Im gonna have a go at making my own wooden gearknob in my 1989 XJ40 Sovereign. Does anyone know which wood or which different types of wood and finishes Jaguar may have used in my 89 XJ40? I realize that may be a very broad request...
Ive made a couple before but this will be my first attempt at having an emblem inlaid.

 

Hi David,

If you'll post some photos of your wood trim we'll try to help guess what species of wood might match, but the most likely candidates are walnut burl or elm burl, or possibly ash burl. When I refinished the wood in our '93 and had to re-veneer the metal-substrate trim pieces, I found some sheets of Carpathian Elm Burl at a Woodcraft store that were a reasonably good match with the original veneer. The wood in our '88 was a lighter species that may have been ash burl. You should be able to source a block of any of these species from one of the specialty wood vendors that supply turners.

There are some photos at the link below of the elm veneer I used:

Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page

Cheers,

Don

Cheers,

Don

 

Don, I completely intended to take a picture yesterday while I was near the car. However I was working on my Cortina again (after a hiatus) and it completely slipped my mind. Im hoping to grab a picture wendsday when I go out that way again.

Cheers, David

 

Hey I had a Cortina once!- (mk 3 tho)

 

Mine is a Mk3, green 4 door. It got painted in October 2014 and its been sitting ever since in a storage locker where I couldnt really work on it. However its been moved and now I can...

 

That's a sharp car! We just don't see those in the U.S. Is yours Lotus powered?

Cheers,

Don

 

Wow - nice one - great colour ..mine was brown - not so good a colour!

The thing ran pretty great though, did the Malahat every day for a couple of years but sold it when I got my TR6 finished.

Funny story when I bought it - I got it from an estate, the ex-owner's daughter was selling it. When I rolled up to have a look at it I thought it couldn't be the right car because it was in such great shape and she was only asking a few bucks for it ....

..anyway, We got in for a test drive and boy did it run rough, no power/coughing and spluttering so I asked her what was the problem was & she just replied, "Oh, it's an English car, it's always been like that, they don't have much power".

Popped the hood to find one of the spark plug leads lying on the exhaust manifold, partially burnt through ..so paid her the asking price, (really low) drove over to the nearest parts place for a set of wires and cap/rotor .....

VROOOM!!! power returneth!!!!

Cheers

Larry

 

Thanks! Its got the 2.0 SOHC 'Pinto' engine, I believe it was in the Cortina before it was ever in the Pinto

 

Was your car a 2 door Larry?

Reason I ask is a few years ago I got in contact with a fellow down in Tacoma who collects english Fords. He offered me an entire car for free if I went and picked it up. It was sitting in his MIL's lawn and needed to get rid of it. It had been there for several years and was rotten. Due to the border hassles it would have brought I declined, but instead offered to help him strip it for scrap in return for as many parts as I wanted.

It was a 2 door, and came from the island. It was originally brown, but he said he got it from a shop that painted it silver and did a little custom work. Im not sure it was an original GT, but at the least it was done up to look like one with all the badging and the gauges.

 

Nope, not sporty lookin' at all really - Station Wagon!!

Went like hell tho'

Larry

 

Completely forgot about this thread, untill this past weekend when I moved the car over to the barn to get it ready for it's new heart

Here's the wood in the interior



Cheers!

 

That trim looks like burr (or burl) walnut - It would have been a bit darker when new.

It's like mine ...a bit sun faded ...I like that look though.

Larry

 

+1 on walnut burl. Since it is faded, you may find that a lighter-colored species such as Elm burl may be easier to match when you turn your new knob. You can use aniline dyes or stains to match the wood in your car.

BTW the inlaid lines are boxwood.

Cheers,

Don

 

Perfect, thanks gents!