Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Does anyone have any experience of removing a headliner from a 400 series (R8) saloon?

Mainly how do you get it out from inside the car?

I've read the article in the Viking which is really helpful but it was on a 200 series (R8) so it came out through the tailgate.

A local company said if they did it they would probably take out the rear screen, I'm not sure I want to go there really.

Watched an Australian guy on You Tube just manipulate it through the front and rear doors, can you do this on the R8 400 saloon.
Just wondering how pliable the roof liner when it's remove from the fixings inside the car and what people's experiences are of removing it from a saloon.
Thanks in advance

I guess taking out the rear seats and one of the front seats out would give more room to manoeuvre. It is quite flexible, but I wouldn’t want to bend it too much.

When I removed mine from the 200 R8, the interior was stripped anyway.

It might be worth doing a search on the Maestro and Montego forum (you don't need to sign up) if you don't get an answer here.

I am sure I have seen some information on there in the past, from Montego owners who have done a headlining change.

I would think that either reclining the front seats flat or removing them completely would allow the shell to be removed through the passenger's side front door.

220 GSi turbo wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:23 pm It might be worth doing a search on the Maestro and Montego forum (you don't need to sign up) if you don't get an answer here.

I am sure I have seen some information on there in the past, from Montego owners who have done a headlining change.

I would think that either reclining the front seats flat or removing them completely would allow the shell to be removed through the passenger's side front door.

Thanks for that lead there was in fact a detailed account about removing it from a Montego
https://maestro.org.uk/forums/forum/tec ... -a-montego

Looks like they removed it through the passenger door with the front seats laid flat , although it might be better to remove the passenger seat in anticipation of making the job easier

Thanks again all for your thoughts

Take the front seats out.

Front seats out and through the front passenger door sounds like a great solution.
Thanks everyone for all your ideas and knowledge

Having done a similar job on R800 saloons, I found that removing the front seats made it much easier. If it's a model with a sun roof, it would often fold at the sun roof aperture but honestly still looked fine when reinstalled

Plodder wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 4:19 pm Does anyone have any experience of removing a headliner from a 400 series (R8) saloon?

Mainly how do you get it out from inside the car?

I've read the article in the Viking which is really helpful but it was on a 200 series (R8) so it came out through the tailgate.

A local company said if they did it they would probably take out the rear screen, I'm not sure I want to go there really.

Watched an Australian guy on You Tube just manipulate it through the front and rear doors, can you do this on the R8 400 saloon.
Just wondering how pliable the roof liner when it's remove from the fixings inside the car and what people's experiences are of removing it from a saloon.
Thanks in advance

Sorry for the late reply. The Rover repair manual tells you to take the back seat out (just the back rest) and the headlining shell will come out through the boot.

Under time pressure at the NEC, someone mentioned you can contort it through an open rear door (I chose the near side) without removing any seats. Bear in mind the headlining sheet is quite fragile and it will easily bend whilst doing this across the weakest part, which seems to be across the sunroof aperture because the material itself is only about 4-5 inches on both sides. Tends to crease right across towards the long edge of the aperture closest to the interior light cut-out.

If it only bends a couple of times then it'll straighten flat out back to normal and with fresh headlining material on you won't see it at all, but there's a weakness there that may cause further bending if you are continually manhandling it. It will break eventually, starting to split at the edges first.

Remember to scrape off all the old, failed scrim foam before using spray glue. Also work inside the front grey/black trim edge as it's clogged up in there and if you get even a small amount on the new lining it'll mark it pretty much permanently (bright orange stain). Cleaning the shell properly will also mean the new glue will stick much better.

When we did the one at the NEC, we used Woolies HIGH TEMP spray adhesive (the car roof can get VERY hot, inside and out, in direct sunlight) and we used 2 cans, spraying in one direction first, then over again at 90 degrees which they tell you to do. The adhesive comes out like the spray string you've potentially seen used at a party...

I masked up the front edge trim on the side we were spraying the adhesive, then it was a 2-person job to lift and turn over the new material and place it down onto the shell. Make sure where you're doing it is VERY clean as the headlining will mark easily on the brushed side you see and it's not easy to clean. Put lots of bin bags down if you can't get access to a nice clean floor large enough to work on.

With the headlining down you can let it drop onto the masking on the front edge trim, but then you need to run a knife to trim the front edge of the new material - it needs to not be cut AT the edge of the front trim - a bit longer in the front arc shape. Then you need to separate the headlining material from the masking tape you put on the front edge trim (at it will have stuck) and poke it down underneath the front edge trim so it's flat and the cut edge is inside it. Because you're first running a knife over the front edge to trim it and the knife is then going through onto the masking you've put over the front edge trim, you may want to do a few layers of masking tape to make sure you don't cut into the edge trim when cutting.

You can loosely cut the sunroof aperture leaving a 2-inch margin or whatever you feel like. Cut diagonally into the corners and fold it over onto the back so when you push on the sunroof trim after refitting it won't lift the glued edge. The sunroof trim will take a double thickness of scrim foam easily.

You can also leave about 2 inches at the rear edge and put cuts in the material to allow it to be folded back on the reverse and follow the profile. Then when you're fitting the rear trim it won't lift or push the edge.

Not necessary to do on the interior light cut out or at the long edges unless you want to.

The scrim foam doesn't cut as easily as you'd expect it too, so make sure you've got nice sharp scissors and a sharp knife (scalpel?)

Johnny 216GSi wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 6:47 pm The Rover repair manual tells you to take the back seat out (just the back rest) and the headlining shell will come out through the boot.

Curious. I have an R8 saloon and have had reason to remove the rear seat completely. I'm wondering how the headlining shell gets past the "X" shaped bracing strut behind the rear seat back that goes from one side of the boot space to the other just in front of the rear suspension towers. The bracing strut is welded in place and only has about a 3ft wide and 18" deep "V" at the widest point of the "X". I would have thought trying to get the headlining shell through that gap would be exceptionally difficult, especially without damaging it.

Well, it's there in black and white in the repair manual.

The V-shape bracing obviously gives rise to a wider aperture right at the top if I'm remembering which way round the sloping V bracing goes. I assume they believe this is wide enough. I suppose they may be neglecting to mention a rubbing and bending issue, but this would be across its width not length, so it'll probably survive. Perhaps tape a cloth around the sharp bracing edges to stop them digging in and doing damage?

John made the point that during manufacture the headlining shell would have been swung in through the front windscreen aperture and front glass fitting would have been one of the last production stages. So if you fancy getting the A-pillar trim off and getting a glass tech. to cut the window out, there's another option.

When we did the one at the NEC, I did take the headrests off the front seats to allow a bit more contortion. Other people's suggestions of taking the front seats out may be an even better option and would mean you've tackled the seized seat bolts too, which you can copper grease when you refit them. But I did definitely get it out through the near side rear passenger door, and I got it back in that way too. A couple of bends in the shell in the location I previously mentioned, but it easily survived that.