XKR soft top replacement / repair - Berkshire?
Discussion
The glass window in my soft top has mainly come adrift, I'll probably try re-glueing it but don't expect success.
Anyone know of a decent soft top fitter in or around Reading / Berkshire? I can find a replacement hood for about £800 , but after fitting one to an old Boxster I'd rather someone who knows what they are doing do the XKR!
The nearest google seems to point towards a place in Redhill, Surrey, but there must be close than that, surely.
Anyone know of a decent soft top fitter in or around Reading / Berkshire? I can find a replacement hood for about £800 , but after fitting one to an old Boxster I'd rather someone who knows what they are doing do the XKR!
The nearest google seems to point towards a place in Redhill, Surrey, but there must be close than that, surely.
I've decided to try and re-glue it myself first. The hood is pretty near perfect other than the screen coming adrift, and being maroon it's on a 2 month lead time to get another made up. So I'm left having to glue it and see how it goes. If it works, all good, if not I'll order a new roof and get it fitted. I've got the details of someone who will fit it although not a price to do it yet.
Wish me luck, glueing it back in could be messy!
I'll get to it this week when the bits and pieces I've ordered up to do the job arrive.
Wish me luck, glueing it back in could be messy!
I'll get to it this week when the bits and pieces I've ordered up to do the job arrive.This topic is covered quite extensively in the US jag forum.
Seems to happen a lot out there. Possibly due to it being a lot hotter than the UK.
Do a search on this forum
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk-xkr-x150-33/
Seems to happen a lot out there. Possibly due to it being a lot hotter than the UK.
Do a search on this forum
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk-xkr-x150-33/
Piersman2 - What year XKR have you got? Been trying to help my neighbour lady who has the same problem on her 2010 XK Convertible. The hood material shrinks over time I have been told, causing it to detach from the wndow. On that car, the hood has a material lip on it around the window that attaches/bonded to the side "edge" of the glass, not to the top/outside face of the glass around the perimeter. Couldn't try and replicate that without removing the inner headlining which I didnt know how to do.
I have heard good things about these people:
http://www.cemoore.co.uk/jaguar.php
A bit down the A40 but well worth a call.
http://www.cemoore.co.uk/jaguar.php
A bit down the A40 but well worth a call.
Just to update this thread. Mine is the 2010 XKR. The detachment of the window and roof was all three sides except along the top, so effectively the rear window had flopped into the back of the car and was left pretty much hanging from the top edge. There was still adherence of the old glue to the glass, the separation seemed to be more of the hood material from the glue rather than the glass.
Having done lots of reading on the various Jaguar Forums threads it appeared I could try and re-glue it along the 3 sides with a 3M glue, the Theromix (sp?) that Jaguar recommend or try JB-Weld.
The 3M product wasn't available in the UK, the Jaguar fix is only recommended for 35cm gaps, and not one person who had JB-Welded it reported any adverse outcome. I also watched some Youtube comparisons of JB-Weld vs other glues and it came out clearly stronger then others , so JB-weld was selected.
I bought a pack of 6 window sucker pressers, 2 packs of JB-Weld, some wire brushes and some brake cleaner. About £40 all in. Cleaned all edges with wire brushes and brake cleaner. Then glued the bottom back in first using a pack of JB-Weld and a syringe to apply a neat bead. Clamped the window along the bottom edge and left it to set. Cleaned off excess JB-Weld with a scalpel when half set and then left the join for a full 24hrs to cure. Solid as a rock, nice taut window and roof.
Then repeated the above with the sides.
Really pleased with the outcome, you would never know it's been re-glued. Careful prep. and application means I've got a neat finish with no obvious signs of the JB-Weld other than a thin grey line around the joint. I can't see the JB-Weld ever coming loose, it's set solid with excellent adhesion.
Saved me at least £1500 on a new roof as mine is still more than good enough other than the window dropping out, and a new BAS roof is on a 2 months lead time.
I'll update if it ever comes loose, but I'm fairly sure if I have a problem from here it'll be the top edge when that glue finally let's go, it's bound to at some point, When it does I'll JB-Weld it again.
Having done lots of reading on the various Jaguar Forums threads it appeared I could try and re-glue it along the 3 sides with a 3M glue, the Theromix (sp?) that Jaguar recommend or try JB-Weld.
The 3M product wasn't available in the UK, the Jaguar fix is only recommended for 35cm gaps, and not one person who had JB-Welded it reported any adverse outcome. I also watched some Youtube comparisons of JB-Weld vs other glues and it came out clearly stronger then others , so JB-weld was selected.
I bought a pack of 6 window sucker pressers, 2 packs of JB-Weld, some wire brushes and some brake cleaner. About £40 all in. Cleaned all edges with wire brushes and brake cleaner. Then glued the bottom back in first using a pack of JB-Weld and a syringe to apply a neat bead. Clamped the window along the bottom edge and left it to set. Cleaned off excess JB-Weld with a scalpel when half set and then left the join for a full 24hrs to cure. Solid as a rock, nice taut window and roof.
