Looking real good, was the headliner a total PITA or semi doable for us about average DIY people?
Hey, I'm about as "average DIY people" as they come, and it really wasn't that bad. rofl
I made sure it was oriented properly, found the center on both ends of the headliner as well as marked the windshield & rear glass channels. put the rods into the correct sleeves (I must've been sick or something because I was actually smart enough to number them from front to back as I removed them from the car), and picked the upper holes. Started at the back, made a couple notches in the rear-most sleeve, so the tension wires could engage the rod (and crimped them tight, so they wouldn't keep popping loose), and moved my way forward. When we got to the front rod, it didn't want to "bow upward" very well, so I just popped it in bowed downward, then gently pushed it forward and up... it hit the right spot and popped into place against the headliner pad.
Since it had been in a box for several years, I decided to just let it hang overnight. The next day, lined up the center lines, cut up about 10 feet of windlace into 1.5" lengths, and started smoothing and "dry-fitting the windshield and rear glass channels. Then, the passenger side door opening back to the quarter window, then the driver side. Once everything was smoothed out to the window openings, I started pulling the upper sail panel pieces down and tucking them using the teeth to secure it. The driver side took the longest, because I was unsure of how it was going to work... but I got the passenger side done in about 10 minutes, because I was comfortable with the process.
Looking back to admire the work of dry fitting everything, I instantly dreaded pulling the windlace clips and start glueing everything - I envisioned everything coming apart... but it didn't. I used the headliner glue from NPD, and it seemed to work just fine - only had to re-glue a couple places because I actually didn't get enough glue in there.
I also noticed I'd forgotten to put up the sail panel insulation
before installing the headliner retainers. Duh... Fortunately, cutting a slot straight up from hole for the clip allowed me to sneak it by the clip and tuck it under before getting to the sail panels.
The sail panels themselves required just a little bit of trimming on the very rear end, and take a bit of work to get them clamped down at the quarter windows to stay put while the glue dries.
I found this article after I'd already gotten the headliner hung and glued, but it confirmed I'd pretty much done everything right:
http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/interior-electrical/headliner-install/
Hope that helps. It's really not that bad, and one person can do it - but it's easier with two... especially when she's actually wanting to help. ::thumb::
How are the sail panels attached? I tightened up the amateurish job done on my car but the sail panels are not right either. I will tackle them some other day. Would love to hear how they attach. I used short strips of windlace to tighten the section over head. The best part is that the rails along the door frame fit right over it perfectly.
That's a GREAT idea - the door rails hide it from the outside, and the trim pieces hide it from the inside. Very ingenious, Sir! ::thumb::
The sail panels are kinda weird - they're kind of secured, and kind of not. The complete lower edge is held in by the plastic trim overlapping it. There's a clip on the backside of the sail panel itself. If you look at the article I linked to above, in picture #5 just below the middle of the headliner retainer is the hole the clip pops into (put the clip into the backside of the panel, and pop it in with the panel). When the clip is pushed in, it makes the sail panel bow just a little bit and holds it in-place very well. The leading edge of the panel is glued to the quarter window opening below the headliner (picture #18), and the extra material is glued to the side of the rear window channel (picture #16). This article was done "the hard way," as they either didn't use or sail panel insulation or sail panels themselves weren't available (they made their own). They used clothes pins... but I'm not seeing that working very well.
Hope that helps!
