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Sunbaked '76 Cali 280z
- Thread starter Robotsan
- Start date
Robotsan
Club Member
Language, Timothy.Looks OK to me.
Haha. Cheers Jon. It's best seen from a yard away, or in the dark. No one will be looking for the many imperfections anyway!
Paul_S
Club Member
You know what? You've (both) done a great job. Flip that sun visor up and forget that tiny piece in the corner. I'm sure "The Wolf" from Pulp Fiction would be extremely happy with the finished product!Finally took the plunge and installed the headliner today. Girlfriend needed quite a bit of persuading to help, but she did, and it was essential.
We stuck it up in the middle and then worked from the middle out. Was all going well until I got to the front left corner of my side, where I found I couldn't get it to lie flat. Girlfriend suggested that it just needed gluing and it would be ok.
However, as I know best, I decided that there was too much material and some needed trimming off. Turns out one of us was correct, and not the one I would prefer. It was pretty dark in that corner and I didn't think to shine a torch in there to check.. so I ended up cutting off too much, leaving a little gap
So I've had to cut a little filler bit to stick in the gap
Elsewhere, I think I applied too much glue and it's come through the foam backing a bit, making a weird undulation, and there's also a slight ripple towards the back. As with all things like this, I got better towards the end, so the right hand side is better than the left.
It's just going to be one of those things that's better than what I started with, and will do for now.. but maybe I'll pay a professional to re-do properly in the future.
From a distance and without direct light, it looks ok really!:
View attachment 54302
With direct light you can see a few little undulations though. But how often are you going to shine a direct light on your roof? Not many.
View attachment 54303
Annoying dent from too much glue or something:
View attachment 54304
And here's my handwork patching in a little additional patch to cover the gap in the corner. At least I got the perforation pattern lined up!
View attachment 54305
Bollocks. Ah well, it was really ****ing hard and I had a go! The rest of the interior should be easier from here, right?..
Besides, who really looks up and studies the roof lining of a car? <insert rude joke here>
When your resto is complete you'll look back at that corner and be proud because it proves you did it all yourself (with your other half's help of course).
Robotsan
Club Member
Thanks Paul, that's nice of you to say. And yeah, I think I can accept the imperfections on this car as I know I did it myself, so hopefully the pride will counteract the lack of finesse!
Kieronpollock
Club Member
Head lining is a two ‘man’ job but you’ll really enjoy putting the strut tower trim on with no creases 
Robotsan
Club Member
Head lining is a two ‘man’ job but you’ll really enjoy putting the strut tower trim on with no creases
I've already decided that's the bit I'm going to pay an auto trimmers to do
uk66fastback
Club Member
Good effort. It’s not easy, working above your head … ideally where you were short, the ‘patch‘ needs to be glued in first, then the main material. That way, the ‘edge’ of the material is facing away from you and not towards …
SacCyclone
Club Member
I think your doing a great job, and you would be thousands into labor alone with all this work.
Doing a nice complete job, keep moving forward and keep learning.
You will be the future answer man on this site for the young bucks asking questions....BEEN THERE DONE THAT
Doing a nice complete job, keep moving forward and keep learning.
You will be the future answer man on this site for the young bucks asking questions....BEEN THERE DONE THAT
Robotsan
Club Member
Thanks. It doesn't look like it from that photo (probably because the flash is casting a shadow from the main material onto the patch), but I did manage to do it like that. Had to use tweezers and kind of tuck the patch under the main material. It really doesn't look too bad to the naked eye.
Robotsan
Club Member
Cheers Mike! Yeah it's true, lots of money saved. This distinctly average headliner job only cost about £50 in materials!
I got a quote for £500 all in I think, when I first got the car. Haha yes.. and answer man will say BEEN THERE DONE THAT, DON'T DO IT!
toopy
Club Member
Normally no, except for people on here that are paying attention, then at a future car show/meet we'll be looking in the windows and craning our necks upwards and going 'Yeh i think this is the one where he messed up the headlining in the corner'!
Only kidding...... good job, i certainly wouldn't of attempted it
Robotsan
Club Member
Normally no, except for people on here that are paying attention, then at a future car show/meet we'll be looking in the windows and craning our necks upwards and going 'Yeh i think this is the one where he messed up the headlining in the corner'!
