Thanks, Anjum, will have a look, but the seams are important.
And Kirbert, this is from Wikipedia:
All coupés came with a vinyl roof as standard. Since the coupé lacked B-pillars, the roof flexed enough that the paint used by Jaguar at the time would develop cracks. More modern paints do not suffer such problems, so when coupés are repainted it is advisable to remove the vinyl .
Yeah, but I might have written that, and I don’t know squat!
Hey,
I have an Austrian traditional light beige suede suit that I’ve had on me while driving the coupé. 
And a friend of mine who owns a BRG Daimler Double Six coupé (converted to LHD) gave me as a gift a tie which is made of green safety belt! (To be worn around the neck in our MKV DHC as it has never had any belts) so if I wear those together and get wide whitewall tires, do I get some extra points? 
Don’t worry, I’m sticking to black or grey trousers and Dunlop Aquajets.
Cheers!
It’s completely a matter of personal taste.
Photoshop is a great tool to help making this kind of decisions.
I would wear that…
You could try getting a young person to photoshop the brown on to get an idea, or google images of cars with brown rooves.
Whats clear is that there’s no consensus and it is of course the owners choice.
HI,
Sure, there’s no consensus on what a customized car should look like or how we should dress!
But I think it’s a clear fact that Jaguar had decided that Black is the way to go.
(The show cars in 1973, all the 2-door production cars from January 1975 to the end of 1977 AND all the vinyl roofs on all 4-door Daimler Vanden Plas models and all the Daimler Sovereign and Double Six and Jaguar XJ6 and XJ12 which were delivered with the optional vinyl roof fitted at the factory.
If you want the vinyl to be body colour, paint the car black, win win?
(Just like E-type hardtops)
This is of course just how my mind works, your mind will surely be different.
Cheers!
Take the whole roof form the A pillars to the C pillars as fitting at those points is easier than welding in a roof section without distortion. I wish I’d done that as I just cut a large section of the roof out and have not access to a nice friend who will give me a roof!!!
I will have to weld it in with minimal distortion, panel beat, lead load and paint.
When you have fitted the roof, whichever way you do it, you can paint it and see how it looks before deciding on whether you want vinyl or not.
You could also stick some coloured paper on the roof then to decide which colour you prefer,
That’s the way I will decide but I’m leaning towards the original black vinyl.
For the seams AFAIK its a simple straight fold with a straight stitch which I’m sure some tailor/ garment repair store could do for you. Just note the width and the width of the seam.
Opinions vary. One factor to consider might be originality. Some prefer originality, which would tilt to the black. Others prefer something unique and different, which would tilt toward anything but black. And either way, the decision might impact the resale value of the car. And it’s up to the owner whether resale value is important.
I was talking about my decision for my XJC if it ever gets that far 
not original in the purists way
Many things on mine, e.g. using stainless steel for the bits most prone to rust including a revised drainage system under the rea windows, would/ will not be to everyone’s taste but it is my car, so I fully agree with you.
Mmm, y’know, I think I might stick with black. at least it will be per original.
Crikey, Anjum, I’m certainly not going to remove the entire roof ! That thought terrifies me, but I have done the same thing on a 2002 some years ago, without any distortion - or nothing that couldn’t be concealed, and then it was just painted and there was no sign. At least, the vinyl can cover a multitude of minor sins…
So many thanks, everyone, for your thoughts, guidance and clarification on this subject.
Update on my (interminable!) vinyl roof job, which has finally been completed. And yes, you do have to remove the screens, as the vinyl goes right round and underneath the flanges.
Removing the dreaded glass sunroof was simple. Cutting out a new roof section from a scrap Slll also simple, other than underestimating no. of those very thin cutting discs required - 4 !
Oversized section placed over aperture then marked out from below, final trimming to size easy. I got 4 lengths of steel same thickess as roof, 3" wide and bonded them to the underside of the roof (3M body bonding - amazing stuff!) around the aperture, then the new section just dropped into the aperture and was likewise bonded; no danger of heat distortion. Filled around the join with JB Weld, then 3 or 4 coats of spray filler were sanded and blocked before painting roof.
