Can this headliner zipper be repaired in place?
- Thread starter Leo O'Farrell
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patrick wentworth
Pre-takeoff checklist
zip ties and cover it 
Tom-D
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Your aircraft is nice enough to deserve a new head liner, contact Jack Pardue "Stitch" and have him install a new Airteck head liner. they are cheaper than most repairs. and look a hell of a lot better than some old stitching.
http://www.recovery-shop.com
http://www.recovery-shop.com
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Tom-D
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"Stitch does NICE work....
Does he travel around the country ?
Does he travel around the country ?
Tom-D
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That's Jack.. see his web page.
Tom-D
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patrick wentworth
Pre-takeoff checklist
Leo - also fly an older 172 ('64) that has the original headliner. Once a tear starts in that old vinyl its only going to get worse the more you handle it.
I ran into the same problem during my last annual ... we unzipped the headliner to inspect the aileron cables when we went to close it tore right along the zipper. Aircraft Spruce makes some very reasonably priced wool headliners that I've seen others install at the field. It's on my project list.
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/headliners.php
Stewartb
Final Approach
To the OP... I had the zipper repaired in my old original Cessna headliner without removing it. A local upholstery guy did it. It looked perfect.
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
Just for reference...for a different type of zipper failure than the O.P. has.
My zipper failed at the last annual. The slider was "stuck tight." So, I carefully removed it, bought a couple of packs of these (or something quite similar), lubed the zipper teeth, and installed two zipper slides in lieu of the original one. Works great now and it can be unzipped from either side.
My zipper failed at the last annual. The slider was "stuck tight." So, I carefully removed it, bought a couple of packs of these (or something quite similar), lubed the zipper teeth, and installed two zipper slides in lieu of the original one. Works great now and it can be unzipped from either side.
Stewartb
Final Approach
Re: wool headliners. They're the easiest to install because the wool can be shrunk to take up sags and wrinkles but if you get any condensation or overhead leaking it'll show forever. Spruce contracts with an upholstery shop to produce wool and vinyl headliners. I've bought both. I used the wool one and was sorry I did.
Tom-D
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Your aircraft shouldn't leak, you should have fixed that first.
Stewartb
Final Approach
Condensation has nothing to do with leaking. Anyone who operates in cold temps will get condensation. As for leaks, sometimes they happen. One time is all it takes. Real world experience.
Dan Thomas
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That condensation also causes significant corrosion on the airframe above the headliner, and it can cause weird problems with the alternator cutting out. The moisture gets into the antenna cable connection and ruins the shield ground connection, letting RF escape. That RF then gets into the aircraft's electrical wiring, making little spikes whenever you transmit, and fools the electronic voltage regulator into thinking it has an overvoltage situation. I once spent several days trying to find out why the alternator tripped off at transmit until we saw the little paragraph in the 185 service manual about it.
I think that condensation is worse than rain. It's from the airplane's occupants' breath and probably has acids or salts in it, too.