The hot Florida sun has baked the adhesive on my headliner. Even though the old material looks pristine, it is useless because the foam underside on the cloth has delaminated. A new headliner w/ cardboard backing is $860. The old backing is serviceable, so it makes sense to just replace the fabric.

The upholsterer wasn't sure about sourcing the correct OEM fabric. It is the light beige premium suedecloth, I believe its called "Canvas". I know "Jet" is the black suedecloth.

Has anyone stateside purchased replacement material for their canvas headliners? Can you point me in the right direction? Thx. gordo

 

just had mine replaced on my 2007 last month. the entire thing was hanging down. my local upholstery place matched it perfectly and did it all for 425. looks fantastic. my car has the caramel interior.

 

Yes, the first day it started with a small a eighteen inch diameter drop; then two days later, the whole piece was hanging. To get in and drive, it was like wearing a huge hat!

I hope my upholsterer can do it for about the same price. He took down VIN and interior codes from the door jam, and said he could get the same material; so I'm comfortable using him. If I need it, can you give me your upohlstery shops contact info in case we need to use their vendor for material? Thx.

 

GordocatCar,
A similar suedecloth, commonly known as Passion Suede, is available in approximately 100 colors, and is very inexpensive (well under $10.00/running yard-60" width). I have used thousands of yards of it over the years for client's decorating needs. If you need a sample, I can clip from my sample books, and can get you any color you could imagine. Wholesale it's about $5-6/yd depending on source.

 

This may be what I had installed. I took mine to a headliner specialist and they had a very nice suede in stock that matched the caramel very nicely.

 

That's a nice job indeed. Thx.

 

Not absolutely sure, but it is probably "Alcantara" a synthetic faux suede fabric made by Tokay in Milan. Tokay also makes Ultrasuede, a lighter version with less nap, in Japan. There are a variety of less expensive knock-offs in fabric stores, online, etc. Alcantara Automotive 2911 appears to be the closest to Jaguar's "Ivory". www.alcantara.com

 

Ultrasuede is a brand name for a non woven continuous filament faux suede that comes in several different qualities (weights) depending upon its use. There is apparel Ultrasuede, both lightweight and medium weight, and upholstery and automotive weights. My family's fabric stores were among the first in the U.S. to carry it for retail sales. It was imported and manufactures for Spring Mills back in the 1970's. It was and remains a very expensive faux suede that has good and bad qualities. The good is that it is very realistic feeling and looking, is strong, washable, versatile, and flexible, and 54" wide. The not so good is that it pills with extensive rubbing like it would receive on a seat bottom. Alcantara is another "brand" whose qualities I would assume are similar with a slightly deeper nap. Passion Suede, which is one of which I have used many thousands of yards is a woven fabric so it is inherently somewhat stronger, has a slightly shorter nap, but still quite realistic looking, is also washable, a little less flexible, comes in at least 100 colors, and COSTS APPROXIMATELY 10% OF ULTRASUEDE'S (and I would assume Alcantara's) COST! And is 60" wide. Again, if anyone is in need, I have easy access to getting it wholesale, and although I haven't bought any in several months (lined the front trunk and rear fiberglass tub/trunk of my Pantera with black Passion suede during its restoration), I think it was between $5-6/running yard.

 

Jumped in my car today and the headliner mugged me, looks like I'll be referencing this thread for a while.
Does tberg still sell the good stuff - and any guess what color this gray might be?


Hey, leave my hair alone!

 

I had the exact issue happen last summer but it seems that matching that color is more difficult than I would have imagined. I need to get busy doing some more research before summer, but it might be that it's more practical to find something close in color and just re-do all of it in the new color. Let me know if you find a better solution!

In the mean time, strategically places straight pins will keep most of it up and out of the way!

 

[QUOTE=AirCav;2355585]... it might be that it's more practical to find something close in color and just re-do all of it in the new color. /QUOTE]

That's what I did. I found a lighter grey beige alcantra-style headliner material and had the shop reupholster the A pillars, and rear 'B' pillars and the remaining overhead pieces in the hatch rear. We kept the visors stock, but the colors blend nicely.