Then repeated the above with the sides.
Really pleased with the outcome, you would never know it's been re-glued. Careful prep. and application means I've got a neat finish with no obvious signs of the JB-Weld other than a thin grey line around the joint. I can't see the JB-Weld ever coming loose, it's set solid with excellent adhesion.
Saved me at least £1500 on a new roof as mine is still more than good enough other than the window dropping out, and a new BAS roof is on a 2 months lead time.
I'll update if it ever comes loose, but I'm fairly sure if I have a problem from here it'll be the top edge when that glue finally let's go, it's bound to at some point, When it does I'll JB-Weld it again.
Piersman2 said:
Just to update this thread. Mine is the 2010 XKR. The detachment of the window and roof was all three sides except along the top, so effectively the rear window had flopped into the back of the car and was left pretty much hanging from the top edge. There was still adherence of the old glue to the glass, the separation seemed to be more of the hood material from the glue rather than the glass.
Having done lots of reading on the various Jaguar Forums threads it appeared I could try and re-glue it along the 3 sides with a 3M glue, the Theromix (sp?) that Jaguar recommend or try JB-Weld.
The 3M product wasn't available in the UK, the Jaguar fix is only recommended for 35cm gaps, and not one person who had JB-Welded it reported any adverse outcome. I also watched some Youtube comparisons of JB-Weld vs other glues and it came out clearly stronger then others , so JB-weld was selected.
I bought a pack of 6 window sucker pressers, 2 packs of JB-Weld, some wire brushes and some brake cleaner. About £40 all in. Cleaned all edges with wire brushes and brake cleaner. Then glued the bottom back in first using a pack of JB-Weld and a syringe to apply a neat bead. Clamped the window along the bottom edge and left it to set. Cleaned off excess JB-Weld with a scalpel when half set and then left the join for a full 24hrs to cure. Solid as a rock, nice taut window and roof.
Then repeated the above with the sides.
Really pleased with the outcome, you would never know it's been re-glued. Careful prep. and application means I've got a neat finish with no obvious signs of the JB-Weld other than a thin grey line around the joint. I can't see the JB-Weld ever coming loose, it's set solid with excellent adhesion.
Saved me at least £1500 on a new roof as mine is still more than good enough other than the window dropping out, and a new BAS roof is on a 2 months lead time.
I'll update if it ever comes loose, but I'm fairly sure if I have a problem from here it'll be the top edge when that glue finally let's go, it's bound to at some point, When it does I'll JB-Weld it again.
This has been very helpful, I've just found out where my water leak is coming from and thought I was looking at £2k for a new roof at firstHaving done lots of reading on the various Jaguar Forums threads it appeared I could try and re-glue it along the 3 sides with a 3M glue, the Theromix (sp?) that Jaguar recommend or try JB-Weld.
The 3M product wasn't available in the UK, the Jaguar fix is only recommended for 35cm gaps, and not one person who had JB-Welded it reported any adverse outcome. I also watched some Youtube comparisons of JB-Weld vs other glues and it came out clearly stronger then others , so JB-weld was selected.
I bought a pack of 6 window sucker pressers, 2 packs of JB-Weld, some wire brushes and some brake cleaner. About £40 all in. Cleaned all edges with wire brushes and brake cleaner. Then glued the bottom back in first using a pack of JB-Weld and a syringe to apply a neat bead. Clamped the window along the bottom edge and left it to set. Cleaned off excess JB-Weld with a scalpel when half set and then left the join for a full 24hrs to cure. Solid as a rock, nice taut window and roof.
Then repeated the above with the sides.
Really pleased with the outcome, you would never know it's been re-glued. Careful prep. and application means I've got a neat finish with no obvious signs of the JB-Weld other than a thin grey line around the joint. I can't see the JB-Weld ever coming loose, it's set solid with excellent adhesion.
Saved me at least £1500 on a new roof as mine is still more than good enough other than the window dropping out, and a new BAS roof is on a 2 months lead time.
I'll update if it ever comes loose, but I'm fairly sure if I have a problem from here it'll be the top edge when that glue finally let's go, it's bound to at some point, When it does I'll JB-Weld it again.
I've bought this kit
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BWNB2K3X/ref...
£42.99 including the clamps, has to be worth a go. Good tip about wire brushing first to get the old crap off, and I'll carefully mask up the glass and surrounding roof. Wish me luck!
Yep, that's what I did, very carefully masked up both sides of joint before applying the JB-weld into the joint and squeezing to make sure no gunk could get on the visible glass or roof material.
Trick I found for a neat job was to leave the jb-weld for about 6 hours so it hardens to something like plasticine, then trim with a scalpel and carefully peel off the masking tape. Then leave the clamps in place for the full 24hours.
