to remove a head liner panel it appears i must. 1. remove hanging cabinet? 2. remove hanging air unit or interior trim? 3. fan unit or trim? 4. rubber cross slide in trim? 5. alum cross trim? 6. actual head liner panel that i guess is screwed to top frame?. does anyone have any suggestions regarding this process. i have a 91 38ft wide body. thank you. dale

I welcome any comments on head liner removal. someone out there must have knowledge. thank you.

Dale, I'd like to help, but I shudder just thinking about the task you have at hand. I do know the AC cover is merely a 2-knob, 2-screw removal (at least in an '84 Regal).

Hi to all:

The subject is headliner. I am in the process of replacing all headliner in my 1988 Barth Regency 40'. I have just installed the front panel this afternoon.

I am replacing the original felt liner. At first I thought I would tear away the old and scrape the luan panel then glue the new leather with backing to existing panel (while it is in the coach)..... FORGET THAT.
We tore away the old and scrapped the luan and tried to stretch and glue upside down...Didn't work for me. THEREFORE, here is what I have done.

Went to Home Depot/Lowes and purchased 10 sheets of luan...$9.00 a copy. Came home let the awning out...made me a work table large enough for a 4 x 8 panel....Purchased me a good staple gun and 3/8" staples...purchased good 3M spray glue...NOW I AM READY..

Took measurements from all sides. measured for cutout of fantastic fan up front and rhe tv antenna....MEASURED THREE TIMES (CUT ONCE). Took the naked luan (cut board) inside and it fit over the existing one...

Now: Place the cut luan on the table (clean) you have prepared earlier... stretch the backing (NOT FOAM) over luan... pull back one end and spray the adhesive on luan..smooth the backing over glue and now do the other end. Set the luan aside now and lay out your leather/vinyl (smooth finish down) on work table...lay the luan with backing down on the leather/vinyl ...fold one end 3-4" over and staple...go to other end and pull leather/vinyl tight and fold over luan and staple. continue this until it's covered.

Take the covered luan from table enter the MH and install it over the existing panels..you can use a brad 3/4" gun to hold it in place until you are ready to set your buttons(covered) as whats on your sofa. Under each button is a 3/4" wood scres that attaches to the original panel.

WA-LA.....LOOKS GOOD... SAVED ME 2200.00


Resp,

Al Benton
1988 Regency 40' 300T CAT
Villa Rica, Ga
DO NOT REMOVE THE CABINETS (UNLESS YOU WANT TO) BECAUSE THE MOLDING IS GOING TO COVER EVERYTHING.

Al, your the man. I knew someone out there had some answers. Al, my 91 38 regency has fabric with cross plastic stips approx. 1- 1/2" wide with a soft rubber insert I guess to hide the screws. Is yours like that? I don't have buttons. Am I right in saying the bottons hold the leather from sagging? I would think with mine I would need to glue the leather to the pad to keep same from sagging, since I do not have buttons. Thank you for hearing me out, and I welcome your answers. Any pictures close up would be nice too. How thick is the luan you used? You lost approx. 3/8" of head room? Dale

I had to do a little work on my "cross beams" when I put a new light in the bathroom.

I think the buttons mentioned are these:



Can you see that the top of this button is just the male end awaiting a cap like this:



This is actually called a button shell and you can buy them in a number of different sizes, however, the female part which you can not see in this photo snap on the other part with the screw.

Now before you snap it on, you take a small piece of your upholstery and attach it along the inside edge with a glue gun.

And those are you buttons you see here:



These "cross beams" are strategically placed to keep the vinyl from sagging.

Hi Dale.
Yes, mine has the same plastic strip that runs across the seams with a rubber insert to hide the screws.... Krylon has a paint that they use to paint plastic.. I am goint to the paint store in the am and purchase a couple cans to paint the plastic strips..after I put the rubber back in I will cut a small stip that will cover the rubber insert and glue that to the rubber..

Mine dosen't have buttons at present. However, I am going to add the buttons. This will stabilize the new luan and keep it from sagging..along with the plastic seam stip that is original...The buttons I am referring to are the ones dave showed a picture of...in his reply...

There will probably only be about 4 buttons per panel....just some type of pattern that runs along the rib cage...I may use rivits vs screws.

Oh! Yes your correct... I will lose 3/8" of head room. I am 6'3" tall and after putting the new panel up over the existing one I still have a few inches left.

Good Luck and if I can be of assistance, please don't hesitate to call/ask.

Resp,

Al Benton
1988 Regency 40' 300T CAT
Villa RIca, Ga

I FORGOT ONE IMPORTANT FACTOR:::

If you intend to use a drill to make holes for the buttons...or screw anything thru the new vinyl/leather.....ALWAYS USE AN ICEPICK FIRST TO MAKE THE HOLE THRU THE VINYL/LEATHER.... If not you could spin a lot of it around the screw or drill bit and really have a mess...

Al

Now this kind of info sharing is what makes this site so wonderful. WOW what GOOD advise. thank you. DALE

Al, I am really interested to learn whether the material you are using sags any? I know in my street rod the ultra-leather was 3m'd to the fiber board. Am I correct that you are not glueing your material? By the way what is your material? We are going to do ours in a soft wool and then add braces in a FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT pattern. Our entire interior is going to be this theme.With this in mind I am still thinking the material will be glued. Thank you for your help, and would you prefer I e-mail you direct? I still can not get the fixed dining table out. Do you have any ideas? dale

Dale, I am speaking from my very few days of RV salesmanship and seen umteen used rv's with sagging cloth headliners. Are you sure you don't want to use some of the great padded vinyl materials there are out there?

In fact, your whole FLW theme got me think and I found this great site called http://www.westernupholstery.com/

Look at all of the colors

http://www.westernupholstery.com/morbernallante.php

But you know what I realized if I had a 90 something super cool Regency and unlimited expendible income for decorating. I have always liked the western Texas look. You know, like distressed leather.



Of course, I would have to find a place to mount my horns...




How about this look



Think I could fit this sofa into a wide body Barth???




[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited July 22, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited July 22, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited July 22, 2003).]

WOW... That look would work. Looks like you have a someday going to do file. I call mine "Ideas". A stange thing happened today. We have thought all along that our dash leather was a light tan. Well today I lifted out the dash gauge top panel to have a computer match the color. Our headliner is a pinky kind of color as are the walls and carpet. In a day or so when you receive the factory literature I sent you then you will see what I am talking about. Anyway when I stepped out into the sun I realized that the dash is light gray not tan. This was good to see as gray is a lot better color for our FLW theme. The other materials reflected off same and gave me this color trick. We have tested painting the fabric walls and it works great. The airplane interior shop that has given us advise says they have painted fabric with good results often. They even said we could paint the head liner but we are going to replace. Al's info has been a big help, and I am looking forward to hearing how the completed project looks. Maybe even some pictures will show up. Thanks Dave.

I just hung up from talking to a friend that has done several head liners and he says regular contac cement using a cheap spray gun works great, but the material must be glued to the pad or sagging will take place. He has done several high dollar street rods and knows what he speaks. Glue the final material just like the foam or pad is glued to the luan. He likes 1/8" luan. The buttons will hold the luan to the coach top frame work, but will not be enough to keep non glued material from sagging. What are you thoughts on this Al? Dale

3M makes a high temp.headliner adhesive. It's a must....Spray on.

This p[ost is just for the purpose of bringing this thread up to page one, so that interested parties can find it quicker.