New Headliner Installation Question

[philos65]

I'm not to far from being ready to install the headliner on my 80s Keystone. I wonder if it's better to sew the two halves of perforated vinyl together (I have a Sailrite LSZ-1 sewing machine) or do as others have, and just use adhesive spray to mate the two halves of the vinyl in the middle.

I'm tending towards sewing the two 60" pieces together and spraying adhesive over the frame, stretching it, using clamps and long, thin pieces of wood to insure the contact between perforated vinyl and aluminum frame is good.

Any recommendations or cautions?

Thanks...

Jeff
Laramie, WY

 

[PokyBro]

Hi Jeff,

Congratulations on getting your project to this point.

There may not be a right or wrong way to install your headliner.

I did mine with the roof off of the camper and upside down. I elected to install one half at a time, vs sewing, for several reasons. I decided that by using spray on contact cement to the middle rib, I could then stretch the perforated vinyl liner tight out to the side, and front to rear, one side at time, which meant one half of the material to manage at one time. I didn't put contact cement on any other rib except the outside tubes, again to maintain the ability to stretch the fabric. I overlapped the second half of the liner over the first on the center rib by about one inch. Once I had both halves stretched tight to my satisfaction, I installed the wood slats to hold everything in place using 18 gauge staples. It has all held up, and came together nicely. Hope that helps.

Poky

 

[philos65]

Hey Poky:

Yes your description is very helpful. Reading it I could picture exactly what you did.

If I sew it first, I'll do exactly what you suggest - spraying on the contact cement a bit at a time around the edges, and not the internal frame pieces. I'll have soft wood and clamps ready to hold the edges, but if I remember correctly, the spray cement gets tacky and dries pretty quickly.

I'll wait and see if anyone else responds before deciding on what to do.

I did put the roof upside down on the floor with 2x4s fore and aft under the edge, and stepped the conduit back into shape. I have about an inch curve on the roof near its center.

turning the roof back over and up onto saw horses, I installed 1" x 1" aluminum box tubing for two large solar panels, and in the middle of the roof the two tubes just about touch the roof. I'll anchor them with little L brackets.

The roof has 2" x 1" box running fore and aft, and with the horizontal tubing, the roof is pretty solid. The 80 pounds of solar panels should have their weight rest mostly on the edges of the roof, with minor support in the middle to keep them from bouncing while driving. Or so the theory says.

I decided to install the two panels on the driver's side of the roof (refer to previous post) so they would be easier to tip upwards during winter camping. I have 40 and 60 pound struts - I'll see what combination works best.

In one of the build posts someone mentioned how satisfied they were with two fans, one blowing in, and one blowing out. Also, apparently the positive pressure of both blowing in helps raise the roof. I bought a bunch of switches that switch polarity, so both fan motors and both lid motors will be remote wired so I can lie in bed to raise and lower the lid, or turn on/off the fans, or reverse them. Probably a little over the top, but everything is exposed, wire and switches cheap, so why not?

I've got all the materials for the new vinyl that goes between roof and camper body. Your pictures really helped, and with Tim's three videos - I feel really confident I can make a quality product. I'm using gray, sea blue and white 18 oz vinyl. I haven't decided on the design, but I think I'm going to have more seams than most, with big windows on all four sides.

Fun stuff...

Jeff
Laramie WY

 

[Living The Dream]

I put my linear up in two halves. The seam hides really nicely under the wood planks so I really don't see much reason not to stay with two halves. Will make it less of a bear to install. The glue gets tacky in about 3 minutes and you have about 10 total minutes to make adjustments. And extra set of hands will really help out.

One thing I didn't do well enough was pull away the roof metal from the frame on the edges. With the frame easily exposed you can really wrap the headliner around for a clean edge. Not sure if that makes a ton of sense as I write it. Sounds like you have a pretty clear picture of what you want to do, i'd lean away from sewing it.

Good luck.