No humans were injured during the installation of this headliner.

Test fitting

I finally convinced several of my good friends to come over and help install the headliner in the Jag.  It is notorious for being a difficult job. Rodney McDonald, Mike Darby, Noel Eagleson and Michael King were all on hand ready to tackle this task.

Our "Inside" guy

Trying to eliminate any potential scratches

 I had the glue, Mike furnished the spray gun (and a fair amount of experience), Noel was the "inside guy", Michael, Rodney and I were in charge of getting itinto the car and lined up to the center line.  I must say, it went off without a hitch. Mike first started spraying the glue and immediately realized that we needed to thin it significantly.

Mikes new XK, parked behind my XJS

Not having any MEK (thinner) Michael and I took off to Lowes in his newly purchased Jaguar XK convertible. Probably a little overkill for a quick trip to Lowes, but well worth the ride nonetheless.  When we returned, Mike, was installing Rodney's newly rebuilt SU carbs on his MGB, which was on the list of things we wanted to get accomplished today anyway.  I added the thinner to the glue. 

When Mike was through with Rodney's car, he started spraying the glue on the underside of the roof in the E-type. Once that was complete, he sprayed it on the foam side of the headliner.  We then took a break while the glue dried to a tacky feel.

Once we felt like it was right, we all grabbed a corner, Noel assumed his station inside of the car and we carefully passed it through the rear hatch. 

Aligning the headliner to the center line.

 
 With Rodney in the front of the car, standing where the engine goes, he could easily manage aligning the front edge with our center mark and I was able to align the rear.  Mike and Michael kept the sides from sticking to themselves or anything else and Noel began gently pressing down the center line from fore to aft.

How many old farts does it take to do a headliner?

 Once that was done, he began to roll, using a small foam paint roller out from the center to each side. It was immediately obvious that the glue we had was some kind of supped up magic glue that once stuck, it was NOT going to allow for any adjustment.

Noel using the foam paint roller

Me and my Exacto knife

Fortunately, this crack team of experts had it perfect the first time. All that was left was to trim the edges with an Exacto knife and press it under the cantrail.  Even this turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be.  I had recently bought some plastic tools from Harbor Freight which turned out to be the perfect thing to use for this task. The most amazing part is that I used that Exacto knife like a surgeon but never drew any blood.  Something very out of character for me.

Rodney's MGB was running again and my headliner was in, all in all, it was a good day and a lot of fun hanging out with good friends..  so good, in fact, that we ordered pizza and opened some beer.