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Sat Aug 08, 2020 2:44 pm

Hi guys, I have a rusty turd bus with a beautiful, mint, original vinyl headliner. I have another bus, same year, rust free but the head liner is junk-shot.

Has anyone ever done a transplant from one bus to another and if so how successful was it? I have done many headliners over the years, I do feel confident in being able to do one but was wondering if anyone else has tried and if so was there issues, fragility of material etc? Thanks

T

Sat Aug 08, 2020 2:58 pm

I have surgically removed a headliner from a single cab that was near mint, but some jackwagon blew a hole dead center for a CB antenna :?

I removed it to ship to TMI because those guys seem to be able to fuck up a glass of water. in the end, they stopped communication for the headliner I was going to donate so they had a nice OEM pattern.

anyway....I wouldn't get my hopes up. this one was crispy around the edges and if you pull too hard, it would have just fell apart. this was in a bay window and where it tucked into the windshield rubber that was the crispiest part

I can see you getting to the last tug-n-clamp to get that one wrinkle out and riiiiip….

Sat Aug 08, 2020 3:35 pm

No, I never have done that.

My questions would be... is it supple and flexible, or crispy?
If crispy, I doubt it would work.
If supple, thick and flexible, maybe it will. Particularly if warm. Various VW instructions, such as installing speaker in the back your early deluxe microbus, tell you to pull back part of the headliner, then tuck it back in place.

Since the donor bus is crusty, what's to lose? Let us know how it goes.

Hm, first clean up that headliner with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge, and hose it clean.

Then take a bunch of pics, before taking it apart.
The part glued around the windows, I doubt you can swap that over.
But take pics if it really is mint.

Sat Aug 08, 2020 7:26 pm

not to be a buzzkill but i seem to recall reading a vw workshop manual on headliner install and the final step at factory was to apply a heat gun near the headliner to shrink it to achieve the desired taughtness (similar to the plastic wrap they use to heat shrink boats for winter storage etc) . Given that it appears they shrank the headliner at the factory to fit it would appear the vinyl headliner would not be re-useable/transplantable. I would be happy to be proven wrong

Sat Aug 08, 2020 7:58 pm

headliner material isn't THAT expensive, is it?

Most of the cost is in the labor if you were to have it done.

Seems like 2x the amount of work to save what...$250?

Sat Aug 08, 2020 9:21 pm

$250 is $250...you are more then welcome to donate the funds or a new headliner if you are so blessed with wealth. It would be much appreciated!

It was just a question. The headline in this one bus is VERY soft, pliable and mint but the bus is junk. bottom is rotted out and frame gone in several places. It sat in a building since 1985 (hence no sunlight to ruin interior) but the building was on an old concrete floor that was constantly damp. The bottom of the bus is rotted to nothing, even the engine and trans started to corrode on the bottom.

The other bus is from down south, no rust, original paint but interior is all gone, completely. The rusty one is the interior donor for the clean body. I just thought since the rusty one is getting parted out and the headliner is so nice might be worth a try, what does one have to loose? If it doesn't work I spend the money on a repop one nothing lost but a little labor. Besides...I have never seen a new, reproduction headline that matches the look-fit of an original one.

Sun Aug 09, 2020 9:26 am

When I removed the headliner from my '67, the material was in very good shape. It still had a bit of stretch to it and , like you, I was trying to save a few bucks. It turns out that the material isn't the problem. It is the stitching and the locking strip along the edges. It's like a pressed cardboard of sorts. When any type of stress is put on it the thread either tears out or the cardboard disintegrates.

To see if you think it's possible, you could start at the very back, above the hatch. If the cardboard part holds up through it's removal, keep going.

Another thought to help ease some of the tension on the headliner, would be to reach forward as you go and cut an inch off of the bows. This could give you the needed release to push the headliner edges in a bit to turn and release them.

Good luck.

Gordo.

Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:29 am

The only reason to do it is because the repro ones lack the dot printing or you have a turkis bus with the cool tinted headliner.
The sticking on the cardboard strip is likely spent so you might get lucky and the stitching might give out and the material might pull out intact.
The glued areas you might try heating lightly with a heat gun if it doesn’t want to peel or try using A razor blade to separate the glue from the metal.

Sun Aug 09, 2020 2:12 pm

In the Bentley VW Workshop Manual Transporter 1963-1967 section A-48 pages 1 through 3 it shows how to undo it. I've never been able to get the hang of the tool but I have bent the grips away enough to finagle the cardboard free. I only saved mine so I could figure out how to attach the new one.

Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:36 pm

Braukuche wrote: The only reason to do it is because the repro ones lack the dot printing or you have a turkis bus with the cool tinted headliner.

ya, if it is the ice blue headliner, that is an awesome color.

install is front to back... so removal is the opposite?