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Wed May 14, 2014 8:58 pm

So, I eliminated the A/C system including the hoopla at the hatch opening, and now I need to secure the loose flap of the headliner across the top of the hatch. I also have a few little chunks of headliner missing on a pillar here and there - like postage stamp sized. I would like a recommendation on what glue to use to secure these little chunks, and also how to properly secure the larger area across the top of the hatch opening.

I bought some contact cement, but then had second thoughts as to how this holds up in a hot car, etc. I also have 3M surface adhesive spray such as what I've used to glue fabric to foam rubber in the past.

Hoping someone has trod this path before me. Thanks.

DougM

Wed May 14, 2014 10:44 pm

I have had very good luck with the 3m spray adhesive.

Wed May 14, 2014 10:54 pm

I just attached my vinyl headliner over the rear upper bed with the 3M foam fast 74 orange. The spray glue was the best and the orange was recommended by a friend who used it on his vehicles headliner. Did my carpet over the front wheel wells also. I don't have any feedback on the hot weather performance yet.

Thu May 15, 2014 9:20 am

Anybody else? My luck with the 3M spray adhesive in putting little patches in was poor. It came off a month later. Dunno if it was prep, or what.

DougM

Thu May 15, 2014 10:45 am

IdahoDoug wrote: My luck with the 3M spray adhesive in putting little patches in was poor.

Me too, the regular stuff seems fairly useless for these applications. They make one specifically for headliners (http://3mauto.com/products/adhesives-sealants/3m-headliner-fabric-adhesive-38808.html) but I couldn't find it anywhere so I had to use something similar from ProForm.

What seemed to work for me was applying the adhesive to both surfaces and letting it tack up quite a bit before putting them together.

Thu May 15, 2014 11:48 am

FWIW, the instructions say to spray both areas (material and area of application) and let it tack up before sticking it together :wink:
While carpet is not a headliner, nor vinyl, I will be fixing some of the areas that have fallen off of my pillars using this method and a spray adhesive. I haven't done it yet (still in paint mode), so I don't have any direct feedback, yet...

Thu May 15, 2014 7:46 pm

OK, good. Was hoping not to get a round of "I used the 3M adhesive spray and it's great!" comments - heh. So we all suck at it together then.

I will stop at the auto paint shop and also an upholstery shop and get additional feedback. I need to get this done so I can put the interior back in.

DougM

Thu May 15, 2014 8:11 pm

I should have said that the 3m adhesive I am referring to is the grade sold by my local professional paint store, not the stuff I can buy in the hardware store.
sorry, I dont have one to give you the actuall number, but the stuff I have used is bomber.

Thu May 15, 2014 8:21 pm

I haven't done this job for a while and I didn't do it on a vw, but I used the 3m stuff (not the walmart/autozone version) that I got from a true upholstery shop. It was specifically designed for headliners and held up to Florida heat for many many years until I sold the car. The guy who taught me how to do the job said to use new fabric. Many times the old fabric is what fails.

Fri May 16, 2014 3:39 am

Ifit's vinyl , read the contents in the glue, don't use IF it has acetone in it, it will soften the contact surface and will come loose. If it's in your window cleaner it's what turns your tinting purple.

Fri May 23, 2014 4:35 pm

If I can offer an alternative altogether... when I fixed up my '83 Camper's interior, I removed all the vinyl (took forever), got a color match perfectly at Home Depot their best Behr interior paint and then simply painted all the headliner, etc. It turned out beautifully and you never have to worry about that stuff bubbling/peeling away again. Just giving you options!

Fri May 23, 2014 4:58 pm

when working on my glass sunroof in my van I reattached the headliner with 3M contact cement, the one in a paint can that you brush on. That was about a year and a half ago and there is no signs of sagging or any other issues. Maybe it's stronger than the 3M aerosol cans?

Fri May 23, 2014 11:09 pm

Upholstery shop said quality contact cement. So I showed him what I had purchased and he waved over it as good stuff. I glued a half dozen little patches in place, secured some of the lower corner windows, etc and it worked great. Then I sprayed the entire headliner with an SEM color dye. Looks great. I still have to decide what to do at the rear edge over the hatch where the a/c was. Thinking of doing something cool with a bright light for loading or similar, perhaps a few hooks for bungee cord netting to hold light objects, and maybe a power outlet. After I figure that out, I will secure the rear edge with whatever wiring and hardware I affix. Based on the way the contact cement performed so far, I expect success.

DougM

Sat Jun 21, 2014 6:50 pm

...a slight detour, but not much...

(Backstory: we have acquired a second Westy! Price was right--free--the reason sbeing that 1/ its body is in--not awful--but pretty bad shape; 2/ its engine has 300,000K on it, and probably needs some serious work, though it does run; and 3/ its on Gambier Island, from whence it would have to be barged, to get on mainland roads again. So...it's about to become a retired van, just for camping in, and a parts supplier for our daily driver on the mainland.)

1986; same colour as the other van though I think I may try the Rustoleum paint game once I fix it up; most parts pretty interchangeable, at the camper and interior level, so some better parts here will be interchanged with not-so-good parts on the driveable van.)

Anyway, when the top is popped, it becomes obvious that the liner on the underside of the top-bunk board is loose on one corner. I thought at first that I could just glue it back, but it seems to have shrunk slightly since becoming detached.

Has anyone else had, and dealt with, this problem? I'm wondering if heating the liner surface, which is vinyl, might allow it to stretch slightly, so that it will fit when re-glued. I really don't want to replace the whole surface.

Ideas?

Thanks!

Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:23 pm

IdahoDoug wrote: Upholstery shop said quality contact cement. So I showed him what I had purchased and he waved over it as good stuff. I glued a half dozen little patches in place, secured some of the lower corner windows, etc and it worked great. Then I sprayed the entire headliner with an SEM color dye. Looks great. Based on the way the contact cement performed so far, I expect success.

DougM
Doug. I searched, did you post some pictures of the completed vinyl dye job?. Just for reference on the headliner glue, the Loctite headliner adhesive spray works fantastic. If you hold the can far enough from the project it will look like spider-man stringers and it sprays in an amazing controlled pattern. I purchased it from MCM Electronics for $10.25 a can (on sale), if you sign up for their emails and wait till they offer $6.00 shipping. http://electronics.mcmelectronics.com/search?cataf...=0&y=0

Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:34 pm

I will look around - pretty sure I dedicated a thread to it.

Also the contact cement did not work out. By the end of summer, all the little patch pieces had curled away from summer heat. Will be revisiting that. I have plenty of headliner chunks to use as patches.

Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:39 pm

I guess I covered the headliner work in this thread:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=589244&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

It's a long one, but the pictures of the headliner project are on P. 6. There is on picture where you can see the new color vs the old on different sides of a molding. This was easily the most impressive change to the interior from a scruffy headliner to pristine looking. It still looks terrific - no evidence the bleed through is going to affect this coating and no marks on it. Keep in mind this stuff is designed to be tough enough to recolor a vinyl seat and handle that level of abrasion.

Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:55 pm

Thanks Doug, it looks great!

Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:23 am

Doug,
This Stuff is AMAZING!!

Air craft quality, High Temperature..... But...... Liquid, not a spray.
Also NOT cheap!

I used it for my dash recover.......
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...highlight=

Wed Feb 04, 2015 7:26 am

Thumbs up for 3M 1357. We use it on aircraft interiors and I used it on my westy interior vinyl; after I used 5 different kinds of spray adhesive which all failed in the heat. Don`t use anything else.