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MG MGA - coupe headliner again

Sorry to keep posting headliner questions, but I'm trying to understand every detail necessary for a good installation. I had a professional shop install the SF kit 2 years ago, and it came out very bad, so I have to do it again. They had a bunch of excuses for the shoddy work, so I feel I need to be able to provide as much information as I can to the next shop doing the work. Some of the things I haven't figured out yet is....does the headliner fold over the top of the front and rear window openings, and the top of the door opening? Is there a piece of headliner material glued to the inside of the A - pillar? Is there only a single butt joint to the main headliner on each side of the separate piece that goes above the parcel shelf? All comments very much appreciated.

Thanks! (again)

George
George G.

George

The headlining folds over the flanges around doors and windows and is stuck on the outside only. There is a hardboard trim piece around the inside of the door openings which extends down the inside of the door pillars and ends at the top of the dash. There is a separate trim rail over the top of the windshield.

For the 1600, there is one butt joint on each side at the lowest point of the rear window.

There are several items on Coupe headlining on Barney's site.

It would help to know whether you have a 1500 or 1600, wide or narrow parcel shelf respectively.

Cheers

Dave
Bolney Coupe

I bought my headliner from PJM in the UK, they are well recommended over here; but I expect there are good suppliers in the US.

I’m no expert, this is the first I have done – and I don’t expect to do any more !

Search the MGE web site for other people’s comments, there is some very good help there and better pictures than I could manage.; but here are some comments.

If the headlining is folded when you get it then it’s a good idea to unpack it and lay it out so that any creases don’t become hard to pull out..

On mine the ‘pockets’ for the mounting bars came right to the edge of the material, I suppose that is just the way they are made. So I had to trim them back about 2-1/2” because the lining comes down past the end of the mounting bars. I just cut back the material but avoided cutting into any of the stitching.

I cleaned the mounting bars thoroughly and painted them so the lining would slide smoothly over them.

I stuck some foam heat and sound deadening to the inside of the roof; but it needs to be clear of the front and middle support bars so it doesn’t prevent the headlining sliding along the bars when pulling it into position.

As suggested by others I fitted the lining to the bars and fitted them in the car; I then gently pulled the lining to position and shape and fixed plenty of temporary clips around the edges. Over a few days from time to time I gently warmed the lining with a hot air gun wherever there still were creases and pulled a little more and repositioned the clips.
I found I had to trim some excess material to be able to pull to shape around the top sides of the windscreen area and the rear of the b-post. – you need to be sure it’s all in the right place to have confidence to do that ! Maybe linings from other suppliers might not need that.
I guess more experienced people will know just how much the material can be pulled without overdoing it, but I was very cautious.

When I was happy with the positioning I marked around all the edges with a soft pencil, so that when I came to stick it I knew where to apply the glue and where to position the material – but still a final adjustment and then plenty of clips after glueing, and I left plenty of time for it to set.

The workshop manual instructions ( Section S.16 ) for removing the headlining say that the three trim strips and the rear window are to be removed. This suggests that the headlining did not originally fit under the front window rubber or the door seals, it stopped just short of them. The manual doesn’t say exactly whereabouts the material was glued and ended.
But I think most people do fit it right to the edges of the body and I have done that, and even turned it over the flanges. The window rubbers and door seals do fit over it.
Attaching the headliner in that way ( turned over the flanges and held with clips ) probably makes it easier to get even tension in the material. Otherwise I think it would be tricky to position and hold the edges while the glue was setting.

Cutting and fitting a piece for the area below the rear window is pretty straightforward I think, although it maybe could use some padding because there are a couple of untidy welded spots in that area on mine – maybe after a PO modified the rear shelf area.

I liked the look of the headliner Kenny Snyder has ( in a thread started by Team Evil ) without the screwed on trim strips. His was made and fitted by an auto upholstery shop, and the main piece would have to be made with enough material to fit down the a-posts, mine wasn’t like that, so I have covered and fitted the trim strips.

I’m not sure how helpful this has been, hopefully not more confusing.

J N Gibson

Thanks for all your comments. Dave, it is a 1500 coupe. Lots of good detail offered by JN. Finally, is there any headliner material glued to the inside of the A-pillar?

Thanks,
George
George G.

George

Since you have a 1500, there is a wealth of narrative and pictures by Bobs77vet on the MGE bulletin board. There are 150 pages and it will take some digging but Bob has it all covered. The easy way out would be to send Bob a PM or email.

There is no headlining stuck to the windshield pillar. That is covered by the forward projection of the trim piece which goes over the doors which is itself covered by the headlining material.

Cheers

Dave
Bolney Coupe

Thanks for that tip Dave. I did find the bobs77vet description on the MGE bulletin board, great pictures and more questions answered.

George
George G.

This thread was discussed between 28/06/2017 and 01/07/2017

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