14 replies to this topic

[golly]

Can you give me any advise on fitting a new roof lining into my '97mpi mini. How easy is it to do?

cheers guys

[GottaDesigner]

Relatively easy.

You will need:

A spare, sunny day
Strong contact adhesive
Short-bristle paintbrush
Windscreen fillet tool
Spray bottle with car shampoo/water mix in it
Rounded-off flat-head screwdriver
Pencil
Sharp Shears
White Spirit & Lint Free Cloths
A couple of mates

- Lay out new headlining on clean, sunny surface to warm up.
- Remove all seats, front & rear windscreens, rear quarter lights and seals and pull down top edges of door seals.
- Remove visors & rear view mirror. Retain screws in very safe place as they're a specific size which is a bugger to replace.
- Carefully peel off sides of existing lining and *very* gently unclip bars. Remember the colour sequence front to back and don't bend them or you're doomed to a saggy headlining! Mark up rear screen trims according to old ones for rear screen heater fitments etc.
- Remove old lining and clean all old glue/sealant off paintwork with white spirit and cloths. Get the surfaces as clean as physically possible (take this opportunity to treat any rust under the seals too).
- Lay old headlining over new and trace around with pencil.
- Thread bars through new headlining, being equally careful not to bend bars, and trimming through 'tubes' at an angle where necessary. Glue around edges of new headlining in accordance with pencil outline.
- Crawl back into Min with sticky headlining, avoiding sticking headlining to yourself or itself , and push ends of bars back into place.
- Dab glue on paintwork in necessary places and get mates to pull lining taut while you stick it in place. Folding it around the window/door edges.
- Trim excess material from edges and around door pillars/seatbelt mounts etc when dry. Seals should fit back into place with no excess headlining material showing. Fit rear screen side trims, tucking behind seal.
- Start refitting glass with aid of rounded-off flat-head screwdriver & spraybottle with a little car shampoo in it to get seals & glass to co-operate. When done, refit silver strip with fillet tool and then re-fit door & quarter light seals, quarter lights & interior and clean off excess glue with white spirit.

Hope this helps!

Did it a few weeks ago myself. Oh and if you haven't already got one, get your new headlining from Retro Retrims, they're superb quality and half the price of Newton Commercial's!

G.D

Edited by GottaDesigner, 19 August 2009 - 06:02 PM.

[golly]

thanks for the help and leading me towards retro retrims. I've tried to contact them via their website but havn't had a response and looks like I've have to buy elsewhere.... shame I cant get a phone number for them!

[Hekmat]

If you contact them through eBay, they tend to respond better.

[Shylos]

Or try sending a PM to bert998 on here - he is Retro Retrims

[Surfbluegarage]

i fitted mine in a day with me mum haha good old mums haha good tip i found is if you have an old door seal lying around or a reeeallly old type seal where its just the C shape that clamps around the metal... chop that up into about 2-3 inch long piece and tap them onto the stretched headlingin to hold them in place while you move around the headlining..

[Sherlock]

Can you give me any advise on fitting a new roof lining into my '97mpi mini. How easy is it to do?

cheers guys

Don't want to put you off doing the job, but I removed an engine, changed the cylinder block, re-fitted it & had it running, on my own, in less time than it took two of us to fit a headlining, that job nearly ended my association with Minis forever. Why they never kept the Mk1/2 headlining which could be fitted in 2 minutes, I'll never know. I should add a bottle of whisky & some valium to GottaDesigners list! I really would like to know what you think when you've done it.

Edited by Sherlock, 07 September 2009 - 12:59 AM.

[Hekmat]

I started doing mine today, it does not seem that bad. Abit of running around and trying to get things line up. I got myself a bag of clips from B&Q (8 clips), found it very usefull you just clip the front and back (2 for each) and start glueing and sticking one side by the side window and then the other side. Then do the same for the doors, make sure you stretch the matterial the same amount and use the clips to hold them in place.

[Brams96]

Hekmat - What kind of clips are you using? I'm about to start mine so need to get something to help

[Hekmat]

The ones that I get are these (link). I used the big ones for the front and back and the smaller ones for the sides.

Edited by Hekmat, 20 September 2009 - 10:06 PM.

[Minigirlracer]

At the moment I have the headlining in place (got laptop in garage lol) - is there any specific ways the bars have to go or is it just push them back up into the roof and then add loads of adhiesive? I have them all in the correct coloured order. Its really loose and looks awful atm

Edited by Minigirlracer, 18 October 2009 - 11:00 AM.

[Ayotteted]

Have a hair dryer handy ...... It helps get out wrinkles and sags

[tiger99]

The headlining is one of the few jobs that I have never done on a Mini, and frankly it scares me. I would rather do the dreaded clutch and brake clevis pins, and I am rather large, with big hands.

 

I expect to have to face up to my fears one day....

 

GottaDesigner, thanks for that comprehensive and useful description of the task, which makes perfect sense.

[invisible_kid]

I plan to spray paint mine. Much easier lol

[Smudg101]

Ive just done my headlining, completely from scratch, i got a roll of black vinal from the market for £15, took the old one out measured it all up, got the old sewing machine out and made the sleaves for the bars.

That was the easy bit; i hired my mate (a carpet fitter) to help with the installation, we found that we couldnt get the bars to remain in the upright position once we pulled it tight, so i had to make a clip that held the bars to the top of the roof.

I took the advice from Hekmat and purchased a big old bag of strong clips, and the old window rubber seals to hold the material in place while we adjusted the lining into place,

Once it was all in situe, starting from the front, applied the contact adhesive and allowed it to set fully before moving rearwads to the next window.

Its now all in, and looks sweet! ive also used the excess material to cover my door cards and rear cards. im very happpy with the outcome, however glad that i did a good job first time round, as i will never have to do it again, thank god!
i wish anyone trying this the best of luck, and remember that it will all be worth it once your done, never give up hope, stay strong to your passion, dont loose sight of your end goal, curse and take regular breaks, you will get throught it.

best of luck!