Carver Owners Forum

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum. I have a Trojan 440 Express Cruiser (model year 2000) that I purchased in 2012. My wife and I have been all through the Chesapeake, Outer Banks, and the Abacos in her. Fine vessel, a little wet in a rough sea.

With 17 years on her since new we're replacing the seats in the cockpit and have decided to replace the headliner in the saloon. I ripped out the old stuff, bought new vinyl and track, and found it to be harder to replace than it looks. That is perhaps the understatement of the century. I simply don't know the "tricks" to make it work and after ruining a couple of panels and cussing like a sailor, decided I need some help.

Does anyone know of a person in the Southeast that is an expert on replacing this type of headliner? I will either take the boat to them or pay them to come to me (including room and board as needed).

Alternatively, has anyone on this forum successfully replaced their own stretch vinyl headliner in their boat? If so, would you mind sharing the secrets?

Thanks in advance for the help. We love the 440. It's a bunch of fun and we can't find anything close in terms of the saloon size to replace her with.

Best

Mark

I've done a couple of older Trojan Tri Cabins as well as some other brands and the one thing that pops to mind more than anything else is the inside temperature. The hotter it is within reason to be working in, the better the job will turn out. The vinyl will stretch out better the warmer it is. As it cools it will contract a bit and get a little tighter making for a better fit.

If you're going to use staples, use stainless steel ones. If you're using any glues, make sure they are a premium quality that will not bleed through the material. Check the space and look for venting so you get some air movement behind the vinyl in places where the vinyl isn't glued directly to the ceiling. This will help minimize mold growth that you will not know is there once you cover things up.

Welcome we have a great forum here with lots of great folks. I had a trojan f32 before my carver. I know carver had trojan at one time can't remember t h e years right now. I am still a member of trojanboats.net the forum there is also a great resource. Nobody get mad at me but you may also inquire there it's also a very active forum full of info and good people. Just trying to help I sure don't want to steer you away from us here. Best wishes

Hi Larry Renovatio from New York
I’m having a problem with the Carver head liner in both the guest state room and the salon
I’m getting prices from 3000 to 20,000 did you have your headliner done ,
Do you mind me asking about what did it cost you and did you get the name of anybody that might be up north in New York

Larry

I have a '99 530 Voyager. All the headliners in the below decks staterooms are sagging. I know of another here in the San Diego area with the same problem. Is this common to the 530 and does anyone know of a good fix? Chris

In some applications, the vinyl is glued directly to the ceiling, not easy to re-cover. Some ceilings however are made up of sectional removable panels, these are much easier to re-cover. If they're removable panels and you don't see any fasteners, they likely snap in place and removal requires a firm pull. If this is the case, they usually use plastic retainers which you'll probably have to replace before reinstalling the panels. If the headliner is clean and in good shape, you can remove, stretch out and re-glue or staple the headliner in place. Whether you glue or staple will depend on a couple of factors such as the material you're covering, you can't staple fiberglass. Check the couple of tips noted above.

cguild45 wrote:Source of the post I have a '99 530 Voyager. All the headliners in the below decks staterooms are sagging. I know of another here in the San Diego area with the same problem. Is this common to the 530 and does anyone know of a good fix? Chris

We were looking for a 53 Voyager before the 506 fell into our lap. We were going to look at the 98 Voyager in San Diego that is advertised but the pics show that it si quite rough and it needs a lot of headliner work too. The 506 is in goof shape but in time will need a little headliner TLC.