Alex and Kent,

A description of how I did it is on post 12239.

The hull was pretty smooth but I used a grinder and face-off disk very sparingly to remove a couple of dimples in the deckhead fibreglass. The felt backing obscures the rest of the uneveness such as where the bulheads are fibreglassed in.

I couldn't find felt backed vinyl so made my own. I used polyester fleece material. It is available from fabric shops in various qualities and thicknesses. If you can buy felt backed well done. Suppliers round here only could get foam backed.

I did the gluing in two stages. First I used a heat resistant water based contact adhesive (Seleys Advanced) to glue on the felt. The key thing is that because the felt is porous the glue can be liberally applied by brush to the surface only and the felt stuck to it. The work time is enough to move the felt around to get it smooth and no toxic vapours or clean-up issues. This gives a smooth, clean and cushioned surface for the vinyl to glue on to. The second stage of gluing was to glue the vinyl to the felt. I used 3M spray auto trim adhesive. Also reasonoably easy to use if you do one bit at a time. The adhesive is a major part of the cost.

I did not remove the wood around the windows. I later on replaced the windows and see that there are countersunk screws holding that wood on. You can access them when the windows are removed but not sure if the wood is also held with glue. I used a tucking tool to tuck the vinyl under the edge of the wood. When I glued on the felt I left enough gap to do this but still tricky. It may be better to remove the wooden panels if it can be done without damaging them. Around the top the vinyl tucks behind the curtain track. I used a thin bead of off-white sealant in some places where the vinyl could not be tucked in. The area around the door to the aft cabin is probably the trickiest. I also have a canvas sewing machine so could do the sewed edges needed on some of the vinyl.

There may be an easier way to do it as this method involves gluing twice but I am pleased with the results. I would certianly not reglue up new foam backed vinyl and would not glue uncushioned vinyl directly to the fibreglass. There are other possibilities though such as panels.

John Maramu #91 Popeye


--- In amelyachtowners@..., "Alex" wrote:

John:
What kind of vinyl did you use?
Does it have a cushion backing? If not did you have any trouble with irregularities in the surface of the fiberglass showing through?
Did you remove the boards surrounding the side port lights to install the new material?
What adhesive did you use for the job?

Regards,
Alex
Maramu #94

--- In amelyachtowners@..., "jjjk12s" wrote:

I have put up a couple of pictures of our new vinyl headliner in Popeye's photo folder. It is the same texture as original but off-white.

John, #91 Maramu, Popeye