Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Has anybody in the Elan community fitted a headlining (roof lining) to a Coupe themselves? if so on a scale of 1 to ten what is the degree of difficulty? would you do it again? or leave it to the pro's?........any tips or comments? remove screens?
I've had a quote of ?228 labour,?75 for headling + VAT from a Lotus specialist any comments?
Thanks for any replys,
Brian

I found this description in the LotusElan.net mailing list archives on escribe.
<a href='http://www.escribe.com/automotive/european/lotuselan/m18154.html' target='_blank'>http://www.escribe.com/automotive/european...lan/m18154.html</a>

I haven't tried this myself but will be doing it in the next couple of months.

The headlining and the various trim pieces go behind the windscreen rubbers. I've been told that you can push the trim behind the rubber but I would think it wouldn't hold as well. This isn't a problem for me since the windows are out but it does sound like your windows are still in (?)

Let us know how it goes.

I have done a headliner replacement on 36/5520 and this was done without either the windscreen and rear window installed. Not hard to do this way. With winscreen and rear window, there are probably not enough 4 letter words to describe it.

Gary

I installed a headliner on my Elan Sprint FHC and it was not hard at all. You do have to remove the front and rear windshields however. That's not so hard either... just be really careful not to break the glass when you set it down. (I found that half of a wooden clothespin is a very usefull tool for removing and reinstalling the rubber trim around the windshields. It's cheap, doesn't scratch anything, and if it breaks you just go into your wife's clothespin bag and get another one.) Good luck!

Gary
'71 Elan Sprint

Brian,
You must remove the front and rear windscreens, the rear interior quarter trims and the door aperture trims. And don't forget the front seats for access.
Good luck!

Mark

Thanks for the replys and yes my screens are still in place, removing and replacing of the glass & and trims is not a problem as I've done this before, its the headlining that I am unsure of, I don't want to end up with ugly creases and or the lining sagging down, what I'm getting at is how the lining is held in place and how difficult this is. The link Jim sent does go into this but more tips or input would be appreciated.
Thanks Brian

I too did my S3 FHC headliner. The only somewhat difficult issue I had was stretching it evenly to avoid wrinkles. It did install w/o any wrinkles. I don't know about the others but I used a bunch of those spring metal paper clamps to hold things in place while the contact cement set up. I don't know why, but the headliner kept pulling away. Contact cement is not supposed to do that. It has been over a year now with no problems at all, still nice a tight and wrinkle free.

Mike G