I wanted to give a little back to the forum. I know others have posted on this topic however one more is always good.

My Pillars and headliner were sagging and fluttering in the wind with the top down and just didn't look respectable.

I went to JoAnn Fabrics purchased some headliner material and Loctite 200 Adhesive. I removed the pieces from the car which included the visors and unsnapping the center light section; very easy to do. I also had to do a Visor mirror lid repair. The clips had come off the drivers and the lid would flap when it was lowered.

I cleaned each piece and cut the new material and then simply sprayed the adhesive and wrapped each piece. The main section was a little tough with just two hands but it went well.

Anyone needing to do this, its a simple easy repair. I uploaded some pictures and a video explaining what I did.

XK8 Pillars And Headliner Recover Photos by snwbrd63 | Photobucket

Thanks
Tauni

 

Nice job Tauni

 

Thanks Steve, now if I can get the latching of the top fixed I can put them up and enjoy them :-)

 

Tauni--nice job! Shot you a PM with a couple of questions but, in brief:

How close does the material from JoAnne fabrics match the existing (the photos you posted look like Dove which is the same as mine). Also, how difficult was it to remove the header piece that goes along the top of the windshield?

Doug

 

Hi Doug,

Yes, JoAnn Fabrics calls it Headliner material, its usually by the marine vinyl area.
They had my grey and a cream colored. The grey is very close to the visor material
grey color. I have a triple black so everything is black except the grey pillars and
headliner. I call it grey but you are probably correct on Dove.

The top piece is quite easy too, just be careful with the visor side mount that has the
contacts for the visor light. Its the detachable side. By careful I mean don't
accidentally touch both contacts with screwdriver, it will short out an blow the fuse.
Which I have been told wont allow the car to start, oddly enough.

1. Leave pillars in, it will hold the top piece in while removing the Visors & Dome
2. The dome light has three press clips, one one each side and one in front,
carefully pull down from each side at once, rocking it a little and it will separate.
Just let it hang down.
3. Visors: under each mount is a tab you can pry open to access the screws.
4. After visors and mounts removed the mount with the electrical for the mirrors
will hang down until you remove the pillars and the top comes down. At that
time you can unplug the connector for the visor light. and twist the done light and
it will slip right through the center hole.

If you have any other questions feel free. Also JoAnn fabrics website always has a
50% off coupon for one item so I bought a nice pair of scissors, just show it to the
cashier on your smart phone if you use one. The material was 12.99 a yard and I
used two yards.

I uploaded a video of it installed:
Installed headliner_zpsdmd7rfjw.mp4 Video by snwbrd63 | Photobucket

 

I need to redo my pillars but am half afraid to just start pulling. How does the pillar covering come off without destroying it?

 

As you said, just pull. Start at the top near the header, gently pry it out and as you do, use you other hand down lower to pull away from the car's frame. It will come off easy enough.

 

Keep in mind that you'll have far more material and color choices if you go to a reputable auto interior restoration shop to source your fabric. We did that prior to me recovering my wife's XK8's A-pillars in February 2012. Her interior is Cashmere and there were 25 to 30 different in-stock beige/tan fabrics to choose from. She spent considerable time inspecting each roll, narrowing them down to 6 or 8 potential choices, then carrying all the finalists outside to the car to ensure a perfect match in full sunlight. The chosen fabric still matches perfectly today. I paid $10 for the headliner material, recovered both A-pillars, and still have enough remaining material to recover both of them one more time if necessary down the road....

 

Great timing as that's now on my to-do list for my '99 XK8 and the completed project looks sweet.

 

I did my coupe not too long ago and was going to put up a thread after i got around to doing the sun visors to match.
I opted to go with a micro suede, which is harder to work with but a much tougher material and a richer look. I am very happy with the results but to get it right takes time, you need to glue the suede on in sections starting from the middle out, so as to stretch it tight and avoid wrinkles. Getting the headliner back in the coupe without damaging the headliner is challenging also, so take your time to position it just right.
I used the headliner glue spray they sell at jo-ann fabric, it is very good. They sell it for 20 dollars but if you go onto retailmenot.com you can usually find a printable coupon and get it for half price. You will go through two bottles.

The suede is available from a number of sellers on ebay and is priced around 6 dollars a yard. here are some photos of how they came out.

Here is a link to the glue that jo-ann sells Headliner Spray Glue at Joann.com

Also, to get a tight wrap without wrinkles in the corners you will need to make multiple relief cuts in the fabric edge that wraps around the headliner, without the relief cuts the suede wont mold into the curves well.