Working on my project Australian XP Falcon Sedan Delivery. I've re-drilled all the holes for the headliner to suit the US one supplied. Have fitted/removed/fitted the thing now a few times and as of tonight I think I'm a whisker away from being confident enough to do some gluing. Overall it's stretched out pretty smooth but I have a few questions for any experts that may be tuned in. Follow along the attached photos & hopefully I will start to make sense.... Front & rear are clamped fairly tight like this Front looking back Back looking forward Here's where it gets interesting. At the roof brace and at the B-pillar, it seems like I need to cut the headliner to allow me to smooth it out where these braces block the gluing flange. These are the only real places where the creasing remains a problem. Is this correct? Can it be done without creating a tear point in the headliner? Also, forward of the B-pillar there is windlace and these toothed clamp plates. I assume I will need to trim along the line of these about 30mm off so that I don't have too much material to push up into the teeth? Also, how best to go about trimming the corners at the A-pillar & windscreen opening edges?
Just cut the bow pocket just enough to pull the wrinkles out. Dont cut the headliner itself. Heat or steam works well to help this process. All in all it looks pretty good for the go ahead.
Yep, just snip the bowlisting (white stuff the rod rides in ) enough to get the thing fairly wrinkle free. You'll need something to tuck that material under the "aligator teeth" We use a special tool for that but a putty knife with the corners rounded will work.Pull the headliner tight at the seams first ad then fill in between. This will take care of the pillar situation. If the pillar has a cover so much the better. If not do a neat fold over there and go with it.Glue the front or back first (this will be determined by if there is a hook or something you can pull against or how the bows are mounted.) then glue either the front or back next) Then do the sides. Do the "teeth" go all the way front to rear ? If parts of the sides are glued in, try to do that first and the the teeth.Be aware that the new vinyl (looks like vinyl in the pics) is much softer than the OEM stuff so be careful with heat.
Might mention, that the windlace which looks OK , have you replaced it ? Reason I ask, you want the windlace done now. There's no going back to add new later. It has to go in before the headliner. Also don't get carried away trimming off the "excess" where the teeth are. You want enough that you can pull it with your free hand and tuck it under with a headliner spoon (or putty knife. You'd be surprised how much material you can shove under those teeth. You can get into big trouble with a heat gun on this new vinyl so tread softly. If you get it looking pretty good without a heat gun, I'd sit it out in the hot sun and let Ma Nature take care of it.
Thanks for the help guys. New day dawns and will have another crack. Will let you know how it turns out.
hi warren, i live i geelong as well and my bro in law is a trimmer. oh yeah i think that you may have bought my old xp wag years ago. cheers darren
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