Cabin headliner repairs

[Lady Ann]

What is the best way to fill in old holes and screw holes in the headliner? Is there a good off the shelf filler?
I just want to clean up the look after all the holes left from the previous owners. There is one 2 inch puncture wound but the rest are just screw holes.
Much appreciated,
Jason

[PeteW]

I filled all my screw holes with that  2 part epoxy fiberglass repair kit. The 2" hole can be repaired with stiffened epoxy as well. Or you can make a teak cover plate to hide it.  My headliner was a real mess. So I had ACE hardware mix up a quart of  flat finish exterior house paint in a color to match. If you can get a sample they can scan it.  Masked it all off and painted it with a brush. Years later it still looks great.

[Randy]

Bondo is fine for small repairs like that. Easy to work with and sand. You can buy a small can at Home Depot. Or you can go to West Marine and buy some special boat filler and pay four times as much. Just be sure to tape off area around the hole. You can find paint to match pretty close. Nobody will know but you
Randy

[Dale Tanski]

Or.... you could use genuine gel coat which is what the surface is made of that you are trying to fix. 

The Evercoat company make a thickened gel coat that has the consistency of mayonnaise right out of the can.  If you add some of their colorant and mix it to match your existing inner liner color, once applied you may not be able to tell at all.   

Like Randy, I would also recommend taping off the surrounding area to minimize the area that is effected.  Once the area is clean using acetone or alcohol, dab on a small amount of gel coat on to fill the hole. Apply a small piece of wax paper to cover the filler and hold it in place by a piece of masking tape.  The wax paper does two things.  It allows you to smooth, "tool" the patch with your finger with out making a mess and because gel coat has a sticky surface when it hardens when exposed to air, the wax paper seals the surface leaving the gel coat non sticky and as smooth as the surface of the wax paper after it hardens.

If the repair is still not as perfect as you would like it once it has hardened and you remove the wax paper, gel coat sands as easy as bondo but can be buffed to any level of gloss you would like to match the surrounding area.

Gel coat repair is not as difficult as one would think.  You apply it, seal it from the air with wax paper or perhaps plastic kitchen wrap.  If it is not perfect, add more or simply sand the repaired area until smooth and the buff to blend.

Good to go!
Dale Tanski

[Lady Ann]

Awesome, thanks for the tips everyone. Heading out in the morning to get this fixed up.

Jason