Only kidding...... good job, i certainly wouldn't of attempted it
Haha! It's a good job I'm not aiming for concours. Maybe there should be a special competition for Did it themselves in their garage with no prior experience.
Yeh, I've had huge satisfaction from doing big and difficult car/motorbike jobs without any training. They bring an attachment to the vehicle that you can't get if you pay someone else to do it.
Probably the best Z I've owned was my completely standard, low mileage, rust-free UK car. However I didn't 'bond' with it because I didn't work on it (apart from springs).
Robotsan
Club Member
Had a few weeks off the Z as I turned 40 and got treated to a surprise 9 days in Iceland by my girlfriend, which was amazing. However, Iceland is so expensive that I spent all the money reserved for the car in November. I'll forgive her though, I spose!
Back to the grindstone today..
Started putting the closed cell foam to the trans tunnel today which went alright.
But I'm wondering how far down the tunnel walls to go with it. I guess all the way to the floor?! It's going to be fiddly!
I'm also now dreading doing the vinyl trim on the tunnel. Can't see how that can be glued to it without getting really creased in places?
Back to the grindstone today..
Started putting the closed cell foam to the trans tunnel today which went alright.
But I'm wondering how far down the tunnel walls to go with it. I guess all the way to the floor?! It's going to be fiddly!
I'm also now dreading doing the vinyl trim on the tunnel. Can't see how that can be glued to it without getting really creased in places?
Alphabettispaghetti
Club Member
Nice work
I think the jute normally went lower than that towards the floor. With a standard set of vinyl I think you could be at risk of it being a little baggy lower down?
Robotsan
Club Member
Yeah deffo went lower than that didn't it. I'm basically going to end up covering every part of the floors and trans tunnel in it I think.
I reckon I might get the carpets from Romas now so I can see how far I need to go with the vinyl..
Kieronpollock
Club Member
Don’t worry about tunnel trim, got mine on easy, hair dryer useful for working out any creases
don’t worry about central tunnel, easier to do than the rear strut towers, just use a hair dryer to work out an creases
Robotsan
Club Member
Does the hairdryer even work after it's been glued down then? If so, maybe that'll work on my headlining creases?!
Also is it best to do it in one big piece, and glue down then cut out the gaps on top etc? Or make 2 separate pieces and stitch together at the back?
Kieronpollock
Club Member
My trim came as one piece with the relevant holes cut out and the firewall end of the trim open so I could lay it all down and made sure it fitted first. If you’ve no cut outs already in the trim then you need to use either old trim as a template or make a paper template. I worked from rear of car forward so that I made sure I had a snug fit at the rear of the tunnel so when the riser section of trim went on there was no gaps ( you can get away with excess trim on the firewall side as it’s all hidden with the central console, carpets etc.
I glued in sections eg glue tunnel and trim from riser up to gear stick, let cure for few mins then put on. You will find the rollers you’ve used for putting down the sound deadening useful to get a flush finish to the tunnel. The hairdryer is useful to get a little stretch in the fabric so I have warmed it with the hairdryer then used the roller in stubborn areas to stop creating a bubble or crease.
Your holes in the top of the trim don’t need to be cut perfect, you can afford to make them larger than required as the central plastic tunnel trim will cover them.
Also helpful with two people, had mine in 15 mins .
Re roof lining, it’s a 2 man job and I used the hairdryer as I went
I glued in sections eg glue tunnel and trim from riser up to gear stick, let cure for few mins then put on. You will find the rollers you’ve used for putting down the sound deadening useful to get a flush finish to the tunnel. The hairdryer is useful to get a little stretch in the fabric so I have warmed it with the hairdryer then used the roller in stubborn areas to stop creating a bubble or crease.
Your holes in the top of the trim don’t need to be cut perfect, you can afford to make them larger than required as the central plastic tunnel trim will cover them.
Also helpful with two people, had mine in 15 mins .
Re roof lining, it’s a 2 man job and I used the hairdryer as I went
uk66fastback
Club Member
It’s a funny shape when laid out flat.