This is something I have never experienced on other cars: the headlining above both the driver's and passenger's heads seems to be retracting. Either that or the rubber window/door seals are moving away towards the exterior of the car. The result is a 2-3mm gap between lining and rubber on each side. I can cure this temporarily by tugging the rubber back over the lining, but after a couple of door shuts, the problem reappears. It's as if the lining has been cut too narrow at the factory.

On the picture it doesn't look too bad, but if I leave it for a few days, the gap grows along the entire length of the rubber strip.

Is this a known problem? Any cures?

 

I have a 99 XK8 and the head liner was separating and falling like a cheap tent. I don't know if this is a related problem, but apparently the head liners in the earlier years of the XK's were prone to separating. Surprisingly we popped out the head pan (the liner is glued to a one piece pan) without taking any seats or side panels out. Our auto upholsterer found a liner that matched almost exactly and re did it for $100.00. We re-installed it in 20 minutes or so and it looks like it just came out of the factory. There are threads on this issue and the official method is much more complex and expensive but we did it for $100.00 plus the gas to get to the upholsters shop.

 

common on kx coupes, the headliner back is very close and with time distorts and or corls down leaking it to pull away from the door seal that cover it. go to a trim shop and see what they say about a inexpensive repair like reshaping the areas to lay flatter

 

I fixed mine by re-attaching the liner to the roof with Selleys Multigrip glue.The foam backing was letting go.
The rubber still pulls clear of the lining sometimes.. but this seems to be because it gets dragged when you are getting out of the vehicle. Perhaps this is due to the rubber stretching over time? But with the lining reattached it's just a quick flick to cover it again.

 

What frof is reffering to and from the pic is that the headliner backing and not the cloth has slightly curled and comes out from behind the rubber. The shell needs to be flattened back out in that area to stay behind. yes it could be glued and on that model, there not much that would ever require the headliner to come down, and most trim shops do the cloth in the car with trim removed, otherwise you wouldnt want to glue to the car or you tear it up if it has to be removed and on other models like wiring and sunroof etc...

 

Have it recovered but make sure the trim shop does'nt trim the edges tight. Maybe they can leave a little extra all along the seal sides. Show them the current problem and if they are worth a hoot they should be able to accommodate your request. If you do it your self I would recommend using Scotch 3M brand #90 spray adhesive.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I will tentatively try a little spray-on contact adhesive and see how I get on.

 

You get the same problem with XK headlinings as you do with XJSs and a whole range of other early Jags.
The liner is made from a composite fibre board and after a period of time it delaminates and no matter what amount of re-glueing will fix it as it will just seperate where it is glued.
There is only one fix, you need one made from fibreglass and then covered, I have a mould for XJSs but not for XKs, they are still available from Jaguar at a not too bad a price, so little point making one, but in time I will, once they become rare as rocking horse poo or cost $750 from Jaguar, which they dont I think they are more like $250.

What has happened to frogs is savable though, I would do exactly as you have said and simply reglue it back and hope the rubber holds it in place, it will not be a permanent fix but hopefully last quite a long time. I must admit though I have never known one to go in an XK as new as yours but then again it is 6 years now, normally it is around the 10yr mark they start to fall apart

 

Mine did the exact same thing around the door seal and I tried a bunch of temporary fixes, none of which worked and I ended up just living with it for a while. Then the headliner started to sag. I don't know if you've ever tried to drive like that, but it was not a pretty sight as I was annoyed as can be. I removed the liner and board and replaced with an aftermarket headliner that I found on the internet for $50-$60 bucks. I think its on the forum somewhere. When I put it back together it seemed like the fit was much better around the driver door and wasn't going to cause a problem. However, I am not 100% certain of how long it lasted because I sold her down the road soon after.
Moral of the story - it wasn't too hard to replace the headliner and it looked like it was going to work better than where it started. I'm sure fiberglass board or other solutions would be much better, but its not too hard to try on your own.