Hi hm1,

In addition to my July 2014 post, here are more pics and some other mods mods...

Notice the shifter, I made a leather boot to resemble a standard stick shift (actually my J-Gate bezel was bumped up and paint was missing so this corrected my problem by hiding the entire J-Gate)

Also customized my shift knob with a small Arden badge - Ripped the old leather and made a nice cup for the badge...

My hood liner is from a long gone friend of this forum - Gonzalo Duque "Gonzo"

I had to rebuild my engine on account of the Nikasil Bug ! So repainted it while we were at it....

Also - The puddle lamp is a real nice touch for about 20 bucks on ebay...

 

Wow! You must post more pics! I'm definitely going to upgrade the steering wheel now!

 

Nicely done! Watch out for those updated hood vents. The restrict the air a lot. I know that because I had a set both glued and screwed on and, at speed, on the freeway one ejected off my hood like a missile. A surprising amount of air moves thought those things. Sadly it was custom painted. So I now have open grills, in metal, heavily bolted on. It was wild, it went boom and launched up faster than my eyes could follow. Pretty much straight up too.

 

Man I also love the steering we'll swap, the stock wheel in my 03 looks so dated. You guys with black interior have an easier time with this than us non black interior guys.

I'd be willing to invest the time and effort in this if I could find a match for my Cashmere interior.

 

Sirmicroby, that shifter cover is the sh*t...I like....any chance you could share some details on the circuit needed to do the wheel swap?

 

Thank you guys for your compliments and comments. Only true Jag enthusiasts can appreciate the modifications we do. To others is just looks good.

Rob, Love the purple F-Type surely a jaw dropper. And I too almost lost one of those hood vents but was able to stop and remove before I lost it. Fortunately the paint wasn't damaged.

Jandreu, Shifter is one of my favorites... Look and feels like a stick especially with the angle the J-Gate gives to the shift stick.

As for the wheel, a few notes here;
The airbag is not connected (like in my 2014 post) The 2009 steering and airbag is a 2 stage system and not my 2009. I was reluctant with anything regarding the new airbag. Also, since the original steering has no lighting, I needed wires to the steering for my Leds. By cutting the two airbag wires under the dash and jumping the circuit with a 1.5 ohm resistor, the SRS system thinks the driver airbag is functional and the AIRBAG warning light doesn't flash! Now this gave me 2 well needed wires that run through the clock spring and into the steering for my LEDs.

The electronics are pretty basic with 460ohm and 680ohm resistors. Just measure the impedance from the original board as each switch is depressed and replicate in the new board.

The LEDs I used were blue so I had to use teal plastic film to offset the color and a
match the interior dashboard lights.

As for the rest.... its trial and error, fitting, installing disassembly, re-fitting and alot of patience!

The new board and switches needs to fit just right.

 

Sirmicroby, thanks again....while I'm capable of figuring out the circuits this will be a head scratcher, the search is on for a complete wheel in a color close to matching my interior. So far have not found any that the airbag has not deployed. While I'm like you and not terribly concerned with the airbag working, yes I can hear the cries from those concerned for my safety and thank you, and yes If the car is ever resold full disclosure will be made, I would want everything else to work.

If I ever find a wheel I'm sure I'll be asking for some additional guidance!

While I love my wood dash I have to say the brushed metal look on the black interior is excellent. Not to sure what would go well with a Cashmere interior, the search is on....

One more request, could you post a photo of the shifter cover in daylight showing a little more detail, interested in if you went with 4 triangles pieced together or a two PC design.

 

3m makes a black metallic brushed steel wrap that looks amazing with a light interior. I used it in my XF before I had everything carbon dipped. Looks expensive, and very real.

 

Another +1 on the steering wheel.

Sirmicroby, thanks for posting up the pics. Well impressed, and that motor is a work of art.

Mike

 

Jandreu, at first i wanted to find an orginal dark Grey wood interior and missed an auction on ebay for a full dash kit for 600$. Then I tried all kinds of vinyl trims. I started with several 12"x12" sample piece I purchased from Metro Restyling. I tried gloss black, and other styles and textures. I suggest you do the same. When you find the finish you want, you can order a 12"x60" piece and that should be enough (don't forget door switches). As for the steering wheel, for your tan interior I would suggest to have a steering recovered either locally or from someone who does this professionally. And buy an extra piece to do your shift boot.

I recommend making your first boot with trimmings of any color. You can get this at a tack shop. I found mine at a fabric store. I made my boot out of 2 pieces. Make it wide at first. The shifter travel is long from parke ti drive and if the leather is too tight, it will pinch between the stick and the j-gate. I used to thin leather and stretched it around the outside of the j-gate. Then pushing the j-gate bezel over the leather will keep the boot in place. The shap of the boot needs to be somewhat like a rounded mountain top and not like a pyramid.

As for the AirBag, you can just paint it to match. It is very hard and not soft as you would expect. So any color would work. - I paid 250 for my steering new in box on ebay and about 200$ for the AirBag. It's not a cheap and easy overall mod but we'll worth it!!

 

Here is a pic in daylight and a rough layout of the cut leather.

 

Jandreu I said Tan but ment Cashmere - sorry

 

Is this just a Jaguar thing, or is it possible to do this on other makes/models? Looks great!

 

This is an old thread but if you can remove and disassemble the part you can wrap it. There are also kits online, here is an example: https://www.rvinyl.com/Carbon-Fiber-...iber_dash_kits