drooping Milano headliner

[Pottree@domain.elided]

In a message dated 03/18/2002 9:31:55 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:


> hi.  my first posting here... I just bought my first alfa (a red '88
> milano verde) last week.  It has a few minor things which I can take
> care of but there's one major thing I'm not sure how to tackle.  The
> hadliner has dropped(?) and hangs down about 4 inches or so, just low
> enough to be resting on my head when I sit.  It only hangs down in the
> middle - it hasn't pulled from the edges at all.  It looks like the
> center ceiling console may have been removed at one point as the
> headliner doesn't look fully seated around it - could this be the cause
> of the headliner problem?  Were milano headliners glued in with some
> kind of adhesive or were they just stretch-fitted?
> 
The headliner is made of a peculiar stretchy fabric that is amazingly strong; 
I found it almost impossible to cut with sharp scissors!

It droops because it is cemented to a layer of plastic foam insulation which 
itself deteriorates with time.  If you remove the headliner you really will 
need to somehow replace this stuff, and, all the crumbly, dusty bits will 
fall on you and it is probably toxic.

On my ex-75 I had pretty good luck taking off the plastic trim which is 
screwed on all around the headliner on bit at a time, stetting the fabric, 
and reattaching the trim (sometimes I punched holes in the stretched material 
and put the screws through the holes), so that without removing the headliner 
I stretched it tight(er).  It wasn't perfect but it came out quite well and 
kept the drooping material well out of the way.

Charlie
LA, CA, USA

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