Formula 330SS Headliner Refurbishment

[tpenfield]

Once in a while questions come up about the cabin headliner in the Sun Sport models. As the boat ages, it seems that gravity takes its course and the headliner can come loose or the material starts to sag. My 1996 F-330 is approaching 20 years of age and the headliner fabric is starting to come down . . . mostly in the rear portion of the cabin.

So, the other day, I took the headliner down and plan to refurbish it and put it all back together.

Here are a few photos from the 'project' . . .

Starting point, the headliner in the cabin:

The center section is 1/4" plywood, covered with headliner cloth. The side sections are glued to the ceiling (underside of deck).

The side sections in my boat were in decent shape, so my focus is just on the center section. It is screwed into the ceiling at 3 locations under the overhead lights, and also held up by the fascia boat at the bow and 'trapped' by the restroom and cabinet at the rear of the cabin

Along the cabin hatch, the trim holds the headliner up as well

I needed to cut the wiring to the lights as they are hard wired and not on connectors (at least on my boat). I plan to add connectors upon re-assembly. The larger screws under the lights hold up the headliner section (at least they should)

Getting the headliner to come out from the rear portion is a bit tricky, but I was able to bend it a bit and get it to relieve from the restroom side. . . then pull it out from the cabinet side (not easy though)

The cloth material had separated from the foam backing, mostly due to the deterioration of the foam.

Upon inspection of the headliner, I could see that it is made of 2 pieces of 1/4" plywood, bonded together by a 1/2" thick section of plywood. My plan for re-assembly is to separate these 2 pieces and put the rear section in first, then do the longer section. I will probably need a couple of screws to attach the 2 pieces, which will show, but probably worth the ease of re-installing it as 2 pieces.

I have been searching for replacement headliner material to match the existing. Not sure exactly what it is, but it looks to be a fairly common headliner material. Formula probably still sells it, but my Internet searches have revealed that it is pricey (about 5X over other sources). So, I have ordered a color sample from a headliner supplier to see if I can find a match.

Any one know what Formula uses as their cloth headliner ??? I know their vinyl materials are Nautolex, but I am not sure about the cloth materials.

It probably will be a couple of weeks until I get the samples, order material, etc.. . I'll post updates then.

 

[tpenfield]

I ran the cabling for a windlass while the headliner was down. 2 runs of 4 GA cable up the port side and along the cabin ceiling, plus a triplex 12 GA wire from the bow to the helm.

It was a bit difficult running the cable down the port side. Fortunately, I tied some line to the first cable, so pulling the second cable was not too bad,

Currently, I am waiting on the headliner sample sheet so that I can order new material.

 

[Formula Tenn]

i despised that cloth material you are removing, went with a vinyl instead. too difficult to clean IMO. Formula uses a product called Morbern i believe, check here at: http://www.garysupholstery.com/morbern.html
anxious to see how it turns out, i agree with the reasoning of simplifying the installation too, sometimes it just makes sense. i did the same with my project and since i made the decisions, i am happy to live with it!

 

[tpenfield]

Another Update . . .

I should have the headliner material early this week. so, next week I plan on applying the new material and installing the healiner. this past weekend, I did some prep work on the headliner board.

I put connectors on the lights and associated wiring so I can easily install them once the headliner is in place.

The old material was stripped off the board, revealing some mold underneath . . .

I separated the headliner at the seam as planned.

Here is the rear section that will go between the head and the cabinet at the entry to the cabin.

Here are the (now 2) boards all cleaned up with bleach, ready for the new material.

There will be a seam where the 2 pieces join and a couple of fasteners to hold the pieces together. I am hoping this method of installation will be a whole lot easier than dealing with the headliner as a single piece.

 

[tpenfield]

The material arrived today,. . . so I should be good to finish the headliner off next weekend.

 

[tpenfield]

Update:

I finished off the headliner replacement yesterday. Overall, it was a bit harder to install than I had anticipated, but the job is done. Here are a few pictures . . .

Cutting the material to size for each section of the headliner ( I split the 1 large piece into 2 sections for easier installation)

Then it was a matter of applyng the spray adhesive to both the headliner board and the fabric backing

I cut the adhered fabric to shape and added slits for the curves and corners for stapling on the back side of the board.

Here is the rear section all done

Here is the forward section . . .

Now for installing the sections into the cabin ceiling . . .My plan was to put the rear section in first than then attach the forward section to it. Here is the rear section. Installation was a bit tricky, since it has to be wedged into a space between the cabinet tops and the ceiling.

I used some poles and stuff in the cabin to support the forward section while I fastened it to the ceiling. It has screw locations at each overhead light fixture.

I am hoping the hand prints smooth out. I believe Formula installs the headliner with the deck assembly upside-down, so holding the headliner up in position is not an issue during the factory build, as it is in the after market.

The seam did not look bad at all, so splitting the one large headliner into to two sections was a good thing. the color was not a perfect match, but being the center section does not look bad IMO. I think I will continue to use this new color on any subsequent work in the cabin. I think the back wall fabric will be next . . . but I'm done for now.

 

[GandDFreehold]

Nice job! Looks great!

 

[SplitDecision2?2]

you could always try steaming the vinyl to get any creases or imperfections out. just like leather seats in a car, the steam just tightens everything up

 

[tpenfield]

you could always try steaming the vinyl to get any creases or imperfections out. just like leather seats in a car, the steam just tightens everything up

Yea, I am hoping just a few hot spring days while the boat is still on the hard over the next 2 weeks will have a similar effect to steaming, etc.

 

[tpenfield]

UPDATE:

As I had hoped, the hand prints have come out on their own after a week's time.

 

[tpenfield]

Here is a picture after the hand prints had evened out . . .