I decided to try to replace the headliner on my 1990 XJS convertible. I purchased a headliner but before it has been delivered I unfortunately read that it maybe cannot be replaced on this year car.

Any clarification?

 

look up in the stickys above
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...t-s-b-s-27319/

check out 76-93 convertible top

 

Hey. How's it?
I replaced my headliner and it wasn't a bad job at all. If you can do it easily I would recommend undoing the 8 bolts that hold in the seats and just putting them off to the side. This way you can open doors wide and move around much much more easily in the work space.

Starting at the front of the liner, where the hood (cloth top) meets the windshield, with top completely open, start removing (and store well) the little screws that hold the brackets (long steal flats) that hold the liner in place. Be Careful loosening the screws. They are old, tiny and strip out pretty easily. The brackets run length wise across the top of the hood. One by one,,, making sure not to bend the metal strips OR strip the little screws,,, slowly remove the braces and the screws. At the removal of each bracket the next bracket and screw assembly should reveal itself. Just go thru them raising the hood partially as you go along. Mark the order of the brackets as you remove them... Makes reassembly much much easier. Be careful with the material between the canvas and the inner liner. Where would one get more of that, I just don't know. Remove everything until the old is free.

Then, reverse the process to reassemble... Velcro strapping and a GOOD (3M) 2 sided tape is a good thing to have for the area of deep fold around the rear window. Some tucking and reassembling the thin wire guides is something I am still needing to get to,,, to finish it properly. Also, work slowly thinking about loose areas or slack in the cover. Some slow tug and pull (lightly honestly) is needed. As you replace the last and next to last brackets you might find yourself standing upright in the passenger compartment which is why having the seats out is a great help. Also, I ended up with more material than I would like at the bracket just at the rear window area (don't know whether to call it first or last bracket). Slow down there and ask yourself if it would make sense to modify the fold and attachments there pulling the liner closer towards the window. Mine sags a little there and I don't like it but it is the first attachment if memory serves and I would have to undo it all to get at it. If you ever read my story hear mine was basically a barn find and I simply kept it moving to the next fix.... I'll get back to it during a life time of fine tuning.

I am not sure why you feel the liner would be something you cannot replace... Why do you think that or what have you heard?

 

Thanks tremendously !! I just read a post saying that there were two variations and one was a complete unit. The info above from malc4d reads otherwise. Again, thanks for the detail. BTW. My car is 10 % original with 30,000 documented miles. Everything is good, other than the consumables, and the inner headliner has some stains that I want to get rid of.

Bill

 

I would try a good cleaner long before I tried to do the liner replacement. Wait ...I did lol

 

Hello Jay

could you (or someone who performed the same job) possibly explain how you did and possibly post a pic of the rear attachement of the headliner on the last rear bracket ? is there a similar steel strap with screws than on the 2 previous brackets, appearing when the headliner has been detached from 2 front brackets ?
thanks