[s-cars] Re; Headliner repair

[Kevin Barnett]

Hi Tom and all:

Nope.  No chance that I would try to R&R the window muself.  Not in my skill set.

Turns out, its easy / peasy to take front seats out....  pleanty of manuvering room there.

An s-lister has a headliner out of his car, and looks like we can work something out to get that headliner recovered, and thet do the switcharoo in my garage so that I will not loose use of my car....  Thanks J-man....

Thanks all for sharing.




________________________________
From: Tom Green <trgreen at comcast.net>
To: Scarlist <s-car-list at audifans.com>; Kevin Barnett <bluevr6 at yahoo.com>
Cc: mike claire <mike.claire at gmail.com>
Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 11:21:15 AM
Subject: Re;[s-cars] Headliner repair


Well then, now that we have all the contract terms, Let's retract that "good
deal" comment and insert a "no deal" recommendation, Kevin.  I don't 
think this is a DIY job.  Before you take this on, I recommend you go to a 
salvage yard that will let you practice on a vehicle that has no interior 
parts of value, but is essentially all there.  I see lots of trashed A6 and 
100 models that would fit this requirement go to the crusher.  If you do so
good, maybe buy that board to install and cut down the OOC time and 
concern about your board.  Then $150 is too much to just torch off the 
old foam, spray with adhesive and lay on new material.  

I had an identical headliner done in Knoxville about 8 years ago for $125.
I approved the material choice when scheduling the job.  The owners two
adult kids did the job along with a Cadillac at the same time - finished both
in the same afternoon with professional results.  I offered some tips on how
the Audi was put together, but they said "not necessary, we do over 100 of
these a year on every make of car".  I tipped them $20 each when I picked 
up the car since the closest estimate I had over the phone was $400, but 
"I can't get to it now".  They  said it was just a routine everyday job - no big 
deal at all. 

Oh, I forgot that you can't get here from Ashville since I-40 is closed for 
several months because of the rockslide. : - (

I was told this was a common malady of southern cars due to heat and
humidity, and happened  to fairly new cars with sunroofs at that time.

That is the kind of shop you want - one that specializes in headliners.
There are good local shops that do a great job on convertible tops, 
and shops that do total custom interiors and another does mostly 
custom Katskin seat coverings, but they would all farm out a head-
liner job or just not take it in.  And, I would not let this headliner shop
touch anything else.

There is some suede headliner material available that is supposed to be
high quality that is not expensive - $10/yd for regular material and $15
something for the suede.  : - )   The Alcantara and Ultrasuede upholstery
material for seats is over $100/yd.  You might as well trick things out while 
doing it.
http://www.miamicorp.com

Mike, most upholstery suppliers have both backed and unbacked 
versions of the same material to eliminate the puffy look on door panels
and trim where a hard finish is best.



Tom