headliner

[Capt Ratty]

Anyone have a solution to cleaning a headliner? It is in good condition but not crisp as it should be. We have tried bleach, oxy clean, majic eraser, etc, but it appears blotchy and not real white. The next step seems to be painting it. No, don't panic, they do make a vinyl paint just for this purpose, but I have yet to find it.

[Maynard Rupp]

The paint works great. It is made by "Mar-Hyde" and is available at an automotive paint supply store.

[Capt Ratty]

Thanks for that info. We'll get some today.

[garyd]

I'm in the middle of replacing the headliner and it is not that difficult.
Hatteras has a very efficient design at least on my 86 model. The seems are every 24" and there is extra material at that locatioin. The supports are also at 24" so just place fluff and staple. All the edges have the hiddle staple trim.

I'm not sure how much paint is but it was a snap to remove the old headliner. And I don't believe it will be hard to install the new headliner.

have fun boating garyd

[yachtsmanbill]

Make sure you use MONEL staples, and secure in the middle and work outwards to avoid wrinkles! ws

[Chapeaux!]

I'm in the middle of replacing the headliner and it is not that difficult.
Hatteras has a very efficient design at least on my 86 model. The seems are every 24" and there is extra material at that locatioin. The supports are also at 24" so just place fluff and staple. All the edges have the hiddle staple trim.

I'm not sure how much paint is but it was a snap to remove the old headliner. And I don't believe it will be hard to install the new headliner.

have fun boating garyd

A word of caution before starting. I found that prep, like with everything else is key to headliner replacement. There were a whole bunch of staples in the original install that needed to be removed with a bit of care. When the headliner on Chapeaux! was removed, it was taken out by the yard in the process of resolving some overhead lightning damage. The problem with their removal, was that when they removed the staples, they damaged the "finish edge" on the headliner battens (see attached sketch). When the finish edge is damaged, the new installation leaves a wavy line in the joint between the headliner material at the seams. This is very noticeable and will result in an unacceptable installation. If this happens, there is a fix. It is only necessary to install an extra narrow batten on the side of the original damaged batten, with a clean finish edge. This takes less time than trying to fix the damage to the original finish edge. The rest of the install then goes smoothly, following Yachtsmanbill's suggestions.

[garyd]

In my install they didn't pull it really tight they left a little bow. Therefore it is not pulled hard against this edge. Maybe they learned that over the years. The way the headliner was sewed together looked as if the edge was set by the sewing. I looked it over carefullky and saw the beauty in this install. It appears the install can be done very fast and by less than skilled labor.

Garyd

[(Nobody You Know)]

Chap,

Thanks for taking the time to sketch and provide the diagram. While I personally have no headliner problems (yet) I have always wondered how this is done.

(I right clicked on the sketch and saved a copy to my "Hatteras Tips" file.)

[yachtsmanbill]

When I did the third headliner on my Roamer, I dared to be different--instead of sewing a headliner or batten clamping it, I merely stapled the two butt edges together and put a cover strip athwarts of 1/4 X 2" mahogany, varnished with nice little #6 screws. It looks very nautical, optically widens the salon, AND you can now change out one section instead of the entire headliner. Being an express, in the wheelhouse, I installed a marlite unit, which is a breeze to wash with the boat brush, plus be able to easily mount equipment to / through. It is in sections, screwed in place and can be dropped in a matter of minutes to pull wires etc.
The HATT TRICK has ALL new headliners and received some minor blemish stains that I am going to try to "spray away". These pics are before and after a spray bleach and power wash job.It even looks better now after a little finesse cleaning. It really boils down to the art of illusion. ws

[Starman]

I do headliners but use a different method. I will show that method down the road when I do the headliner in Boss Lady.

In the meantime, here are a few tips.

Use a pneumatic stapler with stainless steel staple, about 55.00 per 5000.

The material must be stretched tight, or it will sag later.

It should sound like you are thumping a drum.

Work from the center outward. You should see a ripple at a 45 degree angle.

Next stretch and staple the ends.

22-24 inch max size per panel. This will get you two panels from one run of the 54" wide headliner material.

While I am not a " fabric paerson ", LOL I have learned that 30 linear feet of 54" wide material is 10 yards. ( or close to it ) This will give you an idea of how much to buy if replacing all of it.

And get extra, at least 1 full width. Headliner boo boos' are easy to make and different runs of the same material can lead to slight color variations. So buy some extra right to start with.( my opinion )