Made from real naugas?

[driftless]

The upholstered plywood piece under my street my pedestal, in the roof on my aft cabin, was in pretty bad shape. The plywood was completely rotten. The upholstery pretty mold spotted in the foam backing and the staples rusted away to the point where I can really remove them. But the facing material actually looks pretty nice still, only a few minor cracks. I believe I saw reference somewhere that the headliners in my boat were naugahyde. Is that true? Turns out the naugahyde factory is about 15 minutes from my house, in Stoughton Wisconsin, which means I may be able to source a direct replacement from them, if only they take pity on me or find enough novelty in this project to deal with me directly.
So, can anyone verify this vinyl did infact come from the hyde of the nauga beast?
I've already cut and epoxied a replacement plywood piece. But as I'm trying to get rid of staples that are almost just lumpy stains at this point in order to reuse the original headliner I'm wondering if I might not pursue replacement instead. TIA.

 

[Christian Williams]

There are many styles of vinyl coated fabric, heavy, light, textured and so on. Sailrite is a source of many of them, and I'd order some samples for comparison. Naugahyde is just a brand name now, the vast herds of nauga on the Great Plains gone forever.

Yes, the headliner is vinyl-coated fabric.

 

[toddster]

In my early single-digit years, we lived next door to an upholstery shop. I was presented with a pet Nauga of my very own. As far as I recall, it didn’t survive the move to the farm. Pity. We could have bred them.

Unless you are trying to match the surrounding material, I wonder if the vinyl-coated “cushion underlining” material that Sailrite sells might be worth considering? Because it’s ventilated and comes in several neutral-ish colors.

 

[Loren Beach]

The plywood was completely rotten. The upholstery pretty mold spotted in the foam backing and the staples rusted away to the point where I can really remove them. But the facing material actually looks pretty nice still, only a few minor cracks.

I believe that I would first want to find out where moisture would come from to cause all that damage. The area in our aft cabin, under the steering, is bone dry and always has been.
Has your pedestal and guard brace feet been re-bedded??
Also that chrome bronze plate over the rudder head. All of these parts are well known for allowing moisture & sometimes leaks of water into the coring - and thru to the interior - on lots of boats, including Ericson's.

 

[Grizz]

Although the vast herds of Naugas that roamed the Plaines are mostly gone forever, their close relatives 'The Vinyls' live on via several mutations, even though the black disks with grooves that rotated at specific RPM's are creeping toward a similar fate. The more adaptable line of Vinyl remains robust, available in an array of texture, hue, thickness and price point.

Sailrite, as Christian suggests, is a good starting point, with a rainbow of colors available, in both 'plain' and 'foam backed'.

The attachment is an early 'process/progress' picture of the 'down to the studs' rebuild of the main cabin, the main focus being the headliner and the interior grabrails. This particular Vinyl Species is Sailrites Seabrook White Foam Backed Headliner, #105465. This material approximates the OEM system, which had foam glued to the substrate and some specias of Naugas stapled to the stringers that span athwart ship and nailers along the edges. Ericson used approximately 459,231 staples to affix the headliner, each driven in permanantly with pneumatic stapelers, intending to never, ever be removed. Ugh.

5 zippers were added where the OEM had (essentially) 1, the extra 4 providing access to the Deck Organizers and the Cabin top clutches and winches.

The carpenter's adage of 'measure twice, cut once' was expanded to become 'measure 6 times, + one more, then cut (and pray it fits)'. A relatively easily sewn project, once broken down into sections.

Vinyl Lives!

 

[Rocinante33]

Although the vast herds of Naugas that roamed the Plaines are mostly gone forever, their close relatives 'The Vinyls' live on via several mutations, even though the black disks with grooves that rotated at specific RPM's are creeping toward a similar fate. The more adaptable line of Vinyl remains robust, available in an array of texture, hue, thickness and price point.

Sailrite, as Christian suggests, is a good starting point, with a rainbow of colors available, in both 'plain' and 'foam backed'.

