Report on (slow) S2 Coupe rebuild progress

[fay66]

Thanks for the input Roger and Chris.  Glad you like the Jim Clark print Jay!

Today I started the job I’ve been putting off for some considerable time.  If you’ve been following this thread you’ll recall that I started fitting a new headliner about 6 months ago.  Having got the rods and headliner in preliminary position I held off gluing it in place, partly because the weather had turned cold, and partly because I was uneasy about how best to do the stretching of the fabric!

I decided to wait until the spring and see if I could get a local trimmer to take a look at it, but with the Covid 19 situation that’s not possible, and I really want to be able to get on and get the glass back in, so I’ve decided to press ahead on my own.

Today I fixed each of the 4 sides of the roof in turn, starting with the front, then rear, and then the two sides.   I marked the fabric with pencil lines to indicate where to apply the glue.  I used masking tape on the windscreen aperture, but decided it wasn’t really necessary, so just used pencil marks for the rest.   I decanted a small amount of the Alpha AF178 contact adhesive into a jar, and used a narrow brush, about 10mm wide to apply it to both surfaces, being careful to ensure no strings of glue trailing from the brush. Then left it to get touch dry. I’d hoped the adhesive would allow some repositioning time but that wasn’t the case.  Once contact was made there was no budging it, so I had to be very careful.

After pressing the fabric into place I secured it with bulldog clips until dry and then cut off the surplus material.

Tomorrow I’ll tackle the difficult part which is the four corners.  The front two, above the A pillars should be the least difficult.  It’s the rear corners, above the C pillars, that will be hardest as there’s more surplus material there!

Looking good Norman, I do remember them cutting darts to lose the excess around the corners.
Fingers crossed.
Brian
8227 

[nthomas1]

I managed to do the front corners today.  They worked out ok, though I did need to cut one dart each side to take up some of the slack material.  Couldn't resist fitting  the visors to see what they looked like, although they'll have to come off again when I fit the windscreen.  I'll have a day off tomorrow and will then tackle the much more difficult rear corners on Monday.

[lancialulu]

Looking very tidy. 

[fay66]

Very nice Norman, they'll be Fulvia owners queueing at your door for you to do their's after this
Brian
8227 

[nthomas1]

I wouldn't like to do another headliner Brian!  My nerves are pretty frayed after this one, and I've still got one corner to go.
 

 

[nthomas1]

Today I completed the A Pillars.  The first decision was how to handle the join to the main roof portion of the headliner.  It wasn't possible to stitch them together as this would have had to have been done before installing the roof section and would have required a level of accuracy that I don't possess to get the joins in exactly the right place. So I ended up just overlapping.  I tried folding the top of the A pillar section but the resulting fabric layers were too thick, so I just cut a straight edge and I think it look ok.

The second decision was how to do the padding.  The foam in my original headliner pillar covers had pretty much disintegrated, but I was just about able to roughly discern the dimensions.  The original foam was about 5mm thick.  The only thing I had remotely similar was the padding from an old laptop case.  It was more rigid than the original foam so I had to bevel the edges to get the right shape, and the pieces that I had weren't long enough so I had to use two pieces on each pillar.

After gluing the foam in place on the pillars I glued the covers in place.  I pulled the fabric fairly taught so used a lot of bulldog clips to keep the edges from sliding while they dried.  Overall I think they came out OK.  Tomorrow I'll do the C Pillars and the strip across the parcel shelf...... that's if I can finish the stretching of the main fabric on the one remaining corner first!  

[fay66]

I wouldn't like to do another headliner Brian!  My nerves are pretty frayed after this one, and I've still got one corner to go.
 

 

Norman, I can well imagine your reluctance!
However it will be good that other owners have your experience, and hard won knowledge to draw on.
Brilliant job.
Brian
8227 

[nthomas1]

A key milestone reached today as I finished the headliner installation.  Final tasks were lining the C pillars, and fitting the thin strip that goes between the parcel shelf and rear windscreen.

Overall I’m quite pleased with the outcome although I didn’t get the fabric as taut as I’d have liked in the rear corners of the roof.  You can see in the second picture where it’s not as taut as would be ideal and the other rear corner is slacker again, and that was after I’d unpicked part of the last seam to enable one section to be overlapped in order to take up some of the excess fabric.

Just to confuse you, the first picture is passenger side whereas the other three are driver.  The last picture shows one of the C pillar covers that came with the car.

Interestingly, a detailed comparison of the original and new headliners shows that each section of the original was slightly tapered towards the side of the car, by about a centimetre for the first three sections and about two centimetres for the fourth, whereas the new aftermarket headliner had no tapering.  That lack of tapering adds up to about five centimetres of extra fabric that has to be found a home for!  

Next I’d like to install the rear window and windscreen.  Has anybody tried fitting them without help, or are they both a two-person job?  Fortunately I can proceed with installing the door aperture seals and trim and see what surprises that brings.

[Jaydub]

Well done Norm, it looks great, congratulations on your perseverance!  Just one question, are  there any Bulldog clips left in the world? LOL.

[Jaydub]

Well done Norm, it looks great, congratulations on your perseverance!  Just one question, are  there any Bulldog clips left in the world? LOL.

[D5177_55A]

Brave man!

[nthomas1]

Now that the headliner is finished, I've started fitting the seals and trim to the door apertures.  Spent a large part of the day scraping glue and adhesive off the stainless steel parts. 

I've fitted the wide strips that cover the flanges at the edge of the roof.  They're held in with some temporary self tappers while I decide how to make the permanent fitting.  They were riveted in place when I bought the car and I had to drill them out, except for the quarter-light section that used the original screws.  I think I'll have to go with small rivets as the holes had been drilled larger so even if I could find the correct screws, they'd be too narrow to fit.

I also need to find some very, very small screws (4mm diameter head, 6mm long overall, countersunk, with a finer thread than on a normal self tapper) for the row of very small holes along the inner edge of each piece.  I have a feeling these were added by a previous owner as I can't see them in the TAV.

I'm still keen to hear if anybody can answer the question I posed earlier: has anyone ever fitted a rear screen and/or windscreen on their own, or are they definitely multi-person jobs?

   

[jimbo64]

Good work norm I’ve herd that when you fit the interior trim it helps tighten up the roof lining 😊

[Neil]

Norm, I used a professional fitter as I wanted them to check the seals and glass I had to use the best ones front and rear, he fitted both on his own and sealed them up in a few hours.

 (Years ago I helped to fit a windscreen in a friend's Beetle, I don't think I would attempt it on my own, certainly not with the front screen, may be the rear)

[fay66]

Norman the small screws you are talking about, were they where the felt for the drop glass is attached horizontally along the bottom of the window aperture? if yes, then they were fitted by the factory, I did my drivers door years ago, an in the end I lost patience and stuck the felt strip on as I couldn't pick up the holes, I should have persevered as glueing didn't work very well.
Brian
8227