I decided not to put it off any longer - it was time to (re) do the headlining and the under hatch cover. I could have pushed the Midas out of the garage, but it was still hotter than Satan's curry in there, so I did the sensible thing and rolled out the material in the lounge. I also had the fan on, so keeping cool was a lot easier. I firstly made sure that both the headliner and the under hatch cover would easily fit on the material, then marked out where I was going to cut. I used a wonderful steel straight-edge than my Dad had. It's 5 foot long and pretty heavy. I do not know where it came from (possibly his Dad, who was an engineer?); it's just something he always had. When my brother and I were sorting out the house, we did a deal between us where if there was anything either wanted, we'd ask the other first before taking it. This worked fine because our tastes are so very different. The only thing we both wanted was Dad's watch, which I let him have as I didn't like the strap! I digress; that straight-edge is wonderful and proved perfect for the job in hand.
The new headlining material is smoother, and more of an ivory colour, rather than the furry white I had before. It has also proved to be MUCH nicer to work with. I ended up covering both pieces outside - more space, more ventilation, and less chance of covering the contents of the garage in glue. I did the headlining in 2 stages - firstly I glued the material to the headlining having laid it over the top and carefully ensured that there were no "naked" bits, before flipping it over 24 hours later and clamping the underside. I still have the windscreen pillar covers to do, but that won't take long. Also, once the glue has had 24 hours to properly dry, I need to make the holes for the various screws, bolts etc. I shall be using a proper set of sharp hole punches for this.
Material laid out in the lounge
Headlining and under hatch cover in place to measure up
Amazing straight edge
Close-up of the new material
Under hatch cover covered, and clamped in place
First part of the headlining positioned and glued in place
And all clamped up underneath.
