

Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:09 pm

That's headliner bead. I saved my existing one, but WW has it for $28 here:
http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=221867573D
Thanks ,everyone, for your kind comments.

Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:09 am

very impressive!! Nice job. Got extra pics of the finished result?

Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:52 am

good idea with the string. I've been reluctant to tackle my headliner. Even more reluctant because I have a tweed kit, and heat wont help.

Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:17 pm

The tweed should stretch much easier than vinyl, so the lack of heat shouldn't make any difference. I didn't use the hair dryer very much at all. Good Luck

Sun Mar 09, 2008 1:01 am

I have to say that putting in a complete bus headliner is one of the worst jobs I've ever had to do, it didnt help that I had no instructions and a very badly torn up original that got thrown out by someone before I had a chance to measure anything or study its construction, I couldnt believe how many cuts you have to make in a "pre-made" store bought headliner " kit " I think I would rather rebuild 2 or 3 engines instead of doing a bus headliner, the worst part is trying to glue down perforated headliner to the sides of the bus around the windows? why on earth do the kits not have the original non perforated material with the black dots on it instead of actual holes, on OG headliners the front and rear sections also have no holes, only the center section had the actual holes, would sure make it a lot less messy to glue down! At least my '63 gets the mohair and my '60 is a panel, HUGE savings on interior restoration there, my '66 needs the late dotted headliner and unfortunately though it only had a few small holes in it its now full of wasp nests up in there after sitting outside with a missing window for about 10 years ...

Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:01 am

I feel you pain. Headliners are tough but you pulled it off. It's amazing to me that no one has reproduced the painted-dot headliner cloth.

Sun Mar 09, 2008 9:06 pm

BarryL wrote: I feel you pain. Headliners are tough but you pulled it off. It's amazing to me that no one has reproduced the painted-dot headliner cloth.
Amen, brother...

Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:23 pm

Wow!ice mice job I really like your string pulls for the bows.
I helped a freind do one last year what a pain it was .

Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:26 am

BarryL wrote: I feel you pain. Headliners are tough but you pulled it off. It's amazing to me that no one has reproduced the painted-dot headliner cloth.

I now actually sell the dot printed headliner - an exact match

please pm me for pricing and availability, thanks - Keith

Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:55 pm

Walk Thru KO wrote: BarryL wrote: I feel you pain. Headliners are tough but you pulled it off. It's amazing to me that no one has reproduced the painted-dot headliner cloth.

I now actually sell the dot printed headliner - an exact match

please pm me for pricing and availability, thanks - Keith

P.M.'d

Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:23 pm

New picture of headliner job. Put in rear speakers. Used the original piece of cardboard & backed the speaker hole where the screws went with a donut ring of plywood to flatten that area of the cardboard. Still waiting on hinge covers to complete things.

Tue Mar 11, 2008 5:57 pm

Cheers just added this to my club technical pages

Cheers