LT1 - Those wrinkles won't affect the car's driveability one bit!

 

I think I will replace the short foam strip on the dash pad with a full length one, I'll test fit after to check for problems.

I used a roller on the main headliner, but I purposely followed the contours of the panel, maybe I should have let the fabric "float" between the high points of the contours. Anyway, thanks for your help and I will mark this in the book as the first real "oh ****" part of the rebuild.

Dave

 

You are absolutely right metalbasher, I have never had a car where the headliner made it go faster, stop quicker, or get better gas mileage.

Thanks

Dave

 

As far as the foam strip at the front of dash cap is concerned, here's the story.

The curve on the front side of the dash cap does not match the curve of windscreen opening, hence the slightly crude solution at the factory. I hope to make a more seamless filler and transition, I will send pictures when I'm done.

Dave

 

I am interested, let me know how you do it.

 

The dash pad (crash pad?) is virtually done and I put it in place with the new pinch-weld trim piece just to see how it looked. I will take it back off tomorrow to finish the openings for the temp sensor and map light. By the way, there is an opening in the front of the pad where the wrap around meets the dash panel. Directly above the warning lights panel. I don't remember if something was there when I took it apart last year or not, I don't see any stray bits floating around that part of the dash. Any ideas?

Awhile back Doug had a thread when he was putting a fresh paint job on his car. In there somewhere he asked if anyone had picked out something that was not original, but made the car look a little better. If you see something in these pics don't get too excited, there aren't any prizes. I had to do what I had to do.

Almost forgot, I just extended the front pad filler almost to the corners and tapered the end sections to match the narrowing of the gap. Then, to hide the foam filler, I brought the new dash cover over it and under the lip of the pad. Typically not Pebble Beach quality, I pulled the dash cover a little too tight in


the middle section which flattened the filler more than I wanted, but I think it's better than it was.

I think the trip computer panel and console are next so that I can give everything a real-world test with the switches, shifter, clock, etc. then the windows and the rest of the interior trim.

Dave

 

what do you mean by "opening" ? do you mean some type of recessed area or an actual cutaway or hole ?

 

I would have to say it's yes to both, Jose. You can picture the opening in the underside of the dash for the map light and the opening for the interior temperature sensor over the glove box. There is the same type of opening that has been inlet in the underside of the dash board above the warning light panel. The opening does not go all the way through the dash material. To use your term, it would be a "surface cutaway".

Dave

 

my dash has it too. It might have been for a certain market of RHD cars, since the glove box would be in that side.
Otherwise I don't know.

 

I think you're right on, the same thought came to me as I was finishing up on the pad this morning. The pad looks symmetrical, so that would be where the temp sensor should be in a RHD car. Mystery solved.

Dave

 

So I'm making plans to replace the headliner in my SIII and there is a lot of helpful information and photos in this thread, particularly related to the sliding sunroof panel - the panel inside the car with headliner fabric on it, not the exterior body part of the sunroof.

@Jose, it seems that you recovered this sliding panel in your Jag without removing it from the car. I'm interested in at least trying this approach as I've removed that sliding panel before in a different SIII and it was a nightmare for me to get it back the way I wanted it and have the sunroof close properly. I get the idea of using the burlap type material underneath the headliner material first and clamping/glueing one side at a time. Did you use any glue or contact cement on the underside or edges of the sliding panel or only on the side facing up? I'm also wondering how you can get clamps in place while the panel is still in situ.

Anyone else tried this approach?

 

Noad and Dave:

I did this headliner job back in 1997 or 98. So my memory was sort of foggy regarding the moving inner panel.

What I did was to remove the outer body panel, (4 screws at the front lip of the panel), then I marked / scribed all the brackets on top of the innerr moving panel, I put a forward arrow maarking on it, and I removed the inner moving panel from the car. I used different color paint pens to mark each bracket and their position on the panel (buy a pack at Michael's), so I would not forget what bracket goes where or loose any alignment.

Once the inner panel was removed from the car, I glued the reinforcement burlap material to the bottom of the inner moving panel, folding it and clamping it over the edges so it would be tight, and THEN I sprayed the burlap and the headliner fabric to glue them together. THEN I used a brush with contact cement to glue the edges of the headliner fabric over the edges of the inner moving panel, cutting the materials about half inch where they fold over, (see picture above) clamping the fabric again as I went around the panel. I left the glue dry for about 2 days.

Then I placed the panel back inside the car, fit it to the brackets aligning it with the markings I made, and testing it. That is it. The Headliner fabric will ride / slide on the tracks, the inner panel is removable and is not connected to the cables, only the brackets connect the cables and the inner moving panel.

look at my picture above and you will see how much burlap and fabric folds over the edges.

Removal of the inner moving panel was the part I had forgotten so I apologize if my explanation was incomplete.
I recently removed the top outside body panel to replace the rubber seal and noticed the markings I made back then.
So, remove the inner moving panel to do this, it is the way to get a tailored finish.

 

Ok, got it, that makes sense. I'll use the scribe and colored marker idea and take lots of photos to help in putting it back together properly.

 

yes and the wind spoiler too. Mark it where it presently is, assuming it goes up and down smoothly.
the last last thing you do is the welting piece around the sunroof opening once the headliner pad is square and all the trimming is in place.