Hi, The headlining in the back of our van is a bit battered and could do with replacing. It's a Devon pop top so it's mainly just the bit the bunks fix on to and a little bit at the front and back. Pics below show the but I mean. Was wondering what material people would recommend, and is there anywhere that might sell it already cut to size? Not having much luck online as any search for headlining just brings up info on the cab headlining. Thanks in advance
I've not managed to find anywhere which will do an exact match to the star pattern material of early Devons. Mrs D trimmed ours with perforated off white vinyl same as the cab headliner. I don't think there are any suppliers that will supply it cut to exact size/kit form, I was trying to convince Mrs D to start making them but she was never happy with the way ours turned out so she didn't want to make any to sell ....I will try and convince her in the future there are other materials/colours available, have a look at wollies web site
Thanks, think white perforated might be the way to go then. Did Mrs D find it difficult to do? Did you cut a template from the old lining?
I made a template from the old one for Mrs D to sew up as she wouldn't touch the old one as it was so mouldy and dirty! originals are mitre sewn at the front with a rear section glued in place, I thought I'd be smart and make all four corners sewn, but I didn't get the measurements quite right and ended up with a few creases at the rear corners. They are not the easiest of things to make and fit, and will require a few goes to get it right, the front is held in place with a wooden strip that you have to fix to trap the headliner in place, then take it off and refit several times until you get it right! ...but it is doable! have a look through my restoration thread (click link in my signature below) and there will be lots of pics of me fitting mine ...somewhere! probably after page 20
Thanks for the tips. Found it in your restoration thread and it looks pretty fiddly so may be beyond our skill set! Any ideas what would be a reasonable price to get it done properly? Was quoted £540 at the weekend which I thought seemed a bit steep.
was that supply and fit? ....seems very steep to me. Mrs D would probably have sold them for about £120 - £150ish, if I was to fit one I'd probably expect it to take 1-2 days so £100-£200 ish for labour I would have thought would be fair
That's about £12 an hour so not unreasonable for a second job. I know that some of the commissions I've made I've agreed a price and by the time I've finished I find I've been working for £1 or £2 pound an hour.
Expecting someone to do a skilled job for shelf-stacking money is wrong. Volunteering for it is one's own look out.
Go and find a job as a mechanic working for someone, £12 an hour is good money and more than most get, hence I'm self employed
Yes but we're talking self-employed aren't we? A regular job with garaunteed paid hours, holidays and no overheads/accounting etc is completely different.
That's true and in fact I'm getting money for doing something that I want to do anyway. I won't make anything which doesn't interest me and I also please myself about when I do it. I'm not sure that £12 an hour is shelf stacking money but generally it's really tricky to correctly price a one off job without either doing yourself or pricing yourself out of the market.
Thanks @Diddymen. A bit of controversy on a fair price then! Does anyone know where I can buy the little metal clips that fix it to the opening of the roof? The current ones are pretty much pure rust!
There's a lot of people expect hobby prices for a professional job. A badly done headlining ruins a bus - there's no hiding it.
