I have an XJ Sport here in FL and the veneer is beginning to crack worse. The veneer had a few hairline fractures before, but I noticed the enamel beginning to crack in a worse way yesterday- so I put some protectant (Armor-All) on it, which I'm confident has compounded the situation. Also, my favourite piece of wood in the car, the passenger door window-switch panel, had a massive chip at the bottom of it now. How can I prevent any more of this from happenning? The rear doors are mint, but the front doors (and one tiny bit of the dash) are cracking up. I would like to know if anyone else has had this problem with an XJ.

 

Hey there Ian, sorry I can't help that much but have you looked at this "Wheeler Dealers " rejuvenation on an XJS?
They repair many parts of the car and one of them is damage to the centre console veneer......you may find it helpful


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fUllsgOG8k

 

Fascinating video!

 

A lot of fun to watch for sure! Makes me want to tackle my head liner. It's a little saggy at the rear.

 

I love Wheeler Dealers! That veneer he replaced was in VERY sorry shape... I have a few cracks in my front door panels (and only there - I would guess that the shock from door closing must cause it), but otherwise it's still very nice. I'm toying with trying to wick a little bit of varnish into the cracks and see if they disappear somewhat. Anybody tried this before?

 

I've been waiting a long time to use this joke: It must be a case of "veneereal disease"!

But seriously, I see Jag wood veneer trim for all the time on FleaBay. Is it worth trying to refinish any of these, when replacements can be had for not too much?

 

Haha JimC64, I have actuially seen that. Sadly, it would turn out worse in the end than it is now. The cracks aren't really really bad like they were in that XJS.
And the Ebay thing might be a god idea I'll look it up. I just hate the idea of this wood getting bad, I mean it looks perfect in the car, better than on most XJ's. Thanks!

 

Yeahhhh, Armor-All is a "no no". Its a pretty horrible product and can damage many different materials used in the interiors of cars (I'm in the car business and we always shake our heads when people mention that they use Armor-All in their detailing regiments). Anyway, once the clear-coat/enamel starts cracking, it basically has to be completely refinished. But, apply some wood furniture protector/cleaner, such as Pledge on it. It may help a bit. To answer the final question of your post, most X308s or any other car with real wood trim, are subject to cracking and/or fading. The previous owner of my VDP had parts of the dash trim, some door trim, and the wood tray tables refinished under warranty by Jaguar. Unfortunately for you, it is well past the warranty expiry. I've also heard from a VERY qualified Jaguar specialist that post 2000 (I think?) Jaguar started using a less effective finish on the wood, which often resulted in milkiness or cracking.
Anyway, good luck with preventing those cracks, and really, cracks in wood aren't all that bad. It shows that its real. Gives it character

Ps. Beautiful XJ Sport!

 

Just an observation for the purist out there. It's my understanding that all the trim for a single car comes from the same piece of veneer. This way the grain matches as you look around the car. If you buy bits and pieces the grain will be different. I've bought separate pieces (love ebay) and would rather have nice looking uncracked pieces that may mismatch than to have cracked pieces that match. Just wanted to throw that out there.

 

One of the most expensive Stradivarius' has about 5 or 6 "stabilized" cracks in it...

 

I've got three barely visible cracks in mine. You can only see them in the correct light and angle, but I don't think I'd touch them yet. If they get any wider, I think I'd wick/brush something in there to 'stabilize' them as mentioned above. I also like the wood to match throughout, but I have seen replacements done that are very hard to tell. I'm sure they were picky of what they used. You'd have to be a purist woodworker to notice the difference.

The Stradivarius is an interesting comparison. We do drive the Stradivarius's of the Auto World, don't we. Although, lucky for us, the prices keep dropping, and not rising.

 

send your wood to madera concepts. they will sand off the old clear and respray it with new clear. if you buy ebay wood pieces they will not match your current grain would be my guess.

 

There's another place in Florida called Britishautowood that I used to have some wood refinished. The owner's name is Saul and they are pros at this. I've done some woodworkiing in my time. I refinished my old XJ6 dash and that wasn't easy, but the wood on the XJ8/VDP is finished with polyester, and it's darn near impossible to get off (without ruining the wood). I happened to get a 2001 VDP that was in the "milky wood" era. Some owners were smart enough to take their cars in to the dealer and have it replaced under warranty. The original owner of mine was not so smart.