Hi everyone, just picked up an 02 X-Type for my daughter with 130K miles, she has dreamed of joining the Jag family for years. Got it cheap and it has plenty of problems that will keep my busy for a few weekends. Spent the last 3 days working on it and was able to get a ton of stuff sorted already. (Stripped interior, re-dyed leather seats, stripped/painted center console, changed intake manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, coils, oil, fixed broken drivers door handle, and some other odds and ends) Been wrenching on cars for 30+ years but this is my first Jag. Worked on just about every brand out there and hope to be able to contribute to the forum whenever I can.

 

Here are a few pictures of it all cleaned up and leather redone.

 

Wow man the seats look impressive...I have enjoyed working on my Jag when needed and thankfully it hasnt been too much. Looks sharp!

 

It's my first attempt at redoing leather, and I've got to admit it turned out much better than I imagined. Wish I took some before shots, especially of the 3/4 inch hole in the drivers side seat bolster that needed to be patched, the seats were in pretty bad shape and really stained. The repair glue doesn't set without a heat gun but once I figured that out it went pretty well.

 

Welcome to the forum Itmax

Both inside and outside is looking good. Lucky daughter.

When you get a minute, please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see.

In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

welcome and enjoy the board

 

Nicely done. Sounds like you accomplished a lot in a short amount of time your daughter is one lucky girl. Welcome to the forums. I think you'll love it. Tons of good information, lots of help and plenty of friendly members.

 

Appreciate the welcome, got my work cut out for me once all the parts arrive. Next weekend I'm swapping the torn leather steering wheel out for a sweet wood/leather one, putting on a new center console armrest, changing the overhead console as the one I have makes the interior lights flicker every time you push on the headliner,swapping a broken defrost grille, replacing missing intake resonator box, fixing the broken rear sway bar mount, and changing crank position sensor, coolant temp sensor, trans fluid and coolant. Then it's on to see if I can tackle the gearbox fault and whatever else still needs fixing. When I bought this car it wasn't running, and had 46 trouble codes in the computer so I'm sure that there will be a few more unexpected surprises along the way.

 

Here is the new wheel and airbag that's going on the car. I hope the shade of black is close to what's on it now.

 

Onyx white like mine... Probably cost about 4 grand less...

 

Yup, the White is a beautiful color and I love the body lines. Hope to have less than $3k in it once I'm finished but should know if it was a great buy or a money pit very soon and with 130k miles on it there should be plenty of good life left in it once I get all the bugs worked out.

 

Well you have definitely found the right place to get the bugs worked out no doubt. There are some seriously knowledgeable individuals on here.

 

Welcome, Itmax.....

This forum is awesome...... like your leather interior job....come down to Houston and do mine...lol Your Jag looks great... My wife's best friend has the exact car...a real beauty when all shined up....enjoy!
cheers

 

The seats look really clean, too bad you had no photos of before all the work. I'm looking at doing my seats as well, though I'll wait for summer.

What is your interior colour combination? It sure does look quite a lot like mine (pic in signature), you should be able to find a sticker in the front door well stating the trim colours. Mine are Dove (LHJ) and Granite (LGP). I ask because the steering wheel in the photo looks black (Warm Charcoal, LEG), while the steering wheel in your interior photo looks dark grey (and if I remember correctly Granite as only available with Dove) like mine.

If so, don't despair. My car didn't originally have a half-wooden steering wheel, and when I finally found one with matching veneer after a year of searching, the leather on that was black, not grey. As finding matching veneer is difficult, I bought that one and had it re-trimmed in matching leather at a car interior stuff place.

 

The interior is Dove. Hopefully the black will contrast nicely with the trim that's in it, and if not I'll have to redo the color with some more leather dye.

The steering wheel thats on it is in really bad shape the entire top of it is worn down and split. The airbag is also all scratched and looks pretty unsightly so anything will be an improvement over what its got now.

 

What is the process of re-dying a leather seat? What dyes/chemicals are used? How do you apply it?

Thanks.

 

I used all SEM products and it cost about $80 for everything. First remove the seats, then scrub them with the special soap and a red scotchbrite pad, after that wipe down with warm water and repeat. I couldn't believe how much better the seats looked after the cleaning alone.

Once they were clean, you wipe them down with the special leather prep spray, and then you use their leather repair glue and a heat gun to fill in any cracks or holes.

Mine had a bunch of bad sections on the drivers seat side and center. Put the glue on, heat it up till it dries clear then sand it down flat with 400-500 grit sandpaper and repeat until you have it where you like it.

After that all you do is wipe them down again with the prep spray and then apply the spray can leather dye. A few light coats and they look like new again. Took about 8 hours start to finish and I'm very happy with the results.

I'm not sure what the rules are here about promoting specific products, but if it's ok with the moderators I'll post a picture of the materials that I used if it's allowed. (and if anyone is wondering, I'm not a salesman or company rep) I just had a great experience with this stuff and would be glad to share what worked well for me if it can help anyone else.

 

Hi and a BIG welcome to the forum Ltmax,

Congratuations on your first and excellent and informative post! I will take note!!

Re the wooden steering wheel, I believe the "black" is generic Jaguar "Charcoal Grey" so it should match?

I hope your beloved daughter has said those 3 important words like:

DAD IS GREAT !! ................................................WE LL DONE!!

Your choice of White is amazing! My Girlfriend HATES the white and the red versions But, I love 'em!

And as I have the Blue, just 2 to go for my fleet! And my flag!!

Well Done, Good Luck on your adventure and I hope your Daughter appreciates what an asset you truly are to your family and to the forum, GREAT PREMIER!!
Regards, Stu

 

Thanks for the kind words, my daughter already treated me to dinner and a movie and loves it. She just started nursing school again to get her advanced nursing degree and I thought it would be a nice surprise.

 

Your daughter has GOOD TASTE! Ltmax, a compliment to your efforts and hard work!!
I look forward to your future posts.
Regards, Stu