XJ6 headlining. I give up! Tell me I'm being stupid.
Discussion
The headlining in my XJ6 is sagging, so I decoded to replace it. It's not an uncommon issue, and you can get the material quite easily. After it arrived I started phoning round for a local interior specialist to have someone remove the old headlining, re-trim it and replace it. This is when I got my first idea that this might not be quite as simple as I had hoped. No one would take the job on.
Fair enough, I'll do it myself. There are even instructions on line. I prised off/unscrewed the 4 bits of trim holding the headlining up, the two above the wind/rear screens and the ones on the side. I broke a few of the clips, but managed to not damage the backing or the rails themselves. To my surprise the headlining did not fall from the roof. Those rails don't actually hold it on.
Behind those rails, what they are clipped onto, is a set of metal brackets that run around the inside of the car. The headlining is resting on these. It's as if someone put the headlining in and then welded these rails in place, I see no way of removing them.
So, my question. How do you get the headlining pad out? The only way I can see would be to cut the headlining out (so that it is now smaller then the gap around these rail things), and then remove the rear windscreen to get it out. Is that right? None of the instructions I have found mention any of this!
Anyway. I'm really hoping I'm just being stupid and that there is a very simple way of getting the headlining out. I have included a picture. The headlining board itself continues a good 1/4 inch past the end of what you can see, right up to the edge where the bracket meets the car. It does this both sides, and front to back. There is no movement, so it can't be manoeuvred out.
Fair enough, I'll do it myself. There are even instructions on line. I prised off/unscrewed the 4 bits of trim holding the headlining up, the two above the wind/rear screens and the ones on the side. I broke a few of the clips, but managed to not damage the backing or the rails themselves. To my surprise the headlining did not fall from the roof. Those rails don't actually hold it on.
Behind those rails, what they are clipped onto, is a set of metal brackets that run around the inside of the car. The headlining is resting on these. It's as if someone put the headlining in and then welded these rails in place, I see no way of removing them.
So, my question. How do you get the headlining pad out? The only way I can see would be to cut the headlining out (so that it is now smaller then the gap around these rail things), and then remove the rear windscreen to get it out. Is that right? None of the instructions I have found mention any of this!
Anyway. I'm really hoping I'm just being stupid and that there is a very simple way of getting the headlining out. I have included a picture. The headlining board itself continues a good 1/4 inch past the end of what you can see, right up to the edge where the bracket meets the car. It does this both sides, and front to back. There is no movement, so it can't be manoeuvred out.
When you poke it, it moves up and down a bit. You can also put a screwdriver round behind the corners so It's not stuck to the roof. The material is stuck to some sort of crumbly, brittle fiberboard stuff.
My current plan is to take out the front windscreen (I know where I can get a replacement, I don't want to break the rear one taking it out and find I can't get a replacement) cut the headlining down (it's pretty useless anyway, I reckon anything stuck to it wouldn't stay stuck long), and then use the old one as a template for a new one. I'll make the new one out of that bendy wood stuff you can get, test fit it, then have it trimmed.
My current plan is to take out the front windscreen (I know where I can get a replacement, I don't want to break the rear one taking it out and find I can't get a replacement) cut the headlining down (it's pretty useless anyway, I reckon anything stuck to it wouldn't stay stuck long), and then use the old one as a template for a new one. I'll make the new one out of that bendy wood stuff you can get, test fit it, then have it trimmed.
Fair enough... I've seen it done once or twice where it had just been glued in, so wondered if yours might have been done that way. Obviously not!
Might be worth an e-mail/phonecall to somewhere like Aldridge Trimming though? They do a lot of them and will probably have an answer for you straight away.
Regards,
Rich
Might be worth an e-mail/phonecall to somewhere like Aldridge Trimming though? They do a lot of them and will probably have an answer for you straight away.
Regards,
Rich
Take the passenger door panel off and remove it out there. Remove all trim around that door. Get the seat out as well if you can. I think your headboard may have swollen, otherwise, push up in the very centre to bring the sides in, move left and bring the right down, move right and bring the left down. Exit, door left.
Thanks for the advice.
I did have a go taking it out through the door, it didn't look easy and I was worried about damaging it after it had been trimmed trying to get it back. The windscreen is out now...
The stuff was glued to the roof (thanks Rich), I had to sort of peel it off.
Plan A use the thin wood I have bought to make a new board.
Plan B buy a new board (I think this isn't possible, I'll confirm with Aldridge Trimming Monday)
Plan C use the old board.
I did have a go taking it out through the door, it didn't look easy and I was worried about damaging it after it had been trimmed trying to get it back. The windscreen is out now...
The stuff was glued to the roof (thanks Rich), I had to sort of peel it off.
Plan A use the thin wood I have bought to make a new board.
Plan B buy a new board (I think this isn't possible, I'll confirm with Aldridge Trimming Monday)
Plan C use the old board.
Thanks for the advice/encouragement. Fellow PHer UncleRic and I managed to finish this off Saturday, I reckon it took us a good 8 hours from start to finish, and that does not include re-covering the cant rails. The result:
I'm very happy, real test is what it looks like in 6 months time.
