Jaguar XJ-S Hoodliner Replacement

Kirby Palm had his '83 XJ-S repainted, and in the process the original hoodliner -- crumbling and sagging -- was yanked out and thrown away.  Unwilling to risk his new paint to heat coming through an uninsulated hood, Palm ordered some generic hoodliner material from J. C. Whitney (catalog number 25xx0705N) and installed it with 3M Super Trim Adhesive 08090 and aluminum tape.

I'm sorry that I don't have a "before" picture, as this is a huge improvement.  A picture of the original stuff would have just looked like a black mess anyway.  In addition to looking a lot neater and more professional, the reflective surface of this hood liner also provides more light when working in the engine compartment.

The original hoodliner was about an inch thick, thick enough to interfere with several items within the engine compartment.  As a result, it had recesses cut into its surface in several locations for clearance.  Since this generic liner is only 3/8" thick, no such customizing is necessary.

The blanket from J. C. Whitney is 48" x 72", which was enough to do the Jag and have enough left over to do my wife's Honda CRX -- which has a much smaller hood, mind you.  If you want to have more of the stuff (it can also be used under carpets as a sound deadener), J. C. Whitney also offers it in 24- and 48-foot rolls.

Note that 3M's Super Trim Adhesive 08090 is specifically intended for hood liners and headliners.  Lesser contact adhesives simply won't do, since they will let go in the heat in this location.  Super Trim Adhesive is available in local auto parts stores for $10 for an 18-oz. can, and you can easily use an entire can installing this liner.  It also requires some patience and a helper to put the liner in place, since you must get it right the first time and then must carefully press hard on every square inch of the liner to make sure the adhesive is thoroughly bonded.

Aluminum tape is available anywhere that sells building materials or HVAC system materials, as it is commonly used to seal air conditioning ducts.  It lasts forever, plain and simple.  It also matches the facing on this hood liner material perfectly.

The original liner had been surrounded by a collection of metal panels apparently intended to prevent it from falling on the mechanic's head when it gave way.  With this new installation, all of these panels were removed and discarded except for the one circular item in the center that keeps delaminating liner material from falling onto the throttle bellcrank and possibly binding it.  This panel was originally held in place by two push-on clips on tiny posts welded to the hood, but Palm threaded the tiny posts and installed the disk with nuts and washers.  Of course, the disk itself got a fresh coat of black paint while it was off.

Those panels that were removed had several decals on them describing recall info, emission control data, etc.  Palm laid the panels on a copier and made copies of the decals, cut them out, laminated them, and tossed them in the trunk.