Removing the vinyl headliner from a Ranger 28

palacegrand · Jan 26, 2011

hsims said:
Hello,

I own a '76 Ranger 28 and would like to access the deck fittings for maintenance purposes. This boat has the original beige vinyl headliner in place. As best I can tell, the headliner consists of a cloth and foam backed vinyl material stretched over a wooden framework. I would like to preserve the original headliner but do not know how to remove it short of destroying it. Have any of you had any experience doing this? If so, what do you advise and what problems might I encounter?

hsims

I had a '75 R28. Same thing, wanted to access hardware. Could access some of it, but eventually had to remove it all. Which was just as well as it was old and the foam was decaying in spots. And I found I had to do some major core repair as well, so lots of drainage/access holes drilled.
I tried to save the headliner, but ended up having to destroy it. The fabric is stapled to the wooden battens overhead, which were also stapled into the coach roof. Definitely not meant to come down. I had great plans for installing new headliner but in the end was quite happy without it. Just cleaned up the fiberglass and painted with a mold inhibiting kitchen/bath latex. Stood up very well.
With the Ranger you should check your core and if re-doing any fittings/gear make sure you do the "drill a larger hole, fill with epoxy and drill through that" trick. I had to redo ALL of my deck fittings to stop interior & core leakage.
Having said all that ..... LOVED my R28! In many ways, wish I hadn't "traded up".

cheers and have fun.

Craig

w4pyleii · Feb 14, 2011

I feel your pain. I picked up a Ranger 28 this fall and have stripped the deck hardware to paint the deck and rebed everything. I actually managed to remove everything without destroying the original liner (was in excellent shape). In a few areas, i took out some trim and pulled enough of the staples to open a gap in the liner i could stick my hand through to get to the hardware backing. Worked ok, but i figured it would be a huge pain to reinstall things this way. Soooo.... i ripped it all out. Kicking myself now, but it will make things easier, let me view the wood core from the inside to check for rot, etc. I have some ideas about how to put in a new liner but i'm not going to worry about that until the boat is sailing again.

If you to pull the liner, have fun with the staples. They go all the way through the wood strips into the fiberglass, much fun to pull out. When i replace the liner i'm going to attempt to section it off so it will come out easy if access is needed in the future. Velcro may be involved...

smack · Feb 28, 2011

Of all my looking on the internet, I find another Ranger 28 on Lake Travis. I also have a 1976 Ranger 28. I have had it on the water one year this month and sailed more than 1300 miles in the last year. Mull said the liner is removable,,,, I doubt if he ever tried it, oh by the way, the keel is removable also. My liner is pretty good shape but does have some rips on the sides where one needed to get to the deck. Some of my genny tracks have slow leaks, but need to get thru the headliner. I might try and start in the v berth to see how it looks when I take it off. I love the boat. We need to share info. I got a couple of Ranger you tube videos. Look under rf4pilot

w4pyleii · Mar 1, 2011

Thanks for the youtube hint. In the v-berth the liner comes off very easily. Stables on the aft end around the bulkhead and around the hatch, and a few at the bow. The sides however are mounted to a strip of plywood running the length of the birth, and once you get the two ends of that lose you can take the whole thing down at once, sort of. The fiberglass work under the liner is actually pretty smooth. I don't think it would be difficult to smooth it over and paint it and make it look good. I've removed my headliner and have considered just painting the inside. I've decided to replace the liner though as i think the extra insulation would be nice.

smack · Mar 1, 2011

I took off the side cloth and scrapped it a little then painted. I need to make new v and qtr berth covers. I did the back pads myself. I wrote about it on face book. There is a face book for Ranger owners at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50748001134
I have some interior shots of my boat. I don't need insulation for Austin, Tx. so, I might try the v berth headliner. What is under the liner besides thru deck fastners? Since I am on a lake I have also taken off my life lines. Less leakage, more room and I don't hurt my shin when I fall overboard when I trip on them. You can see that on the videos. My best investment is the st2000 autohelm. I turn it on just after I back out of the slip and turned off when I return to the slip. Allows me to really enjoy sailing, fixing things while sailing, sitting up front, or just simply messing around with the boat.

w4pyleii · Mar 2, 2011

Under the v-berth liner there will be a few strips of plywood glued and stapled to the deck above. This is what the liner is stapled to. I think there is a lateral strip running across the boat at the very front, one halfway between the front and the hatch, and then all around the hatch there will be wood strips as well. And along the aft bulkhead. Running from the aft bulkhead to the bow bulkhead along the sides are lengths of plywood, about 1ft wide. This keeps the liner from sagging on the sides and is easy to take out. The small wood strips are a pain in the ass. Mine were very dry and brittle and came out in small chunks... took a while with a prybar to get it all out.

smack · Mar 2, 2011

This is the perfect time in Austin to stick my head in the v berth to see what I can do. When summer rolls around, it is too hot to stay in there. I don't stay over night on the boat so I can take my time and sail in between work. I really try not to work anymore than an hour at a time. That way I don't rush and mess it up, plus it cuts into my sailing time. Thanks for the info.

w4pyleii · Mar 2, 2011

Hey no problem! I've only had mine since this past fall, but i've crawled in just about every corner so far. If you ever venture to the sailing anarchy forums i have a thread in the cruising section of my boat rebuilding with pictures and lots of good info from others. Just go there and search for "memo's ranger rebuild" should find it.

smack · Mar 3, 2011

I've been there once when I was looking for engine parts, I'll go look again. Here is also the Ranger sailboat facebook , some good info there and pics. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50748001134

smack · Mar 3, 2011

w4 Send an Email to me. I have the owners manual, how to service etc the winches, engine stuff, even though mine is a atomic 2, but the plumbing is similar and some other stuff. my email magikcarpettravel@austin.rr.com

smack · Mar 3, 2011

Went to your memo's ranger rebuild. Read all 11 pages, very good. First time I have heard of a baby stay on the Ranger. I do have a tang on the front of the mast, but can't remember seeing any where on the fore deck to be mounted. I'll have to check this weekend. Your doing one hell of job. My handle on anarchy is Magik.

w4pyleii · Mar 4, 2011

In your last video when you were up the mast i saw the tang. I'm not sure if mine has that on the mast or not. My boat never had the baby stay on it that i can tell, no holes have been patched in that part of the foredeck. I have a handrail between the mast and the front hatch instead, i think you do as well. From what i can tell the boats with the babystay don't have the rail there. The stay attaches to a fitting on the deck in that area, usually with a purchase for adjustment. Below decks there was a wire running from under the deck at the attachment point, down to the aft wall of the v-berth and anchored there via chainplate. I think some of the interior shots of ranger's on sailing texas shows the interior view of the stay.

I doubt i'll ever add the babystay to my boat. Maybe in big wind and big waves the mast will start pumping and i'll change my mind, but sounds like a pain in the ass to deal with otherwise. I'll shoot you an email, the manual would be awesome!