 

[QUOTE=GordoCatCar;2355599]Do you recall what having all of those pieces refinished cost? I would think a close shade of grey would be fine since they are distinctly different surfaces, but...

 

The job cost $800 total including material and labor... here are some pics. Notice the rear panels are stitched.

B pillar and hatch surround have been reupholstered in same headliner fabric

A Pillar is new, visors are old. Nice match.

hatch surround finished

Stitching on hatch surround

Shop owner complained that the hatch needed to be pulled apart to get these rear panels out.

 

T berg is your man for the fabric. PM hism.

 

I've had the usual Jaguar headlining issues on my S Type R.
I've removed the fiberglass backed roof out of the vehicle, peeled the cloth headlining away and went through the fun time of scraping off all the perished foam middle layer. Cleaned up well and its now down to its fiberglass base awaiting its fresh lining. The whole assembly looks remarkably similar to the local (Australian) Ford sedans of the same vintage; hardly a surprise and probably a Ford design.

I did actually manage to obtain a USA made headlining product with the foam backing attached. Same shade and same factory weave/pattern as well.
Problem is, in retrofitting this by hand this almost identical factory product is impossible to get right without a commercial moulded press; which I assume would have been done at manufacture. You just cannot eliminate this foam backed fabric creasing unless you have a moulded press. The many angles, recesses and curves in the later S Type's roof means this product is only useful in gentle curved roof applications. Probably not an issue in the X150 for example.

There is a very popular reasonable quality (and very reasonable price) unbacked 'felt' style offering (Chinese sourced). Designed for easy hand fitting with or without foam backing but it would have been too thick to fit around the (non foam backed) A pillar covers so it didn't really grab me.
I retrimmed one of my classic vehicles in Alacantara a few years back now and figured I will do the same with my Jaguar, with a layer of foam first on the headlining fiberglass board. I remember it was quite expensive then but here they are now asking around $300 per yard!! Just ridiculous.

Will keep looking for an alternative.

 

I shot him a PM yesterday and found a very helpful response this morning! As big as that panel is, I think it is something I *MIGHT* try taking on myself!

 

Clellandm,
If you'd like, send me your address, and I'll snip some samples of the dark grey and the black Passion Suede and drop them in the mail for you. The last time I bought the fabric for another forum member a few months ago, it was $4.95/running yard which is approx. 60" wide. It will be my pleasure. This microfibre suede is extremely high quality, and I have personally used thousands of yards of it over the years for clients for upholstery purposes. Let me knoiw if I can help.
Ted

 

Thanks for all the help over the weekend Ted, I'll watch for the samples later in the week. In the meantime gang, while buying glue and a syringe for a temporary fix, my wife noticed twisty pushpins on the shelf so we bought a couple boxes. Because they thread-in and have a big head, I think they'll work until I get all the supplies to redo the headliner. Because it looks absolutely horrible, there is no way I'll live with it longer than needed!

Thanks Ted - and everyone for the great information!

 

Tberg, I was wondering how the material you have holds up in direct sunlight. Does it tend to fade over time if used for a dash or A pillars ?
Thanks

 

Mufc,
Look, I would have hesitation using a dark color like black on a dashboard that was exposed to sunlight all day long. Dark colors of any fabric have the most color pigment to lose and will do so. Having said that, I have used thousands of yards of Passion Suede over many years for upholstery projects for many customers for couches, chairs, bar stools, etc. and have never had a single complaint about its performance. It is certainly sturdy enough to be used for that purpose as it gets much more wear as furniture than as a dashboard. Lighter colors would not be as great an issue. I have sent it to several forum members for the headliner and A pillars and no one that I know of has had a problem. I will be happy to send you a piece large enough to lay on the dash and you can see what happens over several weeks. Just let me know.