is there a way to get the headliner out of a standard xj8/x350 without remoing the rear window --------------or is it just an urban legend????

 

I'm curious on this as well just noticed my hood lining is dropping in the corners in the rear of the car

 

I just took mine out to redo. I had to fold in the middle then out the back door. The backer is very resilient and comes back nice. Unfortunatly I cut the new material wrong(DOnt forget to give yourself an inch or so extra around the sunroof for the trim lol) when I went to fit it I had to bend, but it recovered nicely . There is a write up here

1998 Jaguar XJ8 headliner removal, recovering and replacement instructions.

 

hi joe -what year is your xj----???-------------thanks

 

my bad, thought Joe had a '98 but that's just a good link to doing it on a '98.


Here's his profile list:

98-xk8/02-xkr/04-xj-8/04 xj-8

so which will that procedure work for Joe?

 

Just went through this over the summer. You can get the headliner out the back doors, but you will have to curl it up pretty good to make it fit. This is ok on the way out, but gets kind of stressful putting a nice newly redone headliner back in.

Do yourself a favor:

Remove the 4 seat bolts on one or both of the front seats. This will allow you to lay them down, over to the side and any other way you need ease the headliner in and out. Takes no time at all and makes all the difference. The only thing you may run into is the fact that two of the bolts are traditional hex and the other two are star sockets. Easily overcome, AutoZone sells an inexpensive set of star sockets that has the one you will need.

 

I have just replaced the lining in mine, 05 XJR.
You do not need to remove the rear window and do not even really need to fold the liner as such although it will have a curve in it coming out.

The front seats do need to be slid back and tilted all the way back. I took the liner out the passenger side door. The top side of the lining facing towards the B pillar. The liner passes between the seat and the pillar you may want to cover the B pillar so it is not marked. I did take the front passenger seat out to put the liner back in to provide more clearance. This takes 2 bolts in front and 4 in the rear, torx and .double square".

The roof liner edges are mostly covered by the A and C pillars, but NOT the B pillar.

There are wiring connections on all corners. The rear connections are down behind the rear seat which is not to hard to get out. There are 4 latches that hold down the base that are tough to get to, but need to each be moved to the left to release while pressing down on the seat and then lifting up.
The rear back rest then comes out after pulling the latch release lines available after the rear seat base comes out.

Make sure all the old foam is cleaned off, I found a wire brush was very effective.

Getting the lining to cover all the curves is a bit of a trick and it does need to be pulled to stretch around some of the curves and not leave any creases.

Try not to spray any contact on the display side. Easy at the beginning, harder if you need to add any additional half way through.

Good luck