T1N Factory Headliner or Roof Inner Panels

hulagun

Haulin' A** since 1974
One difference between T1N wagon vans and T1N cargo vans is that there are a pair of 8"-10 long flanges welded in the cargo T1N ceiling. I don't think the passenger wagon vans have these. The flanges are located just to the rear of the headliner (cab section), at the outer corners. These flanges provide additional mounting points for a bulkhead.

To fit passenger wagon headliner panels into my 118" cargo van, I had to trim or remove these flanges. I simply cut through 3 smallish welds per panel, then a cut across, using a Dremel abrasive cutting wheel and a conventional metal hack saw. Took all of 5-10 minutes per flange.

Apparently OEM headliner panels need to be installed in a certain order. I learned that the cab area headliner section has to be fitted AFTER the one just aft of it... NOT before.

Also the long gray plastic covers that hide the shoulder belt retractor mechanism are trimmed slightly differently for cargo vans vs passenger vans. These are fairly fragile and tricky to reinstall properly. The shoulder belt mechanism must be perfectly aligned. If not, you risk cracking or breaking the plastic cover panel. It may require two people or clever use of rubber bands and masking tape to hold the pieces in alignment. I damaged both mine reinstalling them by myself, so I intend to order new ones from a wagon. When I get those, I'll post photos of what to watch for.
 
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hulagun

Haulin' A** since 1974
Had my vans headliner out to run some audio wiring, so I decided to try and abate some road noise. Road noise is a huge problem in cargo vans. It seemed worthwhile to try to reduce sound coming through or resonating off the roof. Some folks will question the need for roof sound damping, since 90% of the road noise inside our vans probably comes from the floors,, windows and doors. But having a quiet van when I'm parked somewhere noisy (like at a race track or in a rain storm) seems like a good idea too.

I was advised by an acquaintance (an acoustical engineer at Tesla Motors) that there is not much added benefit in covering entire flat panels with sound damping HDP mat (like Dynamat, etc). He recommended simply applying a good sized square in the middle of each panel. This cuts down resonant "drum" noise quite a lot. I figured it was worth spend $50 to find out. I bought 6 sq. ft. of a product called ThermoTec Cool-It Super Sonic Acoustical Mat for around $40. It's a high density 7 mil polyethylene film with an aluminum foil layer, and a high temperature adhesive backing. I figured the adhesive needed to be heat proof to work on a Sprinter ceiling, and the added foil backing would make it more likely not to sag or shift. It can't do much good if it falls down and lays on the headliner.

First I scrubbed the ceiling with denatured alcohol to clean it. Then I applied large rectangles of the mat in the center of the larger flat areas. I didn't have a roller for this but luckily I had a thick plastic squeegee designed for applying vinyl. I was able to really press the acoustic mat in place using the squeegee. It seemed to work, but I strongly recommend using a roller for this to ensure the adhesive really gets a good grip.

I then also taped all 4 edges of each mat with 3M high temp foil tape designed for furnace duct work. I'm hoping the additional tape will help the acoustic mat resist gravity. I'll post some photos showing the installation partially taped.
 

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hulagun

Haulin' A** since 1974
When you get the new ones, please post some pictures of the trouble area.
Good idea. I plan to post here as I work on the OEM headliner panel install I'm doing on my cargo van. It won't be in any particular order and may touch on other related topics (such as sound abatement). And I encourage others to post here if they have relevant information to T1N OEM headliner panels.
 

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