Jaguar XK8 A-pillar removal and fabric cover re-trimming. Avoid pitfalls and mistakes.V185 XKR X100

[@davidball9815]

I’m very pleased you’ve made this video, my A pillars are in dire need of repair, it’s the next job on my list. Many thanks.

[@ODRModurol]

David, no problem, thank you for the feedback. Luckily I had ordered extra fabric as difficult to right first time. On to the parcel shelf now, regards Damian

[@UdoIBress]

Good morning Damian, this is really an excellent video. It sure helps many Jaguar enthusiasts to do a good job. Thank you for the trouble you have made. Greetings Udo

[@ODRModurol]

Udo, thank you for your kind words, much appreciated. There are a lot of good videos about this, so we are just adding our observations and experience, regards Damian

[@stevenslight2607]

Fantastic advice Damien. I plan to do mine in the summer so I’ll be studying your videos. Many thanks and keep up the great work. Steve.

[@ODRModurol]

Steven, cheers thank you. Hoping it’s going to be worth all the effort once the headliner and parcel shelf are recovered. Made a mess of the first attempt so would recommend getting enough fabric for a practice run on the a-pillars. Good Luck with yours, regards Damian

[@garyvanremortel5218]

Damian, I did this job several years back, and you've explained it quite well. I did the front pillar latching area cover on my convertible as well, using the same method.

[@ODRModurol]

Gary, thanks for your input, your feedback is always extremely welcome. I can imagine the latch cover is also an interesting challenge. Doing the parcel shelf over this weekend. Fingers crossed, regards Damian

[@Paul-tk2my]

Great video. I will have to do this at some point. Always a good idea to show errors as people tend to ‘cut to the chase’. Did a similar repair to a piece of trim in an RV8 where I glued in a thin spreader along a split with some Araldite.

[@ODRModurol]

Paul (@Paul-tk2my), thank you for the feedback and sharing your experience, regards Damian

[@NickSeee]

Just wanted to say thank you for the thoroughness and effort involved in ALL of your videos. I have just removed my first A pillar trim on my 2003 XKR and as expected it is the plastic version you helpfully showed. With regard to your improved method of retrimming these components, I have shot a few seconds of video recording what I'm seeing and my thoughts but haven't uploaded yet - if they are of interest to add to your body of work please let me know. In a nutshell, it LOOKS like on this plastic variant the OEM adhesive was only applied on the internal edge of the pillar (by internal I mean the side of the pillar not visible when fitted), which kind of makes sense to me to do in a further improvement on your brilliantly explained stretch and pull up method. If you don't apply glue to the external curved car-facing side of the pillar but DO stretch towards the edges as you did, this probably boosts the ability of the fabric to move and stretch where it needs to. The only area where I think there does need to be glue on the external side is at the foot of the pillar where there is a flat face. Tricky to put into words but what do you think? When I get a minute to upload I can come back and edit this comment to maybe include a link if YT allows that. Thank you again for all your excellent vids.

[@ODRModurol]

Nick, thank you for your feedback and kind words. Interested in your observations and experience with your car. We are always learning new things about these cars. More than happy to include any useful information on our channel, in a video or by adding a link you your own uploaded video. Either way as long as the experience shared for the benefit of other enthusiasts treading the same path, regards Damian.

[@jaguarrroman]

Well done! I re-trimmed fabric of my Jag's headliner some 2-3 years ago, so I know how accurate one should be when doing such things. Thumb up!

[@ODRModurol]

Roman, thank you for your kind words. Thought I was doing OK until I also recover the rear parcel shelf. You channel looks interesting and have just subscribed. Look forward to see more repairs from a fellow Jaguar enthusiast, regards Damian

[@jaguarrroman]

@@ODRModurol Many thanks, it's so kind of you!

[@ODRModurol]

Roman, no problem👍, regards Damian

[@phillipaspinall8745]

Thanks for that, my '97 trims need re doing, may well have a bash now

[@ODRModurol]

Phillip, hope it helps to get a good result. Please let us know how you get on and any tips you find, regards Damian

[@bluemarge78]

Hi Damian, off at a bit of a tangent here. I want to get a bit of growl out of the car my exhaust guy just told to get rid of the big centre box a go straight pipe that section you won't get a drone and you will get a nice growl, precious little expense. If I just remove the back boxes he advised it's likely to drone on the motorway sounds to simple any thoughts 🤔. Regards Richard

[@ODRModurol]

Richard, no problem with tangents. Interesting you mention the exhaust mods as we doing one at the moment. The most commonly owners work from the rear first with removal of the back boxes. Then remove to mid sections. Finally the big centre box. Some even add high flow catalytic converters. Gets louder and more wild as you remove boxes. Personally we removed the middle boxes and retained everything else. This was part of our rear suspension refurb and got rid of the OEM crushed exhaust section. Got a rumble and no drone. Expect you will get a similar result from removing the centre section only. The logic is the noise/drone will become louder with removal of each section. Removing the back boxes is a very easy DIY mod hence that’s the favourite one. We are fitting straight rear pipes shortly so will only have the big centre left. Expecting it you be a lot louder under throttle and possibly some drone on the motorway. Will be able to know ore once we have done it. If it too harsh it’s easy to reverse the mod. Hope that helps, regards Damian

[@bluemarge78]

@@ODRModurol thankyou Damian, one more question. Middle box ,is it necessary to join the 2 straight pipes to maintain an exhaust balance which would reduce the noise I'm looking for or is it OK just to keep 2 straight pipes. 🤔 remember I hang on your every word 🙂

[@ODRModurol]

Richard, I am not a expert on exhausts but it’s seen as good practice to join the system with an X pipe. Something about balancing pressures, firing order, back pressure etc. Basically you get more power when used with V8s. I think it’s going to be more noisy with separate pipes and more likely pop and bang. It’s worth a try but not many people have done that mod so difficult to find a good reference. That person might be you? Regards Damian

[@bluemarge78]

@@ODRModurol Right. Two clean cuts centre box out two straight pipes in , plenty of noise could here it in the cockpit, not sure if honey duck would approve but not too intrusive , from the outside just idling, nice rumble, put the foot down a bit backfires and pops as you prescribed, a bit course for my taste. we put a pipe across the two straight pipes H formation the car is now quiet ,can hear nothing in the cockpit from outside he told me there was a nice burble as i drove off window open foot down I can here it as well.going to leave it like that. Thankyou for the wise words. Regards Richard

[@ODRModurol]

Richard, great to get feedback from someone who’s has done that mod. Can you post a video as there are a lot of fellow enthusiasts who ask similar questions. Enjoy more V8 burble, regards Damian