2 years on mine is still in place although I will admit that I've not been using the car as WFH 100% and the car is SORN'd for now, my car did 74 miles between MOTs this year!
Did you try gluing yours yet?
ETA... I just clicked your link to that windscreen glue you used, how did that go? I looked at lots of similar products but felt they might not provide enough mechanical strength given the push/pull flexing forces acting on the joint. I used the jb-weld because once it's set, it's hard as f
k, no flexing possible.
Trick I found for a neat job was to leave the jb-weld for about 6 hours so it hardens to something like plasticine, then trim with a scalpel and carefully peel off the masking tape. Then leave the clamps in place for the full 24hours.
2 years on mine is still in place although I will admit that I've not been using the car as WFH 100% and the car is SORN'd for now, my car did 74 miles between MOTs this year!
Did you try gluing yours yet?
ETA... I just clicked your link to that windscreen glue you used, how did that go? I looked at lots of similar products but felt they might not provide enough mechanical strength given the push/pull flexing forces acting on the joint. I used the jb-weld because once it's set, it's hard as f
k, no flexing possible. Edited by Piersman2 on Friday 20th October 10:26
Well that was messier than I expected but so far about 80% successful. It's been a bit too cold to cure, I think one corner needs re-doing.
Regarding AC, my system actually has loads of pressure but just isn't springing into life. What were the symptoms with yours, I've read something about a control solenoid on the compressor causing issues on these variable displacement pumps.
Cooling system was fine, the original 2009 pump was leaking and it was running down over the thermostat and making that look bad. I was amazed how good all the hoses were for 13 years and 130,000 miles, the only one that fell apart was the nasty bleed hose.
Regarding AC, my system actually has loads of pressure but just isn't springing into life. What were the symptoms with yours, I've read something about a control solenoid on the compressor causing issues on these variable displacement pumps.
Cooling system was fine, the original 2009 pump was leaking and it was running down over the thermostat and making that look bad. I was amazed how good all the hoses were for 13 years and 130,000 miles, the only one that fell apart was the nasty bleed hose.
GeniusOfLove said:
Well that was messier than I expected but so far about 80% successful. It's been a bit too cold to cure, I think one corner needs re-doing.
Regarding AC, my system actually has loads of pressure but just isn't springing into life. What were the symptoms with yours, I've read something about a control solenoid on the compressor causing issues on these variable displacement pumps.
Cooling system was fine, the original 2009 pump was leaking and it was running down over the thermostat and making that look bad. I was amazed how good all the hoses were for 13 years and 130,000 miles, the only one that fell apart was the nasty bleed hose.
The screen is a fiddly job, I did mine in two sections and took plenty of time to make sure and keep it tidy and keep the JB Weld only where I wanted it to go! Regarding AC, my system actually has loads of pressure but just isn't springing into life. What were the symptoms with yours, I've read something about a control solenoid on the compressor causing issues on these variable displacement pumps.
Cooling system was fine, the original 2009 pump was leaking and it was running down over the thermostat and making that look bad. I was amazed how good all the hoses were for 13 years and 130,000 miles, the only one that fell apart was the nasty bleed hose.
Everything was positioned and fitted and only then did I put the JB-Weld into the join with just 1 squeeze so it wouldn't go everywhere, just squidged out and then I didn't touch it for 6 hours until I trimmed it carefully with a scalpel.The water pumps on these 5.0 engines are sure to go eventually, there have been numerous iterations of the part number over the years. I've got 3 of these engines in the household, all needed new water pumps around 100k miles. Standard.
And finally the air con. Yep, what you've described is very similar to what mine was doing. My system wouldn't cool, wouldn't blow air up the screen until I was out and about. I thought it was low gas and got my air con man to re-charge it, but he said it was already fully filled and pressured, but that he was getting some really weird pressure readings across the high/low pipes that he couldn't work out. I did lots of googling and settled on it being the compressor valve causing it, although it's hard to be sure because everyone seemed to be getting slightly differing symptoms from car to car. I suspect the A/C computer gets confused when the valve is playing up and looses proper control of the system. £400 job at my local specialist and all seems good again.
GeniusOfLove said:
Yes fiddly is the word and very messy!
Was that £400 just for a valve fitted or does it need a whole compressor.
Just the valve. The valve is about £100-150 on it's own, the fitting is a PITA because the sub frame is in the way and needs to be moved a bit apparently to be able to get the compressor out to change the valve. I decided when I read that on a couple of websites that I'd leave this swap out to the pro's, and you obviously have to get the air con recharged, etc... as well.Was that £400 just for a valve fitted or does it need a whole compressor.
There are 2 valves in the parts list depending on age of vehicle, slightly differing part numbers. I was going to do the job myself and had bought the wrong valve, and then decided to let the garage source and fit the correct part, so I've go a brand new one in the garage if you want it for 1/3rd price of deaker supplied new one. Would need to check which one you need for your car first though as I've probably got the one you don't need!
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