Replacing Headiner in a Mainship 400

[garmstro55]

NewTrawlerOwner: I made an attempt yesterday to put the vinyl back up in the ceiling. I got very frustrated. I did use a rounded off putty knife and soapy water, but for whatever reason I could not get the material to go into the slot in the center channels. It seems to go into the perimeter channels fairly easily but I can't get it into the center channels without tearing/peircing the fabric with the putty knife. Did you encounter that problem and how did you deal with it?

[keith c]

I had the same problem with the vinyl walls of my stateroom on the MS 34. I applied two coats of a vinyl paint used to paint vinyl/leather furniture etc and had good results. Had my doubts after the first application but the second application did the trick both in color and evening out the surface.

[Newtrawlerowner]

Originally Posted by garmstro55

NewTrawlerOwner: I made an attempt yesterday to put the vinyl back up in the ceiling. I got very frustrated. I did use a rounded off putty knife and soapy water, but for whatever reason I could not get the material to go into the slot in the center channels. It seems to go into the perimeter channels fairly easily but I can't get it into the center channels without tearing/piercing the fabric with the putty knife. Did you encounter that problem and how did you deal with it?

Try 3 things.

1st take your putty knife and insert in the channel and push the knife to the end. This removes any material that may still be in the channel.
Then with the putty knife in the channel pry it back and forth opening the channel. Because its plastic it will snap back but doing this seemed to make starting the vinyl easier for me.
The last thing is to push the material in using the corner of the knife and roll the blade to push continue pushing it in.
Also be gentle with the initial effort. The middle tracks are much stiffer and harder to get started.


I also sprayed the soapy water on the empty track, the back and smooth sides of the vinyl.
I hope this helps.

[sammy999]

Garmstro55, on my 2007 MS 34' Pilot, I had to lower part of the headliner in order to remove the radar. I read all of the posts and decided to purchase the special tool that looks like a rounded dough/pizza cutter. I was surprised at the heft of this thing when I received it. When re-inserting the headliner into the channels, I had to almost put my full weight behind the tool when pushing upwards. I wondered to my self how a putty knife would have worked given the stress I put on it. The blade of the tool is definitely wider than a putty knife but it did the job without ripping the material. I think the model and name of the tool is buried in the previous posts and it did cost about $75. To me and my limited patience/ mechanical skill it was worth it. I left a tiny amount of fabric in a corner showing so as easy to grab with a pliers in case I need to remove the headliner again. The tool is on the boat at Chesapeake, VA. We will be back to the boat around May 1st and you are welcome to borrow it if you need it. Good Luck!

[SILENTKNIGHT]

can you tell me what type of vinyl paint you purchased? how did you match the color?
My stateroom walls seem to be peeling. Did you just roll it on.