THE INTERNATIONAL JAGUAR 'S'-TYPE REGISTER FORUM

OK ~ accurate remake or from Jaguar's OE supplier. Sorry to misrepresent.

Wow!, Orlando Your heater box area looks great and the photo of the original takes me back.

I don't think my heater hardura was NOS. It was too new for that. I picked it up in a SNGB trim clearance sale in 2014/15. I'd assumed it had been made up by one of the usual trimmers. Out of interest, here's what my original was like!

Orlando's car. His car has the/an uprated heater.

picture courtesy of Orlando

That is spot on & correct Alan. Heaterbox cover is black hardura felt. Orlando bought one of the last NOS pre-trimmed ones I know of.

mine is just like that in the boot, behind dash, and heater box, and the circular piece around the fan is still there though separating with aging.

Well, I'm going to stick my two cents worth into the discussion about heater box covers and Hardura. I can only speak about my car, a 1964, which I purchased in 1976 and which was just a beat up twelve-year old Jag, original in every way except someone had replaced the engine. I proceeded to restore the car.

As far as the Hardura is concerned, the boot side panels and floor mat were still there but in very rough shape. The same material was used on the heater box and this was literally falling apart. It is a pebbled finish material with a jute backing, maybe 1/8" thick. I don't really know what the surface is - vinyl? A similar material is used as sound deadening on the under dash and firewall but has a much thicker jute backing.

Believe it or not I just found pieces of the Jaguar original material rolled up in my shop. Hey, it's only been forty years. The photo shows the original in the foreground and the replacement Hardura in the background that I bought from John Cox & Sons back in 1978. The only difference is that the texture is just slightly different. I bought lots of materials from that company such as carpet, vinyl, heel pads, Hardura, etc. but they seem to have gone out of business. A number of companies carry reproductions as has been noted. I like Woolies.

I made new pieces for the boot and had them bound at a local shop. I made the heater cover myself, using my wife's sewing machine to sew the vertical corner seams and the binding, gluing the finished cover onto the box. One piece I see missing from some cars is the curved cover with the binding on the front of the motor case.

Thanks for that analysis, Glyn. Very helpful.

Orlando, Yes ~ That looks similar to but not the same as the "Hardura" now supplied by Skinner, BAS et al. It is now provided in a number of colours including black. (Woolies designations are the reverse of what I'm accustomed to. Everybody I know calls the thick stuff Hardura Felt including Jaguar)

I agree for under bonnet "Hardura" looks more period but is still not correct hence my dilemma. My multiple originals were terrible.

Originally it is obvious that the Hardura "cloth" as we shall call it (impregnated cotton weave with vinyl outer finish top side) came in different weights. None of them particularly heavy duty. It is also clear that "Hardura Felts" came in a variety of thicknesses dependent on application.

As best as I've been able to ascertain.

1) Heater Box ~ Hardura Felt thin, trimmed.
2) Underdash, behind back seat in boot, under rear parcel shelf, Hardura Felt thick but in a number of thicknesses.
3) Boot lid triangles ~ Hardura cloth light. Glued in place
4) Boot sides under pump millboards, Boot hinge bracketry etc. ~ Hardura cloth heavy, trimmed & glued direct to bodywork.
5) Boot floor mat ~ Hardura cloth heavy, trimmed/edged over brown underfelt & held in place by black Durable Dot fasteners. (two piece construction ~ not edged Hardura Felt). Skinner grey foam backed the boot mat cloth at one time.
6) Over rear suspension "bridge piece" arch in boot is a heavy brown underfelt pad glued to floor that boot mat goes over. (between chassis rails.)
7) Under bonnet insulation ~ moulded glass fibre chopped strand matt.

This is the hardura I used for the boot lid triangles and various other places where hardura had been used. The heater box cover was also made of similar stuff. Also, a boot mat from Aldridge. It looks and feels pretty similar to what was there originally, but I agree that the modern stuff is vinyl coated, rather than cotton. It still creates just as much dust as the original, though! https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/product/ ... felt-black
I used Woolies' heavy hardura for the underbonnet 'insulation'. My fibreglass had completely disintegrated. https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/product/ ... dura-black
I agree that hardura is not ideal for underbonnet 'insulation' use, but it does look more period than the woven offerings from SNGB and others.