Headlining support wires and panel

J

jvrenaudon

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I wonder if anyone could provide me with the diameter and approximate profile of the four wire supports to the headlining. If I recall correctly two are the same length and the other two are of different lengths. Does anyone have a photo of a typical end? Also, can I be reminded of what the rear panel which is fixed above the rear window is made from? Is it plywood or composition board? My guess is that it is no more than 6" (150mm) wide with rounded ends and curved in the length but does anyone have a template or photograph from which to work? Any help would be much appreciated. Best wishes, John.
 
If you PM emails to me I have a complete roof with all the parts in pieces in my garage - including the roof from a donor fjord. I'll attache photos and reply.

Doug
 
These pictures aren't the greatest, but you can see that the end of each wire curves sharply in the direction opposite that of the main bow:

P6140195.JPG


This allows the wire to enter the openings in the roof frame perpendicular to the sheet metal (shown below). You can also get an idea of the relative sizes of the wires.

P4080113.JPG


IIRC, the front wires were nearly identical. The 3rd & 4th wires were unique. What is not shown in these pictures are the plastic grommet pieces that fit into the sheet metal holes and receive the ends of the wires. Without the grommets the wires are a very sloppy fit.

The curved piece is plywood, shown below being relaminated in a vacuum bag.

P5280157.JPG


Additional photos of the headliner installation:http://vranedom.com/headliner/headliner.html
 
Headliner pattern

Vraned,

I'm making a template of the headliner and wondered if you remember if the four pleats for the roof bows are all parallel? The first three (from the front ) definitely are but the fourth appears to have a bend of 1/4 - 1/2" at each end towards the front on the donor headliner I'm tracing from. I doubt this is critical as the bows put the cloth under tension to suit the material and form.

Thanks
 
All of the seams are straight. The wires take care of the rest. Decoupe is correct, no wires on the sunroof versions. As of about 5 years ago, I'd sewn 5 non-sunroof headliners & 1 sun roof headliner subcontracting for Fechner Restorations. Since the material has become available again everything has gone quiet. Below is the template that I always used. You need to cut away the loops at the ends. You can see most of the from your old headliner, or from my headliner page.

IMG_2678_s.JPG
 
Doug and vraned,

On behalf of e9john and myself please accept grateful thanks for the help given herein and by separate emails - first class. In response to Peter's question the answer is no - there are no support wires to a sunroofed car; neither was there a rear plywood panel fitted to mine (1973 Series 2 CSI). However, unlike my 1973 CSL, there was a large insulation material panel fixed over (above) the headlining covering the rear "half" of the soffit. Thanks once again. John.
 
headliner material and plastic grommets

Vraned.Do you have a picture of this headliner material that is available again. I am trying to find something similar to the original and I know I'll probably have to have it perforated in the diamond patter, but I'd like to get some material that has some kind of texture already on the base vinyl.

Also, can anybody spare (sell) a set of those plastic grommets that hold the headliner wires?

Thanks, Tom
 
Headlining material

In response to Tom's queries I obtained a very good match from Woolies here in Peterborough, UK. The reference is Product 334 Off-white and costs £14.95 per metre 50" wide. Ask them to send you a sample. It is mildly textured vinyl and features very similar perforations. Try www.woolies-trim.co.uk. For the grommets, I am using the standard thimble-shaped blanking plugs that are normally supplied with Waxoil rust-proofing kits - they fit a treat! Best wishes, John
 
There it is Chris. What a pretty material. I have tried to move heaven and earth with BMW in Germany and gotten promises that they'd would re-manufacture it and that they even knew what the original material was, but of course they came up with some silly replacement. Here's a little trivia about the headliner. Has anyone ever noticed (I'm sure some have) that the orientation of the headliner material on the header panel and sun visors and the rest of the headliner is off by 90 degrees?

Good tip on the plastic grommets John. For the car I'm doing I may go non-original just on those... :-)
 
Tom, I have only worked with the NOS headliner material. I heard that Carl had the new stuff. Never seen it.
 
Carl's looks pretty good and has the correct hole pattern. I always try to go for the factory look, but I think on the headliner I'll never get it unless I have a whole run of the material made.... I think that means about 5000 meters.
 
Headliner wires grommets

Tom,

Please email me with your postal address at [email protected] and I will forward eight plastic grommets with I rooted out today. Best wishes and thanks again to all for their help in this connection. John
 
Thanks so much for the offer John. Are you sure that postage across the pond won't be worth more than the parts are? If I may, let's wait another week and see if a guy I'm buying parts from here in the US, might have them them too. (But please hang on to them, just in case ;-)...
 
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