So I slip them on the edge, then use then tap in the screws? The hole in the clip seems too small.
Photo attached.
There are no screws -- you need plastic push pins which are different from the lower panel "rivets." The uppers are smaller & smooth topped, with no blade groove (unlike factory lowers and headliner on my cargo). My book shows them as
000-991-92-40 I'm not finding a quick reference to source those because I think I got mine from VanGo when I bought his Con-pearl panels.
On the upper panel area sheet metal, you will find sets of bumps embossed onto the interior wall sheet metal along the edge of the opening for the panel. Place the clips between those embossed bumps, clipped onto the sheet metal with the hole on the clip oriented "in" towards the center of the panel. Using your panel, line up the holes more precisely than you did initially. If you are making panels, stop and make your hole template now. You can see the clips on the photo below outboard of the NOICO RED 315 mil insulation.
Personally, I would find lining up and drilling the clip holes in raw 3mm stock daunting. The holes in the factory panels are actually slotted at the radius of the curve at each point in order to allow some slop in the fabrication and installation. It will be very hard to create spot on holes for the pushpins. You could buy a rear panel to use as a template. I think they are available online for $60 to $100. That's a lot for a template, which is why I decided to use the corrugated factory Con-pearl instead of wood -- the template became my panel. The factory doesn't offer Con-pearl headliners.
It was VERY challenging to fabricate the headliner panels in my van, and that was a strictly rectilinear problem. I also found it a challenge to create smooth holes of the same diameter as the factory without damaging the 3 mm Baltic Birch 5 x 5 panels. I did not have a big enough punch, so I had to reinforce and pre-drill, etc. Remember the attachment points are very near the edges of thin 3 mm material. By way of contrast, the non-brittle
Con-pearl panels I have are 4.8 mm, as I recall.
I must've shot the picture right before I hung the Thinsulate because I see the 3M spray adhesive. Have fun!
