Traditional Headliner - Yes You Can!

I replaced the traditional Nautolex headliner in my 31 foot Sports Express in conjunction with my interior renovation project and found that it was not all that difficult. I know that many consider the headliner a project best left to a professional and others have gone the fabric covered panel route for several reasons including easier installation. But if you want the original look and do not want to shell out a hundred bucks an hour for a professional, you can do this project yourself. Here is how I did it and some tips I picked up along the way.

The headliner is made up of Nautolex perforated vinyl panels sewn together with a strip of solid vinyl welting (bead) in the seams. The price of the fabric varies quite a bit (sometimes up to $30 per yard) and there are several different brand names. I ordered the Nautolex brand on-line from A-1 Foam and Fabrics. They had the best prices and fast service. I paid just $10.75 per yard for the headliner and $.82 for the welting. I had my marine upholstery/canvas guy sew the panels together to my measurements for the modest charge of $150. Any auto trim shop can do the job for you. For best results, make sure the sew line is as close to the rounded part of the bead as possible. This will make the seam look better when it is stretched tight.

The headliner is stapled to wood strips that are screwed to the bottom of the roof supports. On my Sports Express, there was only one seam in the middle of the roof with the two panels stretched one forward to the windshield trim and one aft to intersect with a plywood panel. Unfortunately, the headliner did not follow the curve of the roof and it cut down the headroom. I always thought it was just sagging from age. But it really was because of how it was installed. Because of this, I added more seams so the panels were about 24 inches wide. No science here, just figure out your spacing by what looks good to you. The only constraints are the spacing of the roof supports and the 54 inch width of the fabric. You also need to take into account how much the fabric will stretch when you pull it tight. For my 24 inch panels, my guy sewed the panels 5/8 of an inch smaller. You can do a test with a scrap piece of fabric. If your stretch estimate is off, do not despair, you can adjust the wood staple strips during installation to fine tune everything.

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Installation is started in the middle of the roof, front to back and side to side. Fold the headliner sheet in half at the middle seam with the backside facing out. Hold the seam up against the edge of the wood strip with the bead positioned just below the bottom edge of the strip. It helps if you have a helper to hold up the panel while you staple. But if you are working solo, a couple of clamps will do the job. Staple the seam to the edge of the strip. Two or three staples are enough to establish a starting point.

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As you move outboard from center with your stapling, you need to stretch the material. For consistency, I marked the wood strips and the headliner panel every foot with a Sharpie pen. I found that a stretch factor of about one half inch per foot was about right. Continue until you get to the wood strips that run lengthwise with the boat and stop.

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To continue, find the center of the next seam (you marked it right?). It does not matter if you work toward the bow or stern. Stretch the fabric so that it goes over the next wood mounting strip and line up the seam on the edge of the wood strip. Staple the seam to the edge of the wood strip like before. If you find that the panel is too loose or it takes too much effort to stretch it in place, remove the wood strip and re-attach it so the edge is closer or farther away as necessary.

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When you get to the bow and stern, the panel is stapled to the bottom of the wood strip and the staples are either covered with a piece of wood trim or a piece of hidem depending on how the original installation was done. Once all the side to side stapling is done, staple the outboard edges fore and aft to the bottom of the strip.

As I mentioned earlier, my headliner was originally stapled directly to the windshield trim. I want to do some work on my windshield next year and the trim has to come off to do it. So instead of stapling the new headliner to the trim, I stopped at the last roof support before the windshield and made two removable fabric covered panels to fill the gap. A piece of trim with a notch in the backside covers the transition from stretched panel to the fabric covered panels.

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If you have not guessed by now, this project requires a lot of staples. I found an excellent air driven staple gun on-line for just $35. The Surebonder had a lot of positive reviews and for me it worked great, never jammed and uses Arrow T50 staples that you can find anywhere. You can spend more, but for the occasional project, you cant beat it. I used quarter inch stainless steel staples along the sides and 3/8 staples on the thicker sewn seams.

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Here is the finished headliner, tight as a drum and good for another 40 years. Time and some massaging with your fingers will smooth out the wiggles in the vinyl beading.

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I recommend that you pay close attention to how the old headliner was installed when you are taking it out. Double check all your measurements, dont overstretch the fabric, take it slow and you will wind up with a first class installation. Plus you will have the satisfaction of having done it yourself, not to mention some extra coin in your pocket that you will likely need for some other Commander project.

Keith
Commander & Chief
31 Sports Express