hi,

I'm looking for a replacement for my XJ6 and only come across interiors in beige, grey and creme. Not my taste. My crashed XJ has an all black interior (as it must have). So I was cinsidering to swap all parts.

Wheel, dash, instrument cluster, door cards, seats (are the seats prewired to be electrically adjustable or would a harness swap be needed at the same time?), and carpets.

Has anyone atempted to do this? I really don't want to have a bright interior... And as I need a car rather soon, I've got to ask...

Cheers

Damien

 

Damien,

On your list, I've previously changed everything but carpets so it can be done. Once the seats and the console are out then the only difficulty with the carpet appears to be having to remove the sill treadplates to release the outer edges.

Seats could be the big problem. Depending on the Model Year/spec of the donor/recipient vehicles, there's several changes of seat part number throughout the X300 production which could indicate electrical differences. I would compare both VIN
numbers in JEPC before committing to buy.

Graham

 

Hi Graham,

donor is a 95, receiver a 97 (at least planned so far).

So the seats might be tricky part but dash with airbags and co are all interchangeable? Is it a straight forward job? I'm sure it will take a day or two...

Does the instrument cluster save the miles/km driven or the car's ECU (like most modern cars)?

Cheers

Damien

 

Damien,
the mileage is stored in the instrument pack, although if I have understood what you have in mind, that shouldn't be a problem, as the instrument pack is separate from the dash top.
You will be able to swap the dash top from your black interior into the new vehicle, retaining the new vehicles instrument pack and correct mileage.

 

Well my donor cluster is woodfree from factory... So I'd like to carry that over...

 

Check the rear seat belt configuration. It is likely that the 95 has a centre lap belt and 97 has a 3 point centre belt. If that's the case the seat belts and the seats are nor inter-changeable.

 

The instrument packs can be dismantled relatively painlessly, and from memory, I think the trim panels could be swapped. Failing which, the wood effect could be painted black?

 

There's 3 changes of part number for the driver's airbag though the VIN range. The core number HNA9180 stays the same so this may only mean there was a change of supplier or a minor design change.

I'd still be very careful with airbags to make sure they are physically the same dimensions and the electrical connections are identical.

Graham

 

Yes, the instrument cluster can be opened/disassembled easily and the fascia lifts right off. So you exchange the fascia for the plain black or faux wood plastic finish if desired.

Painting the faux wood fascia is also an option.

I painted a faux wood fascia black the other day as part of my project to add trim rings to my cluster. I'll post photos once I have it completed.

.

 

That is real wood, not faux.

 

Apologies, don't mean to be argumentative, but the instrument cluster "wood" fascia is absolutely faux wood. It is a hydro dipped faux wood treatment on plastic.

I have both the black and "wood" finished clusters here at the house, and have sanded down and refinished one of the "wood" fascias and they are definitely painted plastic.

Also having disassembled these clusters, it is clear why this piece is plastic. The fascia piece is too thin to be reliably made from wood.

.... to be clear, we are talking about the "wood" finished instrument surround panel inside the X300 instrument cluster. Black on some models like the XJR, faux burl walnut on others.

.

 

The '95's didn't have a glove box due to fitment of the airbag, whereas the '97 had both. That may create a problem....but it may not.

 

Al is 100% correct. There is no real wood in the instrument pack.

 

My 1995 has (or better had) a glove box...



But heck, it doesn't really matter now... Looks like I'll be looking into an XJ6R instead... They are nearly always black with black interior here and a few ponies more will never go wrong... Just a shame about my super rare cloth black interior... I really liked that more than leather

 

My bad....maybe just the early 95's that didn't get the glove box, then....Or...just noticing your location, maybe ROW MY95's equal NA 96's. I recall some difference as to the MY launch in USA vs. Rest of world (ie. there are 1994 X300's running around that we simply don't have in the USA)

 

I had read somewhere that the earlier 95's didn't have the glove box, but by later that year they did once Jaguar figured out how it would fit with the airbag.

So if accurate, some 95 models may have a glove box.

.