Glueing new cloth to headliner bisquit

One of the things I want to tackle this week is gluing new cloth to the headliner bisquit.

The last time I did this was a long time ago, so I’m a bit out of practice.

I’ve got some high temp contact cement, and I’ll be spraying the glue (thinned with Nitro).

How much glue will I need to mix to do the job?

Any other tips?

Andrew, when I replaced the headlining in my S11 I just used a spray can of contact, mine went straight onto the roof as I didn’t have a biscuit, hard to find in NZ. I started at the front and centre then worked my way to the back. Finally finished and had to make sure I didn’t cross my arms :slight_smile:

assuming ur sensible enough to NOT be doing it inside the vehicle (done 3 inside)

mark the centreline of the biscuit and fabric back with chalk, so you can line them up dead straight 1st go

small paint rollers help smooth

When I glued on the liner of my E-type hardtop I was advised by an upholstery supplier to use a more heat tolerant spray-on adhesive formulated for auto headliners. He happened to sell the stuff. Unhelpfully I don’t remember the name of the product I used.

Excellent,

So I’ll mix about a half pint to give me a bit of leeway. I like the idea of the chalkline. I’ve got some cement which is good for up to 120 Deg C.

Bisquit is out of the car.

Spray both all at once, or lay the unsprayed material folded over into the bisquit and work out in strips, first to one edge then the other. Doing it all at once looks like a 3 man job (2 to hold the corners, and one to smooth the material down) .

its better with an assistant, but without, you may roll the trim up, and unroll, front to back, with the chalk line visible, thereby maintaining straight line

the most important thing is not too much glue on fabric that it seeps thru

tack time is important

small test spray is worthwhile if you have spare fabric

as they say, measure twice, cut once

dont get glue on hands/front fabric

Well, I spent almost 8 hours Ironing the wool and prepping the parts today. I bought the material over a decade ago, and though it was protected in an airtight bag it had quite a few creases in it from storage.

Tomorrow I glue.

Glueing is completed. It went easier than I though. I’ll Scotchgard all the bits tomorrow and install what I can (I’m waiting on windlace in the correct colour).

Just to confirm what appears to be the case according to the shop manual: Can you fit the windscreen and the backlight with all the wool covered trim fitted to the S-Type?

The manual doesn’t mention removing any trim, but it looks like the large trim bit around the backlight would need to be off to be able to offer the screen/rubber up to the opening from the inside.

So, I glued the windlace/draught excluder into the door openings yesterday. I went to fit the trim rolls over top of that, but I’m struggling to get the holes in the (double layer of metal) in the trim rolls to match to the holes in the body - both for the trim rolls themselves, and the wood trim. As far as I can remember (and by my photos) the screw heads for the wood trim should be under the rubber seal, holes passing through the shell, and the lower flange of the trim roll proper - so that the wood clamps the flat finisher to the trim roll.

I didn’t take enough detail photos when stripping this - has anyone else?

Yes, the screws come from the outside into the wood before you put on the rubber weatherstripping. We had to use a drill from the outside to make sure we had holes in the wind lace so that the screws could come through and hold the wood. We also used a carpet knife to cut away some sections of the wind lace to make sure thee was room for a screw.

Not sure what you mean by trim rolls unless this is the material for the headliner.

Gerard

Items 2 & 4 on plate 81. 2 is the trim roll, 4 goes on after that to hide the screws. On one side of the car I only found one corresponding hole in the sheet metal of the body (The trim rolls are from my car, and the body man didn’t weld any holes up in that area.