The attachment is an early 'process/progress' picture of the 'down to the studs' rebuild of the main cabin, the main focus being the headliner and the interior grabrails. This particular Vinyl Species is Sailrites Seabrook White Foam Backed Headliner, #105465. This material approximates the OEM system, which had foam glued to the substrate and some specias of Naugas stapled to the stringers that span athwart ship and nailers along the edges. Ericson used approximately 459,231 staples to affix the headliner, each driven in permanantly with pneumatic stapelers, intending to never, ever be removed. Ugh.

5 zippers were added where the OEM had (essentially) 1, the extra 4 providing access to the Deck Organizers and the Cabin top clutches and winches.

The carpenter's adage of 'measure twice, cut once' was expanded to become 'measure 6 times, + one more, then cut (and pray it fits)'. A relatively easily sewn project, once broken down into sections.

Vinyl Lives!

Good post, Grizz. It looks great!

By the way, the best way to remove 459,231 staples is with small channel locks with the rounded head, like these, below. Grasp the head of the staple firmly with the small pliers roughly straight out perpendicular from the surface to which affixed. Then, continuing to hold firmly, rotate the pliers on the rounded head. It acts as a lever and extracts said staple. Repeat 459,230 times and, viola!

The rounded head of the tool is the key. Don't try to pull straight out, use the leverage!

Channellock 2 Piece Tongue and Groove Pliers Set - 9.5-Inch, 6.5-Inch | Straight Jaw Groove Joint Pliers | Laser Heat-Treated 90° Teeth| Forged from High Carbon Steel | Patented Reinforcing Edge Minimizes Stress Breakage | Made in USA - Channel Locks

Channellock 2 Piece Tongue and Groove Pliers Set - 9.5-Inch, 6.5-Inch | Straight Jaw Groove Joint Pliers | Laser Heat-Treated 90° Teeth| Forged from High Carbon Steel | Patented Reinforcing Edge Minimizes Stress Breakage | Made in USA - Channel Locks - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[wynkoop]

I always thought Naugas came from Nagatuck CT.

 

[Loren Beach]

I always thought Naugas came from Nagatuck CT.

A search reveals some of the whimsy of the old ad campaign...

Ah yes, the wondrous things you can learn on the Ericson owners' site !

 

[wynkoop]

While it is well known in New York it may not be known other places, the Throgs became extinct when New York used the last remaining herd to build the Throgs Neck Bridge.

 

[Grizz]

The 459,231 staple count was only an estimate and probably conservative. Keith's tool may have worked on some, but certainly not all, as many staples fractured at 1st pull, leaving partial staples and sharp spikes. Because time (at the time, as this project began Pre-Covid) was of the essence and patience was nonexistent, the 'Tool Time' option ("more power!") was selected, an angle grinder with an appropriate wheel danced over the OEM staple lines, arcing and sparking as the offending staples remnants were ground flush.

And...(yes, there's more)...I read 'Trogs' on Wnykoop's reply instead of 'Throgs' and thought "how fitting, I guess this means it's time to play the Trogs' obscure Deep Track of "Maybe the Madman was Right", with volume set to '11'.

On to the day!

 

[driftless]

First off - ya'll are great. In both sound advice and excellent senses of humor this forum never disappoints.

Second - sorry for the typos in the op. I was thumb typing from my phone and that's a mistake. I can't seem to edit my post anymore - I don't know if that's a function of a time limit or it having been replied to?

I believe that I would first want to find out where moisture would come from to cause all that damage. The area in our aft cabin, under the steering, is bone dry and always has been.
Has your pedestal and guard brace feet been re-bedded??
Also that chrome bronze plate over the rudder head. All of these parts are well known for allowing moisture & sometimes leaks of water into the coring - and thru to the interior - on lots of boats, including Ericson's.

