Over the past week, I have received numerous requests for samples of Passion Suede which approximates the Alcantara suede that was an option in the X150. I have access to a company that sells approximately 100 colors of the microfibre suede for under $5.00/running yd X60" width. I have ordered a couple of sample books, so that I can snip colors for anyone interested in receiving them for headliner replacement. The books are back ordered for a couple of weeks, however, I purchased some yardage of the colors that I thought would match the majority of Jaguar OEM colors:
Black
Oyster (most like the Caramel Jag interior)
Fawn (a little deeper color than the Oyster)
Cream (an ivory shade)

If I can help anyone out by sending snippets of the fabric, it would be my pleasure. And if it works, I will be happy to purchase and ship whatever yardage you need. I have used thousands of yards of Passion Suede over many years. It is a very realistic looking and feeling suede imitation, with outstanding durability and quality, and costs approximately 1/20 of UltraSuede. As I stated, there are many dozens of colors, so you're not limited to Jaguar colors.
Let me know if I can help.
Ted

 

tberg hooked me up with some Passion Suede in black and I redid my headliner yesterday. Love it! Thanks Ted!

 

Love the great contrast with the trim, that stuff is super. tberg is going above and beyond IMHO!

 

Glad to help, after all we're a community created to help each other with issues with our cars. My expertise is in textiles, and I still maintain many of my contacts in the industry that I worked for over 40 years. The stunning part is that this very high quality fabric is so inexpensive as to cost nearly nothing. I am sending several other members samples this week and hopefully will have new sample books from which I can clip samples for anyone in need. Let me know if I can help anyone else. And Big Otter, the headliner looks stunning, great job!

 

I did my sagging headliner 2 years ago but used the material the shop had (no complaints). I wish I was doing it now! Good on you Tberg.

 

Hi Ted,

Since you have a 2010+ you have the advantage of seeing the Alston TechnoSuede which is what came Standard on all 2010-up XKs as compared to the Passion Suede you are selling. Can you give us a quick round down of your opinion on how the 2 compare as far as look and feel. I know you think the Passion Suede is a a better value, just curious as to your opinion other than that.

Thanks in advance for this and also for offering your knowledge and service so freely to everyone here, kudos to you for that!

Cheers,

Dave

 

10XKR,
There are many synthetic suedes on the market in the home decorating industry, the most famous of which is Ultrasuede manufactured by Spring Mills. It is still very popular in the furniture industry but costs about fifteen times as much as Passion Suede and I'm sure the Alston Suede as well as the Alcantara suede are similarly priced. These suedes are continuous filament textiles that are not woven, have a certain sponginess to them that looks and feels very much like a real cow suede product. I have used and sold many hundreds of yards over the past 3-4 decades. My one complaint about Ultrasuede is its propensity to pill more than I'd expect when used for upholstery where it will be rubbed a lot. Passion Suede is a woven microfibre fabric that looks and feels like the real thing, maybe a drop less spongy, and I have used thousands of yards for customers for upholstery. I don't sell fabrics any longer as we have long since closed our fabric stores, but I still do interior decorating on a limited basis (too busy managing our properties to do it full time). Laid side by side, I doubt most people could tell much of a difference between any of them. Touching them, there is a slight difference. In a headliner application, there is absolutely no reason to think there is an advantage to the higher priced imitation suedes, NONE! If Passion Suede was three times the price, I would still consider it an incredible value but at about $5-10.00/yd, it is simply a steal. And by the way, the reason for the varrying price is because my $5.00 distributor source is quite a bit further from me, so I have to really take a bit of a trip to pick it up, and sometimes I don't have the time nor the willingness to get out there. But over the past week or so, I've had so many inquiries, I've actually purchased some yardage of the most likely to be used colors that seem to blend with known Jaguar interior colors so that I don't have to shlep so far to pick it up as forum members keep sending requests. Big Otter, why don't you chime in on how the black Passion Suede looked and felt in comparison to the headliner you had before.

 

And by the way, I have used the black Passion Suede to line the front trunk on my soon to be home, restored 1972 De Tomaso Pantera, and when I get it back, hopefully by the end of the week, I plan to recover the large fiberglass luggage compartment currently covered in the factory felt with the same. I will do that myself as I don't want to wait a minute longer to get my red supercar back after almost 4 years.

 

 

There's no comparison between the two. When you pull off the old material you'll see how thin it is and how cheap it feels. The Passion Suede feels & behaves exactly like suede and is luxurious to the touch. I have some leftover material and I'm looking for other things I can cover!

 

The Pantera has always been a very cool car. It looks fantastic!

 

Big Otter, I know it is probably my CDO, but it's driving me crazy, so I must ask. Why do you have a garage door opener on visor and not using the homelink?

 

That's an excellent question. My garage door opener requires a Homelink Bridge in order to operate with the native Jaguar controls. I have not ordered it. I may look into it now, since I hate the remote thing on the visor too.

 

Digging the boxer trim and those cool wheels!

 

My Aston requires that Homelink Bridge too or I just can't time the programming lights... I keep the remote in the center console as noting fits on Aston visors... Too stingy to order that Bridge...

 

So the question for me is how do I remove my headliner? Through the back hatch area? I assume you dont remove the windshield to get it out. LOL. Or do you just cover everything up and just spray adhesive and stick the new stuff onto the old? I am interested and will for sure buy enough to do my headliner in passion suade, just curious on the steps taken to do it. Thanks tberg!

 

Sure, no problem. Here's a brief outline of the steps and what to expect. Let me know if you have any questions or need clarification on anything.

1. The visors and visor clips just screw out (one screw each item) and the overhead console snaps straight out downward.

2.The trim pieces pull straight out too. One note of caution about the trim pieces: Start at the A-pillar and loosen as you go back. The middle trim piece, above the window, is connected to the A-pillar piece in a peg-and-hole fashion, and slides back into the rear trim piece (once it's unclipped, naturally). So, start at the front and then you can pull it out from the rear trim piece. The rear trim pieces did not need to be removed, nor did the A-pillar pieces, only the middle trim pieces needed to be taken out.

3. The headliner is removed through the passenger side door, due to the dashboard hump on the driver's side.

4. Peel off the old cloth material from the headliner. You will see yellow/orange foam underneath.

5. Remove the foam from the headliner. Use a wire brush, then an eraser for final touch up.

6. When the headliner has no more foam material, watch...

this video

...for good advice on gluing the suede to the headliner, wrapping the edges, etc. (I used 3M Headliner spray adhesive.)



Here are some pics of what to expect. I didn't take pics of the gluing process because you have to TAKE YOUR TIME and do it right the first time. I didn't want any distractions. It helps to have someone with you to hold the material.

 

Thank you for this awesome information!! It looks pretty simple so I guess I know what I will be doing in the next few weeks!

 

Just ordered my fiber optic kit to make a star ceiling like in a rolls royce. Ive done this before with the top of a bunk bed for my daughter and was easy.. Doing this same thing in a cars cars headliner will be a piece of cake! Now to get tberg to get me some of that material.

Btw here is the fiber kit if anyone is interested.. lol

 

What do you have to do, poke every strand through the material? When running your hand over the headliner, won't it feel like a woman's legs that hasn't shaved in a few days?