In his book on restoring Z cars, Wick Humble makes installing the roof / ceiling liner sound tricky, but not all that hard.  But as he warns, once you've stuck the first bit on, you can't go back.  Now given that if you are just a few degrees out of perfect alignment when you start, you're likely going to be inches out when you get to the other end..  Does anyone have any tips for getting it right the first time, or alternatively any  at-all-costs-avoid-this-mistake warnings?
Many thanks.

I did the headliner in mine a few months back and didn't find it to be very difficult.  I marked the centers of the roof and the headliner as well as the location of the front lip with masking tape so I'd have reference marks to work from.  Then I masked off an 8" strip right down the middle of the headliner and the matching strip in the car and sprayed adhesive.  My wife helped me line up and hold the headliner in place and starting at the middle of the roof, pulled out the wrinkles and pressed everything into place.  I just let the sides hang down and starting with the passenger side, sprayed glue on the headliner and roof and repeated the same process: pull tight and press in place.  Then repeated on the driver side.  I used a panel removal tool to tuck up the edges and followed up with a rolling pin (improvise!) to make sure everything was pressed on tightly.  I was only able to get a couple pictures -- you kinda have to work fast -- but they should give you an idea.  Good luck!

make sure you read up on the glue about how to apply.

Charlie,
Thanks a bunch,  Start in the middle rather than at one end makes sense.  Also the part about enlisting the aid of one's wife!

 

Cheers

50 minutes ago, Richard McDonel said:

 Also the part about enlisting the aid of one's wife!

 

 

 Caution is advised here.

OK spill it... What happened? 

 I wish I could remember one classic example. Sorry to disappoint you. After thirty five years of marriage we've learned that participating in the others potentially frustrating project, and having differing opinions how it should be done, is not a good example of Peace on Earth.

Naaa. No disappointment. I understand completely.

My time married is less than yours, but it's a lesson that doesn't take thirty-five years to learn.  

Before I got married i was terrified of women.  After I got married I realized my fears were justified.

 

:-)

In defense of wives, I'll share this story - 

She drives a 2013 Fiat 500, which had warped rotors. I started on the passenger side, and on the caliper there is what looked like a retaining spring for the outboard pad, but the spring didn't actually touch the pad at all. I took it off anyway, thinking it would be easy to reinstall. 

I was wrong. It took at least 20 minutes to put that spring back in, so when I moved to the drivers side, I knew not to take that spring off. The brakes went on just fine until it came time to install the outboard pad. It just wouldn't seat. I couldn't get that pad to sit right. I spent at least an hour trying to compress the caliper more, and generally hating my life. 

The wife came out, and asked how it was going. I told her, and she stuck her head under the wheel well, where I can't fit, and said "you have to take that metal thing off...it sticks out the other side". Sure enough, the spring isn't a spring at all - it locates the pad. Genius design. At any rate, spring off, pad in, and 20 minutes of putting the spring in. 

So wives CAN help, especially if you are an idiot. 

started to miss fire, then could not get to start, was sure I had a pressure issue, started checking everything, then she comes out "does it have any gas in the tank"....

Nuff said.