Finishing the Ceiling: Putting in a Volkswagen Headliner

At long last, the day has come! LuLu’s ceiling is finished (sans cozy decor and storage)!

If you haven’t read up on the ceiling thus far, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of cladding the ceiling. Today, we’ll be wrapping it up with our focus on the cab.

This part of the ceiling felt a lot more daunting than the rear did, likely just because of the difference in materials I was working with. I used a vinyl Volkswagen headliner specifically made for my 1973 bus. In my experience, fabric is a lot harder to work with than wood is. I also feel more comfortable working with screw and nail fasteners than I do with glue and adhesives – something about glue just feels so much more permanent!

Because of the curvature of the ceiling, I felt a vinyl headliner was going to be the easiest option. I wouldn’t have to worry about curving wood or finding some other solution to cover up what the wood couldn’t. The headliner also gives a certain separation between car and house, which is nice when you live in a small space.

Insulation

Before I could put the vinyl itself up, I needed to make a choice about insulation and padding. I decided to do a base of reflective insulation like I did in the ceiling of the back. I topped it with an additional jute pad. My goal is that the combination will both reflect the heat from the sun as well as softening any vibrations from the metal of the bows of this Volkswagen headliner against the metal ceiling of the cab. For this, I simply used 3m hi-strength 90 contact adhesive. It worked great in the rear and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! It did require a couple pairs of hands to help put it up, but I’ll admit it was pretty easy.

Front of the Cab

Up next, I had to adhere a small strip of plastic into a space above the windshield. This space actually sites behind the rubber that holds the windshield in. My first attempt and first attempt to rectify that attempt were both failures. I learned three things – one, my windshield is actually set into the van at what appears to be an angle. Two, spray adhesive only has so many applications.

And three, just don’t. But read on to hear what I did and how you can avoid redoing it!

putting in a Volkswagen headliner — Backside view of Volkswagen headliner. See the two white tubes to hold the bows

Using Gorilla Glue and prayers was my solution to get it to adhere correctly. I had to hold it into place with one hand and fish out the rubber with the other, then push back the plastic edging into place. It was a difficult and frustrating task, but it worked and has held beautifully! Note: it is recommended to take the windshield out prior to putting in this type of Volkswagen headliner.

With that set (I absolutely did not want to chance it coming unglued), I came back and began gluing the vinyl to the metal of the cab itself. There are certain anchor points for this type of headliner – the metal above the windshield, where the mirror and visors attach, the crossbeam behind the seats where the overhead light fits, and each side above the door. I started with the metal above the windshield and for this application, I was able to use the spray adhesive. For this, I used the same 3m 90 strength spray adhesive. My first application was the 3m 70 because it specifically lists fabric, but even after the appropriate cure time, it just came unglued and fell down. Once it was sprayed and pressed down, I used binder clips to keep the vinyl in place while it set.

Binder clips are very helpful for this project! If you find yourself doing this or something similar, make sure you pick up a pack of the big ones. I couldn’t have done it without them.

Rear of the Cab

Next, and I needed additional hands for this part, I stretched the headliner back towards the rear of the vehicle. Once it was stretched such that the bows flexed into place, we clipped the side of the headliner to the outside of the van. This helped to keep the stretch in place and visualize what I needed to do next.

To prevent overspray from really messing up my cedar ceiling, I taped it off with paper. I also put down some newspaper over the top of the seats. I’m so thankful I chose to do that because the glue dripped after I sprayed it! I sprayed the metal as well as the back of the vinyl. The directions say to let sit for 2 minutes for proper tackiness of the glue. As a sidenote, if you use 3m brand spray adhesive, the tip is directional which prevents a lot of overspray.

Then, very carefully, I pressed the vinyl into place. After being pressed in place and after a few minutes of drying, I trimmed the excess vinyl, leaving just enough to tuck away. This extra bit was pressed underneath the wood of the rear cladding using a trim tool. I let that cure overnight to prevent shifting when pulling and gluing the sides.

Sides

After all was set and looking good, it was time to glue the sides of the cab. This was surprisingly les daunting than the front or the back. Basically, you just spray the metal with adhesive an press the vinyl into place. Then, you’ll need to cut a bit of the excess off and spray the remaining excess – this part is actually pressed into tabs along the doorways. Take a trim tool or small pry bar and push in the excess vinyl into the groove of the tabs. If you need to open the tabs more, its super easy. Just put the pry bar in there and gently press outward. Once you’ve tucked all the vinyl in, take a rubber mallet and tap the tabs back together to hold the vinyl in place. Repeat on the other side.

The trickiest part of this entire project was the front corners of the headliner. The spaces at either corner of the windshield had so much extra vinyl I didn’t know what to do with it. Before I did anything additional, I decided to see if I could shrink the wrinkles out of the headliner. I used a heat gun to make fast work of this. Unexpectedly, this seemed to have the opposite (or no effect) on the vinyl. I can’t be certain I was doing it right, but it was on to plan B.

A few things to note: if you have existing vinyl along the side panels or will be putting some, you will need to be aware of overlap. It’s important to test where your folds and cuts will be necessary. This will ensure nice looking seams in your Volkswagen headliner.

Try Again

So now is the part where I had to fix my mistake. I still think I should have put the front of the headliner in first, but I’m pretty sure I needed to cut off the plastic. This is simply my experience, but I think had I cut the front off the headliner and glued it first, everything else would’ve fallen into place the same, but I wouldn’t have ended up with excessive fabric in the front corners.

One visor in place, and that’s when I realized it was broken

The way that I rectified my error was by removing the front part of the vinyl. It wasn’t a particularly difficult task. Once that was removed, I simply cut off the plastic. Then, I sprayed the metal above the windshield and stretched it into place. Again, because of my error, I now need to go back and add a little vinyl border above the front window to cover up the part where the vinyl is short. Que sera sera. To finish the corners, simply make sure everything is nice and tucked into the tabs above the doors. Then, follow the fold and continue tucking the vinyl under itself. You’ll then glue this while it is folded.

After the headliner is fully up, you’ll need to cut holes into the vinyl so that you can place the rearview mirror, visors, and ceiling light back into place. As another note – the mirror does not have much clearance so you’ll probably need to cut as much vinyl off as you can! It was quite difficult to get mine put back in.