Vinyl roof - I stuck to black in the end - came from BAS who were pretty good, they said 3 weeks delivery but in the end it was less. It was about twice the thickness of the original but fitted on ok. Well, eventually - had to have 2 goes at it! The first was a failure due to brushing on the adhesive, there were bubbles all over the place. So stripped it off and spent about an hour cleaning off the glue with petrol ! Then went and got 3 tins of strong spray adhesive and repeated the process next day, still a few small bubbles which were removed with careful use of a heat gun but all fine.
Next was the headlining. This came from Martrim and as far as I can see is the same as the original. Martrim were excellent, and they sent a very generous amount of cloth which allows for mistakes. The centre panel had just crumbled away, so got some 10mm foam, spray glued the headliner to it and then stuck the foam to the roof. The edging pieces were simple to recover, and all fitted back fairly easily.
Finally refitting the screens, had these done professionally. New rubber seals. The guy, with my help, had a huge job with the front one and it was in and out 4 times before it dropped into place. The rear one went in easily first time. He fitted the rubber fillers and as he’d been there ages already and it had started snowing I told him to go home and I’d fit the chrome trims. Big mistake ! These were a nightmare to fit and the front ones aren’t really right yet, so will have another go at them sometime on a warm day.
So overall not a bad job and a good end result, with the satisfaction of doing it myself other than the glass. Costs were not much: roof section - free; sheet steel supports cut to size - £7; vinyl roof - £150 or so incl delivery; headliner kit - £54 ditto. Plus consumables - bonding, spray glue, etc. maybe £40. Oh, screen rubbers too, about £50.
No photo? Then it didn’t happen! Show us a picture.
Yes please post a photo Anthony.
Especially the headliner, I am about to do the same job and need to buy the fabric.
What colour is your interior and what colour headliner did you get?
Thank you.
Sounds great:+1:
The 3m bonding glue for the metal sounds ideal, is there a reference or product number?
The cold weather wouldn’t have helped.
I’ve not worn a neck tie for well over a decade…
Ok, will post some photos soon - just need to give the whole car a good clean now, including getting rid of glue overspray !
Aristides - the interior is ‘biscuit’ I think, a pleasant beige sort of colour. The Martrim material is ‘Oatmeal’ and I assume this was the original colour but at some point mine had been replaced with light grey which did not really match the leather, so that was another thing corrected.
https://www.martrim.co.uk/car-trimming-supplies/jaguar-headlining-kits.php
In the UK Myrtle do headlinings including a new fibreglass board, but quite expensive and I could not get them to send samples of material. So I just went with 10mm foam for the centre section, initially I got some high density self adhesive foam but it was not satisfactory as it arrived rolled up and the creases would not come out. Glueing the headliner to it, the creases just showed through the material. So unless you can buy the high density foam already flat and no creases, go with light foam.
Anjum - well, I started with 3M but actually it wasn’t enough and only did half the job. I bonded the steel plates 37.5mm onto the underside of the roof, with 37.5mm protruding into the aperture to take the new section. So for the second half I used Tiger Bond from the local motor factor, which was much easier to apply with a standard tube gun and is a single-part bond. Yes, they recommend 15C minimum, no problem with a heater in the garage for a couple of hours in advance.
Carl - don’t want to leave you out: Jaguar Silk Tie | eBay
Beautifully done jobs! 
Hello, I’m at a similar stage in my restoration, paint job is at last mostly done. I also got a sample of the vinyl from BAS, it seemed to me to a finer grain than the original so I wanted to ask if this was correct and in any case if you are satisfied with the look. I have seen some restored examples where to my eye the vinyl looks too smooth. In which case I would be tempted to leave the vinyl off…
Any photos of the “original” vinyl for comparison would be greatly appreciated!
thanks!
Nick Hill
XJC 4.2 (1976)
I would too Nick…
You have a nice new shiny roof, why cover it up with vinyl that might trap umidity and cause trouble in the distant future.
And in my books, the coupe looks much better with out it.
Hope all is well and all the best.
