25 replies to this topic

[Magneto]

My friend is really tall, and even with the seats extenders and the seat as far back and down as possible his head rubs the headliner.

 

Modern headliners are simply  a foam/cloth sandwich glued to a fiberboard shaped like the roof, has anyone done one for the classic Mini?

 

I suppose he could just glue the foam/cloth directly to the roof, except for the brace that runs across the roof from the B pillars......I guess he could cover that with vinyl or something.......

 

He doesn't want to go to a Miata seat or something of that sort if he can help it.

[mab01uk]

Not sure if the later 1997 on MPi Mini had a modern moulded head lining fitted direct to the roof?

Edited by mab01uk, 21 November 2016 - 08:41 PM.

[Compdoc]

AFAIK only the early saloons had the brace between the "B" pillars to screw  the centre interior light too. My '89 had no headliner at the moment and has a smooth roof interior. 

[Tupers]

The later 1997 on MPi Mini has a modern moulded head lining fitted to the roof.......so best to try to find someone breaking an MPi Mini.

I don't believe they were moulded headlinings. Just the modern style material sticker in the same fashion as a regular MK3 headlining with support bars.

[mab01uk]

 

The later 1997 on MPi Mini has a modern moulded head lining fitted to the roof.......so best to try to find someone breaking an MPi Mini.

I don't believe they were moulded headlinings. Just the modern style material sticker in the same fashion as a regular MK3 headlining with support bars.

 

 

I think your right after a quick Google search, edited my post.

Edited by mab01uk, 21 November 2016 - 08:41 PM.

[Magneto]

Ok, so no cross brace to worry about, I guess one could just glue the foam/cloth sandwich directly to the roof then? That's how it is on my E-Type.

[Alice Dooper]

The later 1997 on MPi Mini has a modern moulded head lining fitted to the roof.......so best to try to find someone breaking an MPi Mini.

I don't believe they were moulded headlinings. Just the modern style material sticker in the same fashion as a regular MK3 headlining with support bars.

 
I think your right after a quick Google search, edited my post.

Your right.

1997 on had what Rover called an 'upgraded' headlining. It was fabric with about 2mm of foam bonded on, fastened in the same way as older ones and with the same hoops. I think they thought it would have more soundproofing and have a more luxurious feel. There's a wee bit of soundproof padding glued directly to the roof.

It doent give anymore headroom and can be an absolute pain to clean.

[tiger99]

You could use a sprayed on material which used to be called Velvetex. I have not seen it lately but other similar products are around. They consist of short fibres which are electrically charged by the application gun so they stand up straight when they meet the pre-applied epoxy adhesive.

But you will have to get rid of any sharp metal edges such as are used to fix the normal headlining sticks.

I hate fitting fabric headlinings and have been thinking for some time about the possibility of a modern rigid headlining material. I believe that some of these are simply heated and vacuum moulded over a simple male mould of wood or glassfibre. This is just about doable at home or certainly by small scale industry. Maybe someone will be along who can tell us about the material and process details?

[Magneto]

I've since been to a local upholstery shop and learned a bit more....the foam/cloth sandwich is not a good candidate to use to glue directly to the roof, as it's difficult to stretch and fit in the corners. However, he suggested another type of material that will stretch and can easily be molded to the roof. I'll take the car up to his shop on Monday and he and the owner will talk about what can be done and what will work for him.......

[nicklouse]

I've since been to a local upholstery shop and learned a bit more....the foam/cloth sandwich is not a good candidate to use to glue directly to the roof, as it's difficult to stretch and fit in the corners. However, he suggested another type of material that will stretch and can easily be molded to the roof. I'll take the car up to his shop on Monday and he and the owner will talk about what can be done and what will work for him.......

not really a good idea sticking stuff to the roof skin directly as it often results in RUST.

 

if he needs the extra space look at no headlining at all.

 

or look at cutting the seat basses.

 

we often took the front legs down to allow lower mounting and also mode the rear "hoops".

[Magneto]

This car has the early 850 style seats, I already cut the legs down 1" in the back, it helped, but not enough. I don't think he'll be worried about rust as his cars live pretty pampered lives, they don't go out in the rain and live in a temp controlled garage.

 

If it were my car I'd go with different seats - such as Miata seats. I had a set in my last car and as they are just slightly narrower than the Mini seat frames, I was able to shift them slightly to the center - then they cleared the companion bins and would go back till they touched the front edge of the rear seat. Plenty of room then!

 

I'll let him and the upholstery guy take it from here, but the headliner is glued to the inside roof of my E-Type - that's how the factory did it - and there's no rust up there . Plenty everywhere lower than that, but none in the roof!

[lawrence]

To be honest mate your friend needs to think about making his own. I've got a home made one of sound deadening sheets on the roof then a layer of acoustic carpet over that. I also welded a few captive nuts to the roof to hold my roof console up to give a centre light like a modern car



Old photo but you get the impression of what you mean by it, can get a better one if required, just let me know. Gives a lot more head clearance

Edit:
That's how it currently is (with the reversing sensors and the autodipping mirror ;), who says minis can't be modern)

Lawrence

Edited by lawrence, 03 December 2016 - 01:38 PM.

[Magneto]

Thanks Lawrence, he's is not a DIY guy, that's why I've been working on his car for him. I'll let him work it out with the upholstery shop, I'll post pics of what they do if he goes ahead with it.

 

However, I've been thinking about how I might do it, I think since it has the newer style headliner in place already, I would cut that long enough to pull up and cover the cant rails, then tuck the new one behind the cant rails - that would give a nice finished appearance

 

Where does one get "accoustic carpet"?

Edited by Magneto, 03 December 2016 - 03:53 PM.

[lawrence]

I got acoustic carpet from a local car shop. I believe it's normally used to cover sub boxes etc but I chose it because it has a bit of stretch in it to get into the corners

[Alice Dooper]

Not sure if the later 1997 on MPi Mini had a modern moulded head lining fitted direct to the roof?

The later MPI's had a soft fabric with thin foam back to replace the old vinyl. It's fitted the same way. According to Rover, it was part of the improvements to sound deadening and was supposed to feel a bit more luxurious.