| Author | Message | ||
     Scott Corder Moderator Username: Scott_corder Post Number: 19 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: N/A |
Reharding headliner fabric: I seem to have located the original source of headliner fabric for the boat. Here's the info I have: Foss Manufacturing Company makes fabrics for automotive, RV and marine uses. They have locations in New Hampshire, California, Georgia and Indiana. They also have locations in Europe and Australia. I spoke with a sales rep in Elkhart Indiana - where a vast majority of the RVs in America are manufactured. The sales Rep I spoke with in Spring of 2005 is Patti Cripe. Her contact info is 574-262-0121, 800-323-3130, cell is 574-903-0397. As of January 2006, I have not spoken with her in about ten months. Patti was familiar with S2 and Tiara and seemed to think they still supplied fabric to Tiara. She sent me several samples based on her experience with the S2 Tiara factory. Spectropile LX seems to be used on dashboard covers and other automotive uses. It comes in many colors, but none seem as light as what the factory installed in the boats. The second sample set was labeled "Motorhome and RV Fabric" and showed four subtly different textures. This appears to be the most similar to the factory fabric. It comes in a variety of neutral colors and can be delivered in custom colors and widths. The third set of samples she sent me was labeled "Hull Liner/Headliner Marine Fabric". This fabric comes in two different forms: stretchable and non-stretchable. Patti indicated that we would want the stratchable kind given our need to conform to rounded and molded surfaces. This line of fabrics comes in 72 and 144 inch widths - - on up to 50 linear yard rolls. Patti indicated that ordering less than a full roll is not typical practice for them, but because she held S2 and Tiara in high esteem, she could find a way to make exceptions for people like us. I don't have pricing in hand, but I dont recall it being outrageously different that buying high-quality fabric from a store. As for my plans for my boat's interior: I share your reluctance to tackle the removal of nearly all the hardware on the deck. However, when I do get around to this project, it is my plan to re-finish all the interior woodwork while all the fabric is out of the boat. That should greatly expedite that work - and provide a great result once all the new fabric and headliner has been replaced. As mentioned in my other note about interior fabric, I am pretty confident that I will have an automotive interior specialist do the headliner installation. |