Concurrent projects. Always so many concurrent projects. Start one and I create 3 more in the process. Finish one and five more start. I have a few more things that have to happen before the mast goes up and the boat goes back in the water. Then I can chase these leaks. This ceiling panel was just an at-home side project, like the new curtains I still need to finish.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I had not thought to look on Sailrite. I don't think I'll ever match the aged patina of the current original headliner though.
I found that by scrubbing with a stiff bristled dish brush and detergent I was able to get most of the crumbled rust of staples off. There are still nubs inside the foam backing but there's at least room to get new staples in now. Gotta get that count back up over 459,200!

 

[Roger]

For what it's worth, I believe the headliners were Naugahyde, at least on the 80's Ericsons. Well, that's what it was called by J & C anyway, the vendor that supplied & installed it. Also, IIRC the color was "Gun Smoke" or "Gunsmoke". I can't find any info on Gun Smoke Naugahyde (lots of old Westerns pop up though), but perhaps the Naugahyde factory has some info on it. Apparently the naugas were creatures of many colors.

 

[wynkoop]

The reason so much naugahyde has been used over the years is that the naugas have never learned to hide.

 

[goldenstate]

I used Amazon-sourced Ottertex in beige.

E32-200 - Replacing Sideliners

What's a sideliner you ask? It's like a headliner, but a sideliner covers the diagonal side portion of the interior of my boat's cabin. I had removed these pieces of vinyl fabric in the process of troubleshooting some leaks. I later determined...

ericsonyachts.org

The otter joke herewith tee'd.

 

[racushman]

QQ for this group - what kind of stapler/staple size are people using for headliner reattachment. I used a T50 stapler with the smallest available 1/4" staple from home depot, but they are enormous compared to the factory staples (and the T50s don't sit flush unless I flattened them with a hammer. I'm guessing there is a better system? Help I need to do a fair amount of headliner work!

 

[Loren Beach]

I have shot a lot of 5/16 staples with a heavy duty manual stapler, and they go in flat enough if I hold the head down firmly. Recently at the shop I got to use an HD air stapler, and could drive 3/8 staples flat with no problem. This one costs approx $130. plus a small compressor to power it. I might buy one.
The factory staples were small wire, but longer. Really fricken difficult to remove. They were probably driven with an air stapler by a guy who was also too generous with them!
They used larger wire ones for other places, like the heavy plastic welting around the top of the head compartment and aft cabin headliners..... difficult to remove and no fun to restore. (sigh)

While I am sort of whining about the work from EY, the fact is that their work lasted and looked good for 30 years, and that's no small thing.

 

[wynkoop]

While I am sort of whining about the work from EY, the fact is that their work lasted and looked good for 30 years, and that's no small thing.

I think we have some of the best built yachts in the world. Silver Maiden has amazed me more than once with her ruggedness and seaworthyness.

 

[SpudE36RH]

The upholstered plywood piece under my street my pedestal, in the roof on my aft cabin, was in pretty bad shape. The plywood was completely rotten. The upholstery pretty mold spotted in the foam backing and the staples rusted away to the point where I can really remove them. But the facing material actually looks pretty nice still, only a few minor cracks. I believe I saw reference somewhere that the headliners in my boat were naugahyde. Is that true? Turns out the naugahyde factory is about 15 minutes from my house, in Stoughton Wisconsin, which means I may be able to source a direct replacement from them, if only they take pity on me or find enough novelty in this project to deal with me directly.
So, can anyone verify this vinyl did infact come from the hyde of the nauga beast?
I've already cut and epoxied a replacement plywood piece. But as I'm trying to get rid of staples that are almost just lumpy stains at this point in order to reuse the original headliner I'm wondering if I might not pursue replacement instead. TIA.

Finally ready for headliner.Thanks for the Ottertex tip

 

[Tin Kicker]

I've recently been told that naugahyde has gone upscale due to people not wanting real leather, so to now ask for Pleather. It stands for plastic leather.

 

[Kenneth K]

I've recently been told that naugahyde has gone upscale due to people not wanting real leather, so to now ask for Pleather. It stands for plastic leather.

No, things have actually progressed downhill even further than that. It's now called vegan leather.

You can't make this $@!# up!