Possessing neither the skills, agility or desire to replace the interior of my 65 very early 4.2 FHC, I was planning to farm it out Tsikuris Classics in FL. However Paul is unable to take this on in the foreseeable future and not trusting a non-Jag specialist, I’ve decided to take it on myself.
I try to consult as many internet sources as possible before proceeding but still have many detail questions. The point of this thread is to share the paths I’ll be taking and to invite input on alternatives and hopefully forewarn me if I’m about to do something wrong.
I’m starting with the headliner. Since I work alone, I need to replace extra hands with fixtures and techniques. I was intrigued by the use of rare earth magnets to temporarily hold the headliner in place for alignment and control. There is another thread by Bob Thomas using 100lbs magnets for this purpose. I was afraid such a strong magnet might dent the headliner so I bought 65lbs instead. And promptly returned them. Against the headliner they have almost no holding power. So I bought the 100lbs version and they weren’t much better.
They hold like gangbusters against a thick steel plate but against the thin E-Type sheet metal the force drops to about 30lbs. This caught me by surprise but I guess it makes sense. I’m imagining the flux lines being truncated by the thin metal. Next I was surprised by how fast the magnetic force decreases with distance. I was expecting something like the square of the distance but according to professor Google, it is the cube of distance. My new BAS headliner is 5mm thick and the clamping force is about 2lbs. So no need to worry about dents! In fact they can barely hold the weight of the headliner unless they are in a cluster with little overhang. They’re also really good at falling off in a cascade resulting in a rain of magnets. The only way I could hold the headliner in place (alone) was to drape it over some conduit and support the middle with a large foam block held up by a camera tripod. I could then cluster the magnets around the block and slowly migrate all of them outward. The following pictures show the procedure.
Sliding the headliner into the cab (concept courtesy of Angus McRae)
Great job Rick! I am so sad that you didn’t mount a Gopro on that camera tripod and shoot some time lapse video!!
One next step is to instll the wool cloth strips with the rubber tube sewn into them. They will either 1) fit just right, 2) be loose, or 3) be too tight. And this can vary within a few feet of the perimeter. Obviously, your first cut (pin intended) is to trim the piece you just installed, at its perimeter, oversize such that you can tuck it into the gap. But don’t be surprised if you have to finesse the cloth strips into position. On some parts of my 63, I actuallly had to remove the rubber tube locally and just use the sewn edge thickness to squeeze through the small gap.
Also make sure the captive nut plates for the visors and rear view mirror are ready to go before you install the wool trimmed header piece across the front.
Actually, this is my first noob question. How much do you trim? My guess (based on nothing) is about 1/2" overlap. But I’m not sure where the fabric encased tube is supposed to end up. Should the overlap be short enough that the tube passes by it (which might also force the headliner back out) or should it rest on the headliner, compressing it against the roof?
Very generally speaking, I would try to have the edge of the large top piece extend into the “gap” about 1/2". As you have probably noticed, along the sides there is an additional metal piece welded on that comes up close to the roof. It has a gap with the roof that seems to vary.
So Rick, are you glueing the headliner material directly to the sheetmetal? or is that an insulator?
On my 68 FHC the liner attaches to a stiff board that appears to be held in place by the perimeter trim pieces.
Now I’m wondering if the 68s had a different headliner arrangement, or my car has someone’s idea of an improvement.
Outstanding job and report.
Especially useful to know the clamping efficiency (and the good choice) of these rare earth magnets on the specific case of the E-Type roof.
Well Rick, this thread is very timely for me as I’m also embarking on the interior on my ‘63 FHC. And…I’m using @amcrae Angus’ actual metal conduits he lent me. You bought a kit from BAS and I bought one from Aldridge (via SNGB). My headliner is in two pieces - the wool and the foam. I note your headliner came with the foam already adhered to the wool. I am not planning to use the foam at all, but glue (DAP Weldwood Contact Adhesive Top & Trim HHR Solvent Type). What glue did you use?
What you’ve done so far looks great! I hope to be so successful. Save a bed for me in the Rehab Center.
Yes Bill, the later cars and 2+2s used a backing board to mount the headliner. Not so with the earlier cars.
So Rick…great job!!! One of these days I’ll get to your place. Just not getting to FL as often as in the past. -Scot
I’m using (2) different adhesives, so far. In general, I’m using Weldwood Landau. However, for the extruded vinyl molding in the rear hatch opening I used K-Grip since the Weldwood would not bond to the Moss material. The K-Grip has a far less offensive odor. But I still use a respirator for both.
