New Courtesy Lights & Headlining Renewal

Thought I'd install some supplementary courtesy lights, as I'm slowly converting the 110 into a day-camper... having sound proofed and insulated the tub, tranny and bulkhead I figure roof could do with the same treatment. Here's how I did it - if you've found better ways to do stuff I'd really appreciate a comment.

Lights are 25 SMD-LEDs kicking out 3watt (200 lumens equivalent to a 40watt halogen) Ebay Link

First, removed all the white fir-trees (AFU1900) with nose pliers, they look like this:



After some wiggling of plastic trim, I took all the headlining sections inside, removed the staples from the current material, and prise away the covering leaving behind the pressed felt sections:



Have to be careful as there can be some water damage in places:



I approximately positioned my new courtesy lights:



I made a template using some scrap paper the bank manager was kind enough to send me (I left around 1"x1" around the fir-tree holes as there are large stand-off on the roof which get in the way):



I marked out the hole on one side, then flipped the template and marked again - at least they'd be roughly symmetrical:



Try not to hit the dog in the face when maneuvering the headlining to cut the holes:





At this point I checked the lights work with a car battery charger:





Open up the panel tabs a little, and check the fit:





I finished the holes using a bit of parcel tape (didn't want to use anything too strong in case it damages the felt), and checked everything fit okay:





I've followed same procedure with rest of headlining, I've used 11.5' x 5' of 10oz hessian (costs around ~£17 from an upholsterer) and coach-fitting spray adhesive to cover the other sections of headlining. There's enough give in the material to bend around all the compound curves without need for messy crimping. I wouldn't use staples on the pressed felt as they just don't stay in!

Alm.

Thanks for this very useful, Im looking forward to see how the hessian works out

defzilla said:

Thanks for this very useful, Im looking forward to see how the hessian works out

Click to expand...

Edit: Some photos of the front and rear-sections having been re-covered in hessian, just the mid-section and the rear close-out (with new lights) to finish. Was thinking that I'd renew the tree-firs as a set is £3.50, and then use Araldite / hot glue to adhere large wooden buttons over the top to give them a heritage finish -just need to find some decent wooden buttons >18mm diam. for cheap:











Any comments and thoughts appreciated.

Hope this helps some people realize that it's actually an easy and cheap mod (£18 material, £15 coach-fitting adhesive, £20 lights, £3.50 new fir-tress) and can save you a good £200-300 (think Laselle-Trim) providing your felt is in decent nick. Anyone know if it's possible to repair damaged felt with say, a glass-fibre repair kit or simply by soaking in epoxy / PVA...?

Alm.

Very smart indeed. I like it

Wow, that turned out awesome!

Another material I considered is pond liner (the textured type) not the shiny type. But damn this looks really cool, it would also work with old hessian bags with printed manufacturer/distributor labels depending on your style choice of course.

defzilla said:

Wow, that turned out awesome!

Another material I considered is pond liner (the textured type) not the shiny type. But damn this looks really cool, it would also work with old hessian bags with printed manufacturer/distributor labels depending on your style choice of course.

Click to expand...

Thanks. It goes on really well with the spray adhesive and it does soak in a bit so good coverage is key. I thought something like potato sacks would give a rural effect, but I didn't fancy the smell of earth in the cab. You can always buy the plain hessian, cut out cargo lettering stencils and spray whatever you want onto it.

Is the pond liner stuff water permeable? Might be worth considering what would happen with condensation, not fun with it dripping on your head as driving.

The other thing I was thinking of using a material that my local upholsterer has that looks something like this: Map material

Alm.

True about the condensation I hadnt thought of that.

That map could look really really great, it would also work as a wrap on top of the roof ..... so many possibilities

An update:

I warmed up my primer, paint and clear lacquer in a warm water bath and masked off the bits I didn't want to paint. Applied etch-primer on the aluminium lights:





Whilst waiting for the paint to dry, I re-covered the rear headling close-out in a tartan print upholstery-grade material the missus picked out.



Painted the lights in Willow Green to match the car, then went back and finished the headlining bit while paint was drying:






Applied clear lacquer, removed masking with sharp thing, and fitted lights to rejuvenated lining:





This is the bit I get a telling off from the sparkies. Wired up the LEDs using choc block and some spare 16awg wire I had knocking around. Taped wire to hold in place for fitting. Plan is to use a standard door courtesy light switch. I use two scotch blocks, jumped power off the rear courtesy light, and used a piggy-back connector to connect -ve to the earth on the door switch. I will be wiring in a SPST earth so that I can switch on/off when camping in the back -but that it way off yet...







Made holes for the studs, and for the rear grab handles, and temporarily fitted:





Final results:











If using the 3W lights, made sure you have some form of curtain/shutters on windows in the back, as everyone can see everything in the back of the car despite my limo-black tints.

Next job is:



Alm.