I bought a hardtop earlier in the year, not too bad, but minus any headlining, and thought that it was a good candidate to have a try at retrim. By chance I also saw in a friends garage in Germany a large roll of black headlining with a stack of spray glue, which he kindly donated to me.
The headlining was 2m wide, but 1.6m would be ok as well, and you would need a minimum of 2m in length. Had 2 cans of glue, each 400ml, and used almost all of it. On Ebay they sell extra wide headlining kits like this, which would be ok.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3M-Extra-Wide ... 3f28f04b4d
Heres what I had :
Headlining
Glue
Tools, essential stuff!
Spudger, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Metal-Spu ... 3a8cd4c47a
And, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-4pcs-Auto ... 3ce7a8dae2
The original headlining needs to be removed carefull, and everything cleaned as best you can.
Its best to have your new material as square as you can get it. Do this by folding the material in 2 lengthways, and then measure from the fold to a top edge, marking it in equal lengths, and then cutting a straight line across. Make a small mark to denote the center of this new straight edge.
Without using any glue, I then pushed this straight edge under the front trim as central as possible, making it as neat as I could. There's plenty of room for the material under the front trim.
Once the top edge was nice a neat, I then used a length of 4.5mm cable to use as a wedge under the side rubber seal, so as to expose the edge of the hardtop. The headlining need to be glued here and full access is required.
I then cut the headlining along these edges, ready for glueing. I also then marked a line to where I wanted to glue to, on both the hardtop and material. The seals were then marked, and areas where you dont want the glue, covered and masked.
Spray the glue on evenly, making sure it goes to the edges. Leave for a couple on minutes Smooth the material on, making sure it reaches under the side rubber seals. Trim back the material as necessary, then immediatly remove the masking tape and wire wedge, allowing the rubber trim to clamp the headlining.
I left it to dry for a few hours, then tackled the part to the rear screen. There is a fair amount of room under the glass, so you can leave an inch to tick under.
The rear quarter panels are on very tight, and geting the material under is a hard job. Kepep everying masked as best you can whilst spraying glue, but remove as quickly as you can, or the headlining will glue to the masking tape.
Next the rear quarter were trimmed. Next time I will get a neater corner, as the material will eventually lie flat in the curvature. I cut it too close to shape, next time I will go more slowly. Tuck the material under the trim using the spudgers, they are just blunt enough not to cut the material.
For the rear egde trim I cut a 6" strip of material, folded over the ends to fit and glued. This was then fitted, to complete the job.
All in all reasonably simple, but you need a good bit of room and lots of ventilation. Taking time, a reasonable job is possible for £70 if you feel brave!
