Headliner and boat tweaks

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mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Headliner and boat tweaks

Post by mike cunningham »

I have noticed a few posts about headliner replacement. Here is a pic of of my just completed replacement. The headliner was out of the boat for about 9 months. A combination of racing, procrastination , foul ups and life getting in the way. But it is finished, finally.

The last time I did this 15 years ago. I used the typical foam backed headliner. Never again. The foam deteriorates and delaminates and the headliner sags. I had some spare foam backed material from the original job stored in my garage. The foam on the stored material also decomposed over the years. Not Good.

I decided to use non backed vinyl material this time around. I also decided to use epoxy as the adhesive. More work, but bulletproof with respect to durability. The key was to spend lots of time making sure all air bubbles were out of the material plywood interface. This takes a lot of effort with a nylon squeege. Then you press with a big piece of ply with weights on top.


I did the press with a 3/4 inch piece of ply, my workout dumbells, some extra floor tile boxes I had laying around and, I kid you not, a new cast iron kitchen sink we bought for a future countertop replacement in out kitchen. Its a nice sink too.

A couple other pics too. While I was doing the headliner I added interior handholds. I went a little crazy , I know, but I really get bashed around at sea and I wanted something to hold on to wherever I went inside the boat.

Also a pic which shows my auxiliary switch panel just fwd of the Nav station. I simply ran out of space at the nav station. I added another set of switches for the Autopilot drive, and all of the lights (tricolor, strobe, deck light, steaming light and anchor light). Since I needed the panel anyway, I left room for the Iridium Go mount, a new instrument I can see from my berth, and a set of four USB ports. This has worked out great. It is the second iteration of the panel. I was not happy with the first one after the round trip to Hawaii. Rev 2 included the USB ports and more room behind the panel for troubleshooting if necessary.

Sorry about photos not being uploaded, apparently there is a restriction on pixel height. I need to figure out how to shrink the height without cropping everything of interest in the photo.
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

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gamayun
Posts: 270
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:14 pm

Re: Headliner and boat tweaks

Post by gamayun »

Hey Mike! I'd love to see these pictures when you have that figured out. I removed the foam-backed headliner last year and still haven't decided what to replace it with. I kinda like the bare look to better access the through bolts, so it may get painted off-white and just call it good. After our recent LongPac, I definitely found out the hard way that I don't have enough handholds in the cabin either. Extra USB outlets and the SSB will be in process soon. We should put a picture book together about all the changes we've done to our Freedoms :D
Kynntana, Freedom 38

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gamayun
Posts: 270
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:14 pm

Re: Headliner and boat tweaks

Post by gamayun »

Since Mike had trouble posting the pics, I've offered to put them on the forum for him. Great job!!
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1.jpg (145.47 KiB) Viewed 4516 times
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2.jpg (110.57 KiB) Viewed 4516 times
Kynntana, Freedom 38

Stephen_H
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 6:35 pm
Location: Port Washington, NY

Re: Headliner and boat tweaks

Post by Stephen_H »

Hey Mike,

I need to tackle replacing the headliner on my recently purchased F30. Do you remember if there were any panels that were particularly difficult to remove? Or tricky spots around the head or hatches? Any advise or experience would be appreciated before I start removing screws.

Thanks,
Stephen
1985 F39 Express (Hull #44)
S/Y OXYGEN
Port Washington, NY

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