Headliner Install Photos

Bartman

Bartman

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I think it was Dale that posted these photos from the ACA factory. Knowing what a challenging job it is I saved them to my computer for future reference but they don't do any good there so here they are.

I apologize if I got the photo credits wrong! :)

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Where is the best place to buy the headliner? The only place I have found seems to be Airtex.....
 
flyingdakota said:
Where is the best place to buy the headliner? The only place I have found seems to be Airtex.....
Click to expand...

I used airtex for my headliner. It went in great and I am happy with it. Came with the burn certificate and no directions! Quality is good but the seams were not straight. Nothing the normal eye would notice, but I do.
 
Here are some pictures. Took 12.5 hours to complete!
 

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Man, that looks nice! My headliner (apparently original from back in '65) looks amazingly good, except the zippers are broken. I'm not touching it until the recover takes place... Afraid it will fall apart if I mess with it! LOL
 
My headliner is ok except zipper is broke any ideas on replacing the zipper???
 
Hi Sam.....what is the condition of the fabric that the zipper is attached to? Ripped or intact? If it's intact then an interiors shop can get in there and replace the zipper. Mine is a little worse than that so I'm hoping a zipper can be sewn into some fabric strips and then the fabric strips can be sewn into my headliner to pull it all back together again.
 
While you are at it - there is an issue with the skylight. I forget just what it was, but check with Rainbow for fastening hints. As I understand it, the airplane can be flown with missing skylight, but it is not fun. Apparently the side anchors can be improved.
 
Thought I would post the “before” headliner picture. Haven’t begun the new install, finishing up the frame cleanup and touch up paint and waiting for the welds for the new seat belt attach points. Also have a spot in the fabric in the middle of the roof we are going to patch and repaint.
 

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here is a factory installed headliner, they slot the material for the shoulder harness tab aft of the seam. You can also see in the back corner of the photo that they pin the side panels together at the corners with a screw and finish washer through the corner blocks.
20220601_120632.jpg

Looking at this photo some more, I'm not sure I love putting the seam forward of the shoulder harness tab. If you follow the seam to the back corner, it has to zigzag down into the side seam which doesn't look fabulous.
 
Last edited:
Goodyear said:
Thought I would post the “before” headliner picture. Haven’t begun the new install, finishing up the frame cleanup and touch up paint and waiting for the welds for the new seat belt attach points. Also have a spot in the fabric in the middle of the roof we are going to patch and repaint.
Click to expand...

Did you wind up doing the mod for the center shoulder harness lug, with the truss on the spar carry-thru?

I'm on the fence. I already have a Hooker harness with shoulder harness in H configuration, so straps go thru 2 holes in headliner and wrap around the tube. If I do the mod, I would need to get the welds done, and get a new shoulder harness.

If you did it, was the truss available as a kit from ACA, or did you have to fabricate? That might tip the scales for me.
 
When we removed the headliner the truss for the center front seat shoulder harness was already installed. Just not used.
 
Truss was available from ACA for $130. I went ahead and ordered it.

Does anyone have experience with the ACA headliner from Flightline? Cost is $600 ... twice the price of the Airtex headliner. But given all the tales of frustration associated with headliner installation, that could be worth it if Flightline has made design improvements based on feedback from the ACA production line.
 
I made a stab a few weeks back at installing an old NIB airtex headliner my buddy had.... Well I found it to be quite stretchy and one of the seams wasn't properly terminated so I restitched it by hand and proceeded forward. It didn't look awful but it just wasn't up to my standards as you could easily see the restitched section even though I used the original stitch perfs.... I also had an awful looking butt pucker in the skylight corner (more substandard stitch work from AT).
FFWD to today, the flightline headliner is harder to stretch but it's a heavier grade of material, (they must have harvested it from some older more rugged naugas). The only negative for me was the scrim fabric... I actually think airtex has the better material there.
I wonder how the airtex headliner holds up when compared to the flightline one when the windows are open and the airflow is beating the tar out them and over time.
 
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