headlining abuse

[blackie]

Hi there everyone , I am new to the club and a new owner of a 1990 XJS. It has a few niggles and electric gremlins , but hey that all adds to the fun . My main problem at the moment though is the headlining , since buying the vehicle 2 weeks ago it seems to have sagged outrageously, maybe this is due to my hair , folickly challenged I have it really short , and the fact that I am quite tall this is acting a little like velcro, much to the amusement of my son anyway what I want to know , is do any of you know of a nice cheap 'n' chearfull way of rectifying this problem temporarily until I can afford to buy a new one , which the cheapest I can find is £400 is this the best or do you know of cheaper sources . Love the car it drives like a dream , mechanically it all seems well maintained , but rest assured that any major dramas will be addressed here first .

regards , Tony .

[dhdove]

Tony
hi, welcome to the XJ-S forum.
Sorry, there are no "quick fixes" for droopy headlinings, you can try gluing it up with spray glue but due to the nature of it's construction it will droop again within days/weeks. ( The material is affixed to a paste type board that continually delaminates). Or temporarilly you can try pinning it up with dressmakers pins
However, rather than buy a new one you may find it much cheaper to have your existing headlining removed and professionally re-covered and re-fitted by a trimmer. Mine cost £250.00 four years ago inc D posts, was a brill. job and I had a choice of colours (I went for a much lighter pale cream which made the interior much brighter than before).
There should be a post in the bodywork section with details.
Welcome to the XJS community and enjoy your new car
Best Wishes
DH Dove

[blackie]

Thanks for the reply , I had afeeling there would be no easy way around it . Well I guess it's time to get thumbing the yellow pages, my eyebrows are getting tired of being pinned back by the vicious headlining, my necks getting wrinkly

Blackie

[poprivet]

Hi there everyone , I am new to the club .
Hi Tony, I can't help directly with the headlining problem but I just wanted to welcome you to the forum
Manchester, might see you at the Northern day then?
Pop

[blackie]

Hi Pop, thanks for the welcome , I'm looking forward to attending many of the events this year , and hopefully having the car looking well.

Blackie.

[davidr]

I relined mine myself a few years ago - was a bit fiddly and got in trouble with she who must be obeyed for pinching sewing scissors etc but it can be done with care. Mine was more tricky as I have a sunroof. An ordinary one shouldn't be too tricky so long as the backing is intact. The usual problem is that heat causes the glue to break up and so things go droopy!
I got the material from a chap who's at the Stoneleigh Spares Day most times - cost next to nothing. You do need to get a special heat-proof spray-on glue which I also got at the Spares Day. As Spares Day is later this month why not give it a try?

[Jon]

You might possibly have some success by making a small hole and syringing some glue in - although due to the nature of the problem its more than likely it will just make a mess, maybe worth a shot as your only other option is retrimming.

Rather than it being the lining that comes away from the roof, the lining material actually separates from the backing over time, which seems to crumble away, thereby making a successful glue repair unlikely.

Oh, if you do have a go at retrimming yourself, I would cover your arms up and maybe even wear gloves when handling the old headlining. All I did was carry my old headlining to the dustbin wearing a T shirt and for the next few hours I had maddening irritation / redness on my arms courtesy of hundreds of little micro fibres stuck in me!

[HerefordMark]

There is a method - depends how brave you feel though! Get the headlining out, then peel back the fabric to reveal the board underneath. Get a tub of PVA, a 4 inch paintbrush, then take a deep breath... Use the PVA all over the board, get it on thick. It will be as messy as hell, the PVA will mix with the fibres left on the board to produce a real sticky mess. But persevere - once covered, smooth the fabric back on as neatly as you can. Then half fill a few plastic bags with sand/earth, and use them to weight down the fabric on the board until it sets. This is particularly important at the edges where there is a curve - the fabric will naturally want to peel away here. Leave it in a warm garage for a few days. The end result should be serviceable, and reasonably neat with perhaps a few bubbles here and there. You won't win any concours, but it won't come off again in a hurry either. I used this method as a stopgap as I was planning to buy a new headlining, but it worked out so well I didn't bother with the new one.

Most important point last - use gloves and a mask as mentioned by others. You'll regret it if you don't.

HM

[dhdove]

HM
How did you think up this fix in the first place? sounds like Blue Peter meets Tiswas meets Ground Force on a bad day!!!
BTW Congrats on your fifty up
DH Dove

[HerefordMark]

There isn't much that a good dose of PVA won't sort!!

[blackie]

Hello again everyone and thank you for your responses , I enjoyed reading them . I have some good news to report , at least for the time being anyway . Yesterday morning I opted to peel back the lining from its base and with long sleeves may I add via your advice , I put my arm in , pulled down the lining until it was sagged everywhere. I then sprayed some heavy duty carpet glue , really good stuff , does just what it says on the tin aswell . Left it 5 mins to go tacky and then began to smooth the lining out to the edges using rubber gloves , it went along quite well and today looks great apart from a few creases here and there at the back , but then it is discoulored anyway and needs replacing but this will do as a temporary jobby .

Blackie

[dhdove]

Blackie
I wouldn't want to depress a new forum member so I WILL NOT suggest a sweepstake on how long it stays up there....................
Fingers crossed
DH Dove
(My money says a week max. )

[blackie]

Wow , that soon , funny really cos I was expecting the lot back down today , so hey everyday is a bonus , and a day off for my eyebrows

Blackie

[dhdove]

Blackie
S'okay
Now that I've made that post your headlining will last indefinately
DH

[blackie]

well at least it'll take my mind off the oil leak that has appeared near to the oil filter , I think it could be the oil pressure switch , ah the joys of motoring .