Brief over view of what we did...
Remove side cant rails. I deliberately snapped all the clips off by putting a blunt knife between the clip and cant rail and pulling. The clip will snap where it folds over. The clips are the same as the ones which hold Triumph Stag door cards on and can be bought for 28p each from Rimmer Bros. If you try and remove the clips 'properly' you risk pulling them through the (basically cardboard) cant rails, and then they'll never go back on properly. £5 worth of clips vs irreplaceable cant rails. You decide.
Remove rear rail (same as side ones).
Unscrew/remove rear view mirror and sunvisors. Remove front cant rail (not clipped on).
Pull headlining material away from current board.
Carefully cut around board. Try to not scratch the inside of the roof, and pull the old board out of the roof rails.
Remove windscreen. Front windscreens are reasonably easy to get hold of, rear ones are not. Again, you decide.
Remove old headlining board.
Buy 3.2mm thick hardboard, 8ft x 4ft. Approx £20. Using the old headlining pad as a template, mark the board up. Add approx 1cm to each edge, and cut. Test fit the board to make sure it goes in the car correctly, leave one side or corner out; if you put all the edges in it won't ever come out. Once you are happy it will fit reasonably easily but securely remove the board.
Glue foam to board.
Cut the foam to exactly match the inside of the rails inside the car. Your current board is actually too big to fit between the rails, the 1cm edge slots in doesn't it? Well the foam + board will not fit between the rails and the roof so you need to cut the foam back a bit. You can use the old board as a template for this. So you now have the board, with the foam on top, but leaving a boarder which exactly matches the bits of board which you can't see when the board is in the car.
Glue headlining to the board. We used clothes pegs and magazines to clip the edges and apply gently pressure while the glue dried. Use proper high temperature textile adhesive trim, we used the spray stuff as I reckon painting it on would be too slow and it'd go off. Stretch the material over the board, and remember to glue the surplas to the back. This will prevent the board making a noise if it hits the roof of the car. after it's been fitted.
We practised this by gluing the old material to the off cut of wood, until we were happy we could get it on without creases.
Fit board to car.
Re-fit windscreen (by this I mean, call a pro to re fit the windscreen).
Trim/fit cant rails.
Allegedly you can do this without removing the windscreen. Perhaps on cars with bonded windscreens, where it's so difficult to remove it, it's better but my car is a SWB and even then it would have made an already tricky job even more difficult. If I were doing it again I wouldn't hesitate to take the 'screen out.
I'm very happy, real test is what it looks like in 6 months time.
Brief over view of what we did...
Remove side cant rails. I deliberately snapped all the clips off by putting a blunt knife between the clip and cant rail and pulling. The clip will snap where it folds over. The clips are the same as the ones which hold Triumph Stag door cards on and can be bought for 28p each from Rimmer Bros. If you try and remove the clips 'properly' you risk pulling them through the (basically cardboard) cant rails, and then they'll never go back on properly. £5 worth of clips vs irreplaceable cant rails. You decide.
Remove rear rail (same as side ones).
Unscrew/remove rear view mirror and sunvisors. Remove front cant rail (not clipped on).
Pull headlining material away from current board.
Carefully cut around board. Try to not scratch the inside of the roof, and pull the old board out of the roof rails.
Remove windscreen. Front windscreens are reasonably easy to get hold of, rear ones are not. Again, you decide.
Remove old headlining board.
Buy 3.2mm thick hardboard, 8ft x 4ft. Approx £20. Using the old headlining pad as a template, mark the board up. Add approx 1cm to each edge, and cut. Test fit the board to make sure it goes in the car correctly, leave one side or corner out; if you put all the edges in it won't ever come out. Once you are happy it will fit reasonably easily but securely remove the board.
Glue foam to board.
Cut the foam to exactly match the inside of the rails inside the car. Your current board is actually too big to fit between the rails, the 1cm edge slots in doesn't it? Well the foam + board will not fit between the rails and the roof so you need to cut the foam back a bit. You can use the old board as a template for this. So you now have the board, with the foam on top, but leaving a boarder which exactly matches the bits of board which you can't see when the board is in the car.
Glue headlining to the board. We used clothes pegs and magazines to clip the edges and apply gently pressure while the glue dried. Use proper high temperature textile adhesive trim, we used the spray stuff as I reckon painting it on would be too slow and it'd go off. Stretch the material over the board, and remember to glue the surplas to the back. This will prevent the board making a noise if it hits the roof of the car. after it's been fitted.
We practised this by gluing the old material to the off cut of wood, until we were happy we could get it on without creases.
Fit board to car.
Re-fit windscreen (by this I mean, call a pro to re fit the windscreen).
Trim/fit cant rails.
Allegedly you can do this without removing the windscreen. Perhaps on cars with bonded windscreens, where it's so difficult to remove it, it's better but my car is a SWB and even then it would have made an already tricky job even more difficult. If I were doing it again I wouldn't hesitate to take the 'screen out.
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