Headliner

[VanSandy]

Well, not really a headliner, I'm putting in a ceiling. A couple of before pictures:





After getting as much glued on fiberglass off as I could I hit it with a coat of heavy flat black enamel paint:



I was going to run a few of these 1x3 strips then attach thin plywood, but my daughter mentioned it looked good with the strips so I decided to go for something I've always wanted to do with my vans. Put in a psuedo Woody roof. Here is where I am so far:



Making a template without a band saw - not recommended! LOL





As of this last weekend, almost ready for varnish:







Not as totally fancy as I'd like since this is building grade Home Depot pine, but good furniture grade lumber ain't cheap. The strips are 8 feet long, and since this is a 108, there is a good bit of roof left at the ends that for now will remain painted metal. I haven't decided whether to leave the ends like that, or make a slightly different wood design, the ends are tricky due to the compound curves. Maybe I'll put up some of the long furry fabric, we'll see how it looks when I'm done with the middle. Maybe an overhead console in the front.

[VanSandy]

This is the general idea of what I'm going for:

[LedZeppvan]

Well, not really a headliner, I'm putting in a ceiling. A couple of before pictures:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38535[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38536[/ATTACH]

After getting as much glued on fiberglass off as I could I hit it with a coat of heavy flat black enamel paint:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38537[/ATTACH]

I was going to run a few of these 1x3 strips then attach thin plywood, but my daughter mentioned it looked good with the strips so I decided to go for something I've always wanted to do with my vans. Put in a psuedo Woody roof. Here is where I am so far:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38538[/ATTACH]

Making a template without a band saw - not recommended! LOL

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38539[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38540[/ATTACH]

As of this last weekend, almost ready for varnish:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38541[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38542[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38543[/ATTACH]

Not as totally fancy as I'd like since this is building grade Home Depot pine, but good furniture grade lumber ain't cheap. The strips are 8 feet long, and since this is a 108, there is a good bit of roof left at the ends that for now will remain painted metal. I haven't decided whether to leave the ends like that, or make a slightly different wood design, the ends are tricky due to the compound curves. Maybe I'll put up some of the long furry fabric, we'll see how it looks when I'm done with the middle. Maybe an overhead console in the front.

I love it! That daughter of yours has a real eye for design! I absolutely think it looks fantastic. Your going to enjoy that so much. Great job!!

[Vanner68]

I like it. I'm stealing this idea.

[65dream]

That looks nice .how did you attach to the ceiling?

[VanSandy]

That looks nice .how did you attach to the ceiling?

That's the funky and time consuming part. Each of the 8 foot strips is attached with countersunk sheet metal screws into the roof arches. Four per strip. I measured carefully so the screws didn't pop through the roof. Working alone I wedged them up in place with one 2x4 then positioned the other end, wedged in another 2x4 then drilled the holes and set the screws. I measured to see how big my gaps needed to be (would make them a bit smaller next time) and cut some spacers to get things positioned. The end caps or bulkheads will be attached by screwing into the ends of the strips. This is the easy straight portion of the van. The ends taper in and and then curve down, so I gotta do some thinking on those curves.

What I wanted to do and am still working out in my head is to put in wood roof arches parallel to the metal arches but haven't come up with a way to attach them flush. It would have been so much easier to attach wood to wood instead of drilling all those holes for the sheet metal screws. But if I attached wood arches to the bottom of the metal arches, it would lower the ceiling. As it is the wood strips are only 3/4" thick so I'm still as good as a factory headliner total headroom-wise. This van's roof was almost a total goner anyway so I have room to experiment. The thin strips on that real woodie picture are attached on top of the wood arches and are thin. But they are also milled hardwood and those guys put serious money into restoring those things. My buddy is President of one the leading SoCal Woodie clubs so I have seen a bunch of them.

[VanSandy]

I like it. I'm stealing this idea.

Go for it!!

[VanSandy]

Done

Well, the woodwork is done for now on the ceiling, I think it came out pretty good, looks better in person. I was pretty stoked to find all the dome light wiring and switch working. I installed a third one in the "console" thingy in the front of the cab. That piece was just to cover the ugly center bracing that was welded to the ceiling. I figured by adding a light it would make it seem like it had a purpose being there. Now I'm working on the side paneling.

[m1dadio]

Very Nice!

M1D

[LedZeppvan]

Looks great. Nice lighting too. I like how you enclosed the center... looks finished.

[lvjjj]

sure looks a lot better than my cheapo wood paneling ceiling, that's kind of wavy

[BILLS66]

That is so cool ! Bill

[LedZeppvan]

Well, the woodwork is done for now on the ceiling, I think it came out pretty good, looks better in person. I was pretty stoked to find all the dome light wiring and switch working. I installed a third one in the "console" thingy in the front of the cab. That piece was just to cover the ugly center bracing that was welded to the ceiling. I figured by adding a light it would make it seem like it had a purpose being there. Now I'm working on the side paneling.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38652[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38653[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38654[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38655[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38656[/ATTACH]

You got me inspired! I finally put up my dome lights. I am adding a third courtesy light in the lower area in the back,

[VanSandy]

You got me inspired! I finally put up my dome lights. I am adding a third courtesy light in the lower area in the back,

Got it all wired up? My next potential wiring nightmare is getting my wipers working.

[LedZeppvan]

Yes, I got them up no problem. Next adding a lower courtesy light. Its an old nickle plated /glass light form an old Nash I think? I already ran the wire for it. But it will be going into the same panel as some speakers. I will need to wait because next I need to add the NOS antenna for the radio... I have been afraid to drill holes in my van! But I bought a new 1" bit today... so in the next little while I will be adding that beautiful antenna! It was the very first item I purchased after buying the van. Funny it's one of the last pieces to go on the van.