re-trimming ideas

[markh1]

I am thinking of changing the wool in my car to alcantara to uipdate it a bit. This includes the roof lining. To get the roof lining out does the rear screen have to come out?

I am also thinking of putting alcantara on the dash top and instrument pod to stop the glare onto the windscreen. Will alcantara actually stop the glare? If not what is a better alternative?

Anyone got any recommendations for trimmers in the Surrey area?

Cheers,

Mark

[peteA]

markh1 said:

I am thinking of changing the wool in my car to alcantara to uipdate it a bit. This includes the roof lining. To get the roof lining out does the rear screen have to come out?

I am also thinking of putting alcantara on the dash top and instrument pod to stop the glare onto the windscreen. Will alcantara actually stop the glare? If not what is a better alternative?

Anyone got any recommendations for trimmers in the Surrey area?

Cheers,

Mark

I like the look of alcantara but have seen a few cars where it has gone 'bobbly' (...is that a word..?) and/or worn plus it stains more easliy (?) and is harder to keep clean.

Dont know the interior colour(s) of your car but mine is black leather and can't say that there are any glare/reflection problems...?

Other ideas are carbon fibre trim...seen a few door cards in this material...I personally dont like it..?

Struggling after that! Good luck with it though.

[stuthemong]

The best way to stop glare is polarised sunglasses

[motorsportrescue]

I did my alcantara rooflining myself, and most of the interior, have a look in the "Major mods" section on here for pics.

[plumAJP]

I've done my door cards(both parts the centre part and the part closest to the footwell) in cream/magnolia suedette, its the same as alcantra really but only £6 a sq mtr,it's a lot thinner than alcantra so no problems with weight/drooping and un-glued sections etc. I've covered the rear shelf, door cards and am goin to do the headlining when its back from the shop. I also plan to trim a sub enclosure for the helmet holder.

I have looked at the headlining and it looks like it won't come out without a mess. It's folded behind the rear screen and I think its glued to wadding that is glued to the roof of the car. Im going to glue mine in situ.

I'm going to paint heat resistant glue all over the old headlining and then manipulate a big sheet of the material over the headlining. once its up there and in shape with no creases, I will trim around the edges with a stanley and then fold it aorund the edges of the windscreen, roll bars etc etc

It is so important to use heat resistant glue or otherwise in summer months with the heat inside the cabin when driving etc or parked in the sun, the glue will warm up become soft and the headlinging will drop down in sections. (I used normal carpet spray adhesive on my last project car as i thought it was super strong stuff despite advice from trimmers, and within one month sections started to sag). i have ised normal carpet adhesive of the door cards and other bits where gravity doesn't play a role but im buying some heat resistant stuff for the headlining.

If people want to know where to get the heat proof glue from then let me know and ill forward you a link (its from a proper classic car retrimmer wedsite). If theres enough interest they may do a bulk discount. i think its about £15 a tin and its only in tin/paint format not spray.

[markh1]

motorsportrescue said:

I did my alcantara rooflining myself, and most of the interior, have a look in the "Major mods" section on here for pics.

Yeah I have been following that thread from the off! It has given me some of the ideas! Must have read it about 4 times

As far as wear and tear the bits that I am going to retrim are bits that you don't sit on so should not get that worn.

By glare I really ment reflection from the top of the dash onto the bottom of the windsreen when the sun shines on it. The interior is purple.

I have found this place....

http://www.boyriven.co.uk/

from this thread...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=690...

They charge about 70 quid a meter and the strip is 1.43m wide (if my memory is right) I am a bit worried that it won't be wide enough to do the headlining.

I am also going to put some of this stuff in places....

http://www.noisekiller.co.uk/sound_proofing_vehicl...

It is about 65 quid per meter and each strip is 2 meters wide.

[markh1]

plumAJP said:

I've done my door cards(both parts the centre part and the part closest to the footwell) in cream/magnolia suedette, its the same as alcantra really but only £6 a sq mtr,it's a lot thinner than alcantra so no problems with weight/drooping and un-glued sections etc. I've covered the rear shelf, door cards and am goin to do the headlining when its back from the shop. I also plan to trim a sub enclosure for the helmet holder.

I have looked at the headlining and it looks like it won't come out without a mess. It's folded behind the rear screen and I think its glued to wadding that is glued to the roof of the car. Im going to glue mine in situ.

