Head’s Up – Retrimming the Hardtop on the 1973 Jaguar E Type Series 3 Roadster

Picture of By Craig Ranson
By Craig Ranson

From our last post, you saw our in-house restoration technician Scott busy at work in the workshop at Bridge Classic Cars plumbing and wiring the freshly built 5 litre V12 that sits at the heart of this gorgeous E Type Roadster. While that has been going on in the workshop, one crucial piece has been in the trim shop under the talented eye of our expert trimmer Brian.

The hardtop. An important part of any Roadster has been carefully painted by our amazing in-house paint shop in glorious deep black. Then, it was time for Brian to work his magic. Slowly and methodically, Brian began to remove the old headlining to reveal the shell underneath. Some of the material was saved in order to create the templates for the new pieces that would be needed to completely restore the hardtop to a standard matching the car itself.

Brian worked through the hardtop piece by piece to ensure the best and finish possible on such a bespoke project as Fern Grey. Even taking care to form the new openings for the speakers that sit in the pillar behind the drivers and passengers headrests. Once the underlay had been put in and secured, Brian then got to work with the finish touches.

Using swatches of existing black material, Brian took the time to find not only a close colour match but also a complimenting texture to work with the hardtop shell but also the other interior pieces that are in dark green leather. It’s these details that truly make this build, one of a kind.

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