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MG MGA - John Progress: Coupe Headliner Bow Instalation

Mr. Progress
I am about to change my headliner and need some advise. The bows supporting the headliner are held in place against the roof frame by what method. Are they screwed in place.....bolted...riveted ???????
Gordon
Gordon Harrison

They are attached by small phillips pan head sheet metal screws 1/2" long. There are two per bow and you should be able to see the old location holes in the sheet metal of the car. Sorry I could not find a picture! Hope this helps and have a good day!

John
John Progess

John
When I took out the old headliner, I carefully kept all of the pieces and attachments. I have the screws that were there but I was not sure if that what they were for. A small note is that I notice on my old headliner that it only has a crease for the rear window fold. There does not appear to be a crease for the frt windshield. As a bonus step I wlll fold the liner over the front window lip. BTW, what did you use for the padding on the inside of the roof and did you make it a larger piece than the origional. Thanks Gordon
Gordon Harrison

When I replaced my headliner I reused the rather thin padding. if I had my time over again I would use heavier sound absorbent material. The coupe can develop a resonant sound 'drumming' at high speed and better insulation will only help.
J H Cole

Gordon,
If I had it to do over I would use something like Dynamat. That is what I am going to use on the Healey. Have a good day!

John
John Progess

While we're one the subject of bows, I seem to recall that I had three bows but can only find two. Am I seraching for a phantom bow or are there only two used in the ceiling?

Thanks for your help,

Randy Myers
Randy Myers

Randy, there are three headliner bows.
G Goeppner

Randy,
When I did my coupe for some reason I made a full scale tracing of the bows so if you cannot find yours I can get a copy for you. Have a good day!

John
John Progess

I was afraid to use dynamat type material for fear of trapping heat in the car. I used batting much like what is in a pillow or bed comforter. This is the material used by a local custom shop who does headliners. In my car the installer only used one screw on each side of the rear bow. There was only one hole drilled for the rear bow on each side from the factory. Not sure if this provided some movement required or just a fluke in my car, but the headliner came out great.
David Terhune

My coupe has two screws per bow with two holes in the body. The headliner from SF only had 6 attachment screws? Are the bows supposed to move slightly or are they held firmly in place. One screw each side ...they will move. Two screws each side they will not move. Which is it? Gordon
Gordon Harrison

Gordon

The Service Parts List shows a total of 8 screws, two each side for the centre 'listing rod' and one each side for the front and rear rods. I expect the front and rear rods should be able to move a bit when pulling the headliner tight at the windshield and rear glass to take the wrinkles out in the area between the rods.
John DeWolf

My coupe has two holes on each end of all three bows with corresponding holes in the car. I thought it was an original installation when I took it apart.
R J Brown

Okay, despite what the Parts Manual shows, two screws each side of each rod is probably correct.

The Parts Manual 1600 supplement also shows total 8 screws, but the Shop Manual Section S.16 says "Extract the two screws from each side of the three head liner lists"

I removed the window surrounds on mine and by feel it seems that I did use two screws at each location.
John DeWolf

Two screws in the middle bow sounds OK and I understand the logic of one screw (each side)for the front and back bows. That way they act as a pivot point when pulling the liner tight. I will try that method and if it does not seem to be working I will add the additional screws. Gordon
Gordon Harrison

This thread was discussed between 25/06/2008 and 07/07/2008

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