New carpet for the interior
The original carpet was showing its age in places and the underlay and sound insulation were discoloured, rotting and falling to bits because of moisture that been absorbed over the years. I decided to toss the lot out and renew everything.
The first problem encountered was that the original green carpet was no longer available. After some searching I finally settled on a grey/green wool blend English carpet that was used in Series 3 saloons. It was thicker than the original Series 2 carpet with a higher pile and a thick underlay already glued to the underside. The sound insulation and carpet quality was far superior to the original XJC carpet and the colour helped to lighten the Olive leather interior.
The floorpans were repainted with POR 15 rust prevention paint and finished with two pack body colour. Before re-carpeting, new self-adhesive sound insulating foam strips were inserted into the floor recesses and sheets of felt, bitumen and rubber were glued over the transmission tunnel to provide maximum sound and heat insulation.
A common Jaguar problem is the moisture absorbed into the original chip-foam insulation under the floor mats which rusts the floor over time. To prevent this happening in the future I applied a generous coat of Xtroll Rust Conquerer over the newly painted floorpans and allowed it to harden.
When making up the insulation for under the floor carpet I glued together a sandwich of dense “water resistant foam”, felt and rubber. The foam is in contact with the floor and will not absorb or hold water and will therefore not promote rust like the original factory chip-foam insulation. The “sound sandwich” also provides superior noise suppression.
The original carpet sections were used as templates to cut and trim an entire new set of carpets from the roll of carpet that I purchased. Using contact adhesive I glued the carpet where it was originally glued to the floor, sills and transmission tunnel and retained the new mats using Velcro and plastic clips to hold them in place.
The re-carpeting, including the new insulation was a relatively straight forward job and can be accomplished by any competent handyman. Using basic tools and taking your time and applying a little common sense, most people could re-carpet their own Jag. The only external assistance I required from an upholstery shop was to have the protective binding around the edges and new heel mats stitched onto the the floor mats. As an added touch the new heel mats were customised with the words “JAGUAR XJC V12” embossed into them.