Ceiling Panel Woes - Help!

[Pastyhen]

A couple of months ago, I bought a 1992 Bluebird that had already been gutted. I have since insulated among other things and my plan was to put the metal ceiling panels back into place for the aesthetics and being able to use magnets to hang stuff and such.

Seemed pretty easy until we got to it and found that none of the panels are uniform and as I didn't remove them myself, I have no idea how they go back up, order-wise. It has been a nightmare and I am on the verge of giving up and going with wood.

Any advice would be great! Thanks!

[DeMac]

In our IC RE, the last panel I could remove was over the driver's seat and stairs. That panel is not as wide as the others, stopping short over the door actuator. It's also shorter, from front to back, as the rib spacing is different there. Start with that one.



You might separate the panels with hatch holes. Layout the e-door and e-windows, ours have labels above. Hopefully, you can just treat it like a puzzle, lay out and mark the knowns and deduce the remains. The less similarities in each panel, the better.

The leading and trailing edges are distinguishable. The front edge should be exposed to pax, the rear edge should appear to have been covered up by the panel behind it. The last panel (rearmost) has both front and rear edges exposed.

Realigning each screw will be even more fun than removing. I'm jealous. We had 88 screws in each panel. Now I have 1066 screws in a coffee can. Yes, I counted them all. I really put the 'O' in ocd.

Also, the IC factory applied a bead of seam sealer to the perimeter of each panel. I had to pry them loose with a flathead after removing all of the screws. Gravity wouldn't kick in until the adheasive seal was broken loose. You may have a unique bead stain, matching each panel to a mirror image stain, on the ceiling.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

is your screw count a guesstimante or did you actually cont them?
or cup by weight per hundred?
i aint ocd and neither or my boys every time they work on something and drop a bolt or nut in my driveway they caint find it so it takes an old huge speaker magnet on a rope to drag around.
my ocd for mechanic work is i took of 8 and i want all 8 in my eyesight until its time to put it back together.
more in depth motor work i create a table with a cloth? not as extensive as the marine corps weapons breakdown cloth but close.
i do head bolts in a circle. dont normally use the same head bolts because of torque.
and i could go on about my practices?
does that meen i am ocd ?

[Tejon7]

You could put up furring strips first, then screw the ceiling panels into those. That way you wouldn't have to try to line up the panel holes with the existing holes in the ribs. There are down sides to consider, of course (loss of headroom, not as well secured as original, etc.). On the upside, furring strips can give you a slight thermal break to get the most out of your new insulation.

[DeMac]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

is your screw count a guesstimante or did you actually cont them?
or cup by weight per hundred?
i aint ocd and neither or my boys every time they work on something and drop a bolt or nut in my driveway they caint find it so it takes an old huge speaker magnet on a rope to drag around.
my ocd for mechanic work is i took of 8 and i want all 8 in my eyesight until its time to put it back together.
more in depth motor work i create a table with a cloth? not as extensive as the marine corps weapons breakdown cloth but close.
i do head bolts in a circle. dont normally use the same head bolts because of torque.
and i could go on about my practices?
does that meen i am ocd ?

Same result for same basic reasons.

Not a guess. I typically count and calculate as I work, looking for patterns, defects, inefficiencies, order of operation. A curse, gift, disorder, idk. Does help me with material & manhour foresight.

Around our property, I go barefoot, and then some. Accounting for each screw, nut, scrap, and string is how we keep the pasture safe & free of debris. Animals, like little kids, put things in their mouths. One nail in my foot is bad enough, livestock injured by my negligence is worse. For me.