New ply headlining

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Pearl69

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Going to order a new ply headlining.
Wanted to clear varnish it and wondered , is there any reason to do both sides or just the visible one ? And when doing the visible side is it better/ easier to do it before or after fitting it?
 
Where are you ordering from ??

I think Rackhams do one and they varnish theirs , Some cheaper ones may not come varnished

I made my own and varnished both sides , 2 on back and 3 on the visable side

If you still have your old one i'd try and make your own , easy
 
Plain untreated, sand down with 600 grit and wipe with 3 coats of danish oil. Looks Mint and lasts forever
 
Both sides. It will take on moisture from the untreated side, it only needs to be sealed on the back. Did mine with an AC lacquer and lime-waxed the face after.
 
You can see the original colour of the baltic birch in the link below...I treated mine with Osmo oil before fitting. You would certainly want to do this before fitting into the channels.


http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52779&start=60" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Thanks for the advice guys, got a bit more time to decide as the headliner kit arrived poorly packaged and pretty bashed up by the courier. Had to repackage and it was collected to be returned for inspection. Hoping I recieve a replacement set in good condition soon. :?
 
Plain untreated, sand down with 600 grit and wipe with 3 coats of danish oil. Looks Mint and lasts forever

Back in the early 90's (as was the trend) I wood clad my Kitchen ceiling in pine :oops: I used Danish Oil which I applied with wire wool (of all things). The finish was ace and it lasted until been ripped out about 10 years ago. It seemed to get better with age and the contrast colour within the grain became more pronounced and it darkened. It was "wipe clean" also.
 
3.6 ply will do it, remember that you will have to bow the blighter though, thinner is better... With the nature of the way that ply is made it will bend better in one direction than the other, bear this in mind for sizes etc..
 
Looked at some this morning at local Homebase store. 8x4 sheets, only problem is my old headlining panels are more than 4ft across, would have to be cut with grain the other way. Was thinking of covering it with white perforated material.
 
I did mine with 1.5 Birch ply. Worked very well and easy enough to spring into place, also can be cut with a Stanley knife if you don't have all the gear.

You can buy it in fat sheets of around 1,500 mm x1,500 mm so can go both ways. Not that cheap at around the £20 mark, you'll need 3 but cheaper than the ones on Flea-bay. Sold by Timbmet but others like Lathams do it.

Mine is a panel van and I used plasterboard edgeing to form the gullies for it to sit in. Trim off the mesh part and rivet on. Cut Two or more 100 mm wide strips of card and trim to length so they fit tidy to get width and measure front to back for length and use as a template working from a centre line.
 
A friend of mine bough the thin ply to do his, struggled to fit it because ply is designed to be strong as is cross laminated, so the grain crosses on each ply. However, Bendy ply has the grain running in the same direction, and is very bendy. just thought i'd mention it.
http://www.alsfordtimber.com/sheet-materials/plywood/bendy-plywood.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
magoo said:
You can see the original colour of the baltic birch in the link below...I treated mine with Osmo oil before fitting. You would certainly want to do this before fitting into the channels.


http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52779&start=60" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Followed your lead and used the Osmo in honey...looks great. Did you apply a finishing product to give it a smooth finish as after two coats (maximum that should be applied) it feels rough to the touch. Was thinking of using an oil based clear satin varnish to finish but don't know whether it might react. Guess there's only one way to find out!

Cheers,

Chris.
 
I personally wouldn't use varnish, a Danish oil or similar would do
Varnish could start peeling off after a while especially if u varnish the ply
when it's flat and u bend it to fit it in
 
Mine was sanded down with an industrial sander before I applied the Osmo oil. I only did one coat, but it's a finishing product so I wouldn't add anything over it.
 

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