roof lining

[mike020150]

Looks very good. After all the restoration work over the past year or so, have you filled out an entry form for the Eastern day concours yet? Mike.

[surveyor]

Hello all
I am a new member with a lovely 2001 XK8' where the rooflining is beginning to sag. Have read the thread with some despair-- has anyone come up with any new solutions?
I am based in Bristol--- any recommendations for a good trimmer much appreciated
Thanks

[tomcarey]

Just had my head lining replaced, and two front seats recovered in ivory leather...Total cost £800....from car marine, nr birkinhead....and a great looking job... They only had to remove the two front seats....Tom.

[painter]

Ouch!! How much would it have worked out just for covering one seat Tom?

[tomcarey]

Hi Painter, £800 for 2 front seats....AND head lining replaced...not to bad I thought...Tom.

[painter]

Hello Tom,
yes when you break the price down it probably equates to £300 per seat newly covered, which doesn't seem bad. Any chance of some pics?

[surveyor]

Tom...would welcome any contact details for the firm that did your headlining.....looks interesting!
many thanks
Mike

[surveyor]

Hello all who are worried about sagging headlining show.
A great temporary fix are " upholstery twists"... A tiny button corkscrew, at £1:20 each
Not good enough for a permanent fix in my view, but fine for now.
More on the final fix (hopefully) later
M

[jeccles2]

Hello all,
I read this thread with interest as I too had a sagging headline on my 1998 XKR. It dropped over two thirds of the surface and was so bad I thought it may fail the MoT test as a distraction. I checked out all available comments and information on the net and decided to purchase a replacement and "do it myself".
Headliner-World on EBay (based in Kent) seemed to get the most plaudits so I gave them a call. Pedro, the proprietor, was very helpful and sent out two fabric samples of grey and oatmeal which arrived the following morning. What I thought was probably grey turned out to be a faded oatmeal so I am glad I checked. A replacement arrived within two days for £140 including carriage. He also supplied two pieces of fabric to cover the 'A' pillar trims.
Remival of the old liner was relatively simple - it is only held in place by the sunvisors, front and rear courtesy lights and the rear quarter trim panels. These panels do not need to be removed but just eased out of their clips at the top. I tried to place the new liner without removing seats but found it impossible however with just four Torx bolts each they came out easily, not forgetting the electrical connectors. The new liner fitted perfectly. The 'A' pillar trims were cleaned of old adhesive with a little abrasive paper and relined using spray contact adhesive; very quick and easy.
Passed the MoT by the way with no advisories!
I hope you find this helpful,
Jeccles2

[surveyor]

Hi all
My problems now solved
- headliner/ panel kit from Mytle/ Jaguar Rooflinings in Dartford
- fitted beautifully by TIF trimmers in Exeter in one day!
Looks like new...really worthwhile
M

[Terry1961]

I test drove my XK8 in early April this year, 1999 coupe, 28K miles, interior spotless condition bar a bubble in the headlining about 6" dia. When I picked her up 1 week later the bubble had grown to 10" dia. I did a bit of reseach before buying so had a good idea what was going on, thought it would last longer than three weeks though!

Anyhow after three weeks it was a half roof size bubble.

Last Monday we dropped her off at Headliner World, just North of Dover, a bit of a trek as we live in Yorkshire.

Decided on this course of action as I found several good reviews of H W, and lots of bad reviews of some other companies. Did try a local trimmer , his response was " happy to fit it for you for 200 quid, but you will have to source the headlining online" I didn't fancy that, if it went wrong I could end up with the fitter blaming the manuf and vice versa!

So, Pedro of headliner world dropped us off in Dover town centre and before we got there he told us we had a choice, the fibre glass boarding as advertised online OR the original boards as fitted by Jaguar but with the modern cloth backed with nylon foam which will not rot like the original. His advice was the original type absorbed noise much better than the fibre glass version, so we went original. Same price too. He only offers the original type to those who use him to fit it.

Colour wise the fabric is close but not perfect, but now that it's fitted you would be hard pressed to spot it especially as they recover the A post trims as part of the job.

Pedro collected us from Dover castle about 7 hours later and we returned to the farm they are based in, job done.

The result is very good, well fitted, I could say its not quite as smooth around the edges in places, but that is being really picky. Overall really impressed, good job and great service.

The cost? £130 for the headlining, £280 for fitting it.

Would I go there again? Definitely!

Terry

[wombat]

I have just purchased a new roof lining and have seen several different views on how easy it is to change.

Does the gearbox cover need to be removed as well as both front seats? I have not removed the old one yet but offered the new one to see how easy access is, and it did not get very far.

[mike020150]

If you follow the official Jaguar method, 'yes' the centre console has to be removed as well as the seats and quarter panel trims. Mike.

[wombat]

Hi Mike,

Is there a guide on how to remove the central console anywhere?

[mike020150]

You can find various JTIS maintenance discs as well as the JDHT XK8 discs for sale online which contain the correct procedures.

Basically, the J gate surround comes off by using a credit card or similar pieces of slim plastic to depress carefully the 4 tangs holding it in position. That exposes 4 fixings for the centre console veneer panel. Remove them and disconnect the electrical connections to take out the panel. The console itself is held by 2 fixings at the front and two at the rear under a small trim panel. Mike.