I'm going to paint heat resistant glue all over the old headlining and then manipulate a big sheet of the material over the headlining. once its up there and in shape with no creases, I will trim around the edges with a stanley and then fold it aorund the edges of the windscreen, roll bars etc etc

It is so important to use heat resistant glue or otherwise in summer months with the heat inside the cabin when driving etc or parked in the sun, the glue will warm up become soft and the headlinging will drop down in sections. (I used normal carpet spray adhesive on my last project car as i thought it was super strong stuff despite advice from trimmers, and within one month sections started to sag). i have ised normal carpet adhesive of the door cards and other bits where gravity doesn't play a role but im buying some heat resistant stuff for the headlining.

If people want to know where to get the heat proof glue from then let me know and ill forward you a link (its from a proper classic car retrimmer wedsite). If theres enough interest they may do a bulk discount. i think its about £15 a tin and its only in tin/paint format not spray.

£6 a meter is very good! Where did you get it from? At that price I don't care if I mess it up a couple of times!

I was also thinking of putting the suede/alcantara straight over the top of the wool but not sure how well it will glue onto the wool??

I will be interested in some of that glue but at 15 quid a tim it's probably not worth doing a bulk buy.

[flyingdutchie]

Get some real alcantara, not the fake. It's more expensive but doesn't bleach in the sun!!

[plumAJP]

headlining doesnt see the sun!! so no problems there. if you use it on the dash then at £6 a sq mtr who cares if you have to cover it again in a year or two's time

Most textiles places sell it, or a place that makes curtains where they have rolls of it on display etc.

I got mine from The Range at £5.99 a sq mtr. see my thread where I have a picture of the door card with the stuff on it.

If your struggling to find the material let me know and I can go on the hunt for you as I have to find my mate some in a weird colour to trim out his T4 bus

[markh1]

plumAJP said:

headlining doesnt see the sun!! so no problems there. if you use it on the dash then at £6 a sq mtr who cares if you have to cover it again in a year or two's time

Most textiles places sell it, or a place that makes curtains where they have rolls of it on display etc.

I got mine from The Range at £5.99 a sq mtr. see my thread where I have a picture of the door card with the stuff on it.

If your struggling to find the material let me know and I can go on the hunt for you as I have to find my mate some in a weird colour to trim out his T4 bus

Just been looking through your threads and cannot find it. What's the thread title? I will have a hunt for some of that material. I am getting a sample of the alcantara sent through so I will be able to compare them. Cheers.

[WorAl]

you could Flock your dash. I.e. Rally style

[plumAJP]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

here we go fella. last page, last pic

[markh1]

WorAl said:

you could Flock your dash. I.e. Rally style

I did think of that but am not sure whether flock, alcantara and leather is one too many textures

As far as colours go....

I am wanting to get the gearstick and handbrake gaitor, bit that your arm rests on, on the transmission tunnel and the instrument binnacle done in yellow alcantara/suede to match with the yellow exterior and contrast with the purple leather. Sounds mad I know but I think it will look cool.

[plumAJP]

i've got to get more of the stuff for my car, so on my ventures I will keep an eye out for you, but I havent seen yellow yet.

[morebeanz]

markh1 said:

WorAl said:

you could Flock your dash. I.e. Rally style

I did think of that but am not sure whether flock, alcantara and leather is one too many textures

As far as colours go....

I am wanting to get the gearstick and handbrake gaitor, bit that your arm rests on, on the transmission tunnel and the instrument binnacle done in yellow alcantara/suede to match with the yellow exterior and contrast with the purple leather. Sounds mad I know but I think it will look cool.

I'd be a little careful of putting sude/alcantara where you rest your arm on the tunnel - it will wear very quickly, I suspect. I've founf my "normal" leather covering gets quite abused!

[markh1]

Cheers Shayne.

I am not worried about wear too much. I can't imagine it will be an expensive bit to replace so if it wears I will just replace it.

[motorsportrescue]

Yep, I got mine from Boyriven and it does the headlining fine as you split it in 2 where the roll hoop is anyway. It's the gen stuff there, the colour I got was normaly £80 a metre but I bought the last few metres they had as it was discontinued at about £17 a metre I think! result, and it matches the car perfect!!!

It's best to remover the whole roof lining and just pick away at the foam, then get a course sand paper and finish it off. Use VHT glue and measure it quite a few times before going for it, I had 2 mates help me but it's perfect. My brother used to do a lot of trimming for a Car Stereo shop so he helped a bit.

The rear window is suprising easy, I was dreading it and it only took me an hour. Use the old tweed stuff as a template and glue it up using the VHT glue with a 20 mm overlap onto the rear window. Then if you've removed the tweed well there'll be a small gap between the roof and glass to put some normal uhu glue into. Simply fold the overlap into that gap and go along with a screw diver pushing the excess in.

Pics to follow!