Like everything else with cars, what began with a simple trip to the upholsterers to fix a worn drivers seat bolster soon morphed into a major upgrade. So to make a long story short, we replaced the top, headliner, new leather seat covers, leather armrests and console.

At first only the headliner was being replaced; however, to do that, half the top needs to be peeled back, so the decision was made to go ahead and change out the top while we had everything apart. Its a very complicated task to replace to either the top and/or the headliner, and IMO not something most people should attempt. The top is '"three-ply" German canvas'; equal or better than OEM materials.

I wanted to clean up the backseat area, so we removed the belts and a leather plug was fabricated to filled the recess left by the belt receivers. I guess if you have small children ride back there its better to keep them; but I've had very few people back there and nobody has ever used the belts. One T-50 torx driver, five (5) bolts, and they're gone. Reinstall the bolts, put the gear in a box and pass it on to the next owner.

We're still working on the center console. I wanted to eliminate the jack-in-the-box surprise cup holder. So we've fabricated a new base structure to replace it, and then we'lll cover the entire console with leather backed by quarter inch foam. It'll be a cleaner look, and I certainly won't miss that disaster of a contraption springing open every time I bump it with my elbow.

All told the costs were right around $3K. $1000 for the top, headliner, including th eA-pillars and header bar; then another grand for the seats, armrests, console cover and misc materials. Finally, labor was also about a $1000, however, that included repairing both seat frames which had broken braces and webbing. At first it seemed like an awful lot of money to dump into a car whose overall value is not spectacular. However after I finished complaining about the return on investment, and could enjoy the improvements, and it looks great... like a brand new car. Very happy indeed.

Finally I had to post a pic of my little piece of Jaguar Heaven with the cats peacefully at rest. Thanks for viewing.

F gordo

 

You got the deal of the century. Well done.

 

The early XJ40 console lids (1988-1993) were NON cupholder so you could source one as a base for the project. They will bolt up to the hinge point and fit the cubby properly.

bob

 

nicely done!!!

 

Beautiful work. That new top is absolutely pristine....

 

Wow! Makes me feel like hiding my car out back!

 

Thanks for the headsup Bob. I sourced a non-cupholder lid from the local breaker yard. $50 and dingy, but it'll get recovered along with the OEM cupholder lid. That way the next owner will have the option to return to stock should he so desire. The only difference is the XJ40 lid has a magnetic lock as opposed to the plastic mechanical latch system; both use the same bolt patterns. Otherwise, a perfect fit. Thx. gordo

 

Super Nice Job,

it looks like the recovered the sun visors as well! Did they?
how did they do that? i have looked for years to no avail for anyone being able to do it. or did they look that good from the beginning? they match the new headliner in picture perfectly!

I actually just removed mine (sun visor), they don't do that much anyways.
(same for wipers).

Very Nice, bring the Pride of Ownership right back up front!
Kind regards,
Mitchell

 

The upholsterer only cleaned the sun visors. They were already in good shape, and were a color match w/ the new headliner material. I don't know how you'd recover them. They've got pinched fold seams and very tight tolerances with the builtin mirrors.

 

The magnet can be removed from the XJ40 and installed instead of the plastic 'hook'. They both fit through the slot in the trim.

bob

 

I had my 2003 XKR's sun visors recovered. We chose to do them in leather and they came out great.

Thread on it:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...header-180327/