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I am looking for guidance/tips on how to replace the soft top of my '67 XKE. The current top is black vinyl and I want a tan stayfast instead. The lack of videos and general info on this topic is quite surprising and also the generic nature of the keywords ("soft" and "top") make it challenging to search the Jag forums I'm on. I am hoping I can connect with someone with direct experience or knowledge of where the topic has been discussed. For reference, I have replaced the top on British cars before (Austin Healey), but no direct experience with an XKE. Any help is highly appreciated.
I think you'd be best using a top made of mohair. This is the material used for up-market sports cars and is very long lasting. Here in the UK we call them 'hoods', and the US hood is our 'bonnet', so if you're buying outside the US, search on both words. There are well established suppliers of hoods in the UK, but fitting is a job for experts. You can get colours other than black although black would be my preference.
Here's a typical hood, in this case produced in Germany, so probably a superb product. There are other UK suppliers too, and you may have them in the US https://www.verdeck.de/en/2094/soft-...s1s2-cabriolet
Thank you. Beautiful products indeed.
I am curious about your remark (not doubting it). Is it more difficult to install it on this particular car or in general? I've done it before on an Austin Healey. Certainly a time commitment, but not an impossible job to pull off. I'd like to learn more, if you have had direct experience.
I've never replaced the top on my Series 3 but have on a couple of other British cars and I don't think the E-Type would be much harder. As I suspect you know from your experience with the Healy these tops require some fettling and a lot of patience to get on right. You may also find tan is a bit harder just down to the fact that it will be easy to stain with glue or grease if you're not being careful.
Thank you. Beautiful products indeed.
I am curious about your remark (not doubting it). Is it more difficult to install it on this particular car or in general? I've done it before on an Austin Healey. Certainly a time commitment, but not an impossible job to pull off. I'd like to learn more, if you have had direct experience.
My only experience is of owning two soft-top cars. The Midget has now gonem but I had been contemplating hood replacement. Replacing a hood is not something most DIYers do very frequently, so it is my opinion that fitting these things is best left to somebody who does it for a iiving. However if you've fitted one to an Austin Healey then I would think you can do the job with confidence.
I did this on my Series 2,
(Same cockpit size as Series 1) car. It is time consuming, but when done carefully, quite doable. I didn't think it was any more difficult than my MGB , or MGT , tops. One thing to consider is the condition of the wood tack strip on the rear of the cockpit. If it has never been replaced, probably better to "bite the bullet" and consider buying new..
The good news is the E top is very small , compared to some other cars, so not as awkward to handle.
You will probably want a helper, on fitting the top. If your car has good "ribbon" strips , running from front to back over the frame, be sure and keep them. Many tops do not come with these.
I installed the Robbins top, and the results were very nice. The Robbins top did not come with the ribbon strips.
As well as "hoods" instead of "soft tops"Also remember they are "E-Types" rather than "XKEs"! So if you play around on Google with different words, you'll find some decent content.
There's plenty of companies doing Mohair or Haartz / Sonnenland materials for E-Types hoods. A couple of well-known UK ones below, but I'm sure there's plenty in the US
Replacing the soft top
