I am certain that many forum members here have experienced their own version of project expansion and here's mine:

This all began with my trying to rectify the botched ac compressor installation by a prior owner. Specifically they did not re-install the front compressor bracket which lead me to a salvage yard where the owner was kind enough to remove and sell me the bracket of an '87 vdp. Well this is where the fun began. The interior was complete albeit partially damaged and filthy but since it was vdp trim level it was more sophisticated than my base xj6. I bought the seats and door cards. As a side note, the original well patina'ed seats and door cards, in Mulberry (CEM), are for sale. Here's a pictoral summary of my journey these past 2 months:



here's what the factory installed. cleaned up, it's aged really well



a bit rough but with potential....apparently my fiance didn't have my vision as her comment upon my arrival with my treasure stuffed in the car was, "you are stupid for replacing a perfectly good interior with this junk". yup i get lots of encouragement and support here



i liked the overall look of the vdp style door cards better


hmmmm...let's see what SEM color change products can do




my vision of what jag stylists should have done. another sought after benefit of the vdp door cards is that i could increase the size of the speaker from 4" to 6.5"




of course i did not like the tan headline and trim. really, for what people paid for these cars the bean counters at jag should not have mandated tan headliners and trim unless it made sense with the leather/carpet choice such as black



i came across a beautiful set of carpets and it bothered me to dye them but what are the odds of finding a pristine set of black carpets?


opted for parcel mounted, sealed marine speakers and a powered subwoofer to get a bit more sound in the old girl. i eliminated the rear door speakers. i'm driving the speakers and sub via an ancient pioneer super tuner III with a built in amp pushing 50 watts per channel. here's another reason why i preferred the vdp seats, the rear bench had headrests which hide the speaker boxes. also, the prior owner installed dark window tint on all windows except the front which serves to hide the speakers/sub. fyi, i removed the tint from all the doors....that was not fun


i found a great benefit to these god awful bumper extensions:}

i am very glad this unintended project is done but overall i am pleased. hope you enjoyed the show. peace out, ren

 

very nice job.

 

Well done, that’s a lot of work. How did you fix the ripped driver’s seat bottom on the VDP seat?

 

Turned out great. Well done!

Jeff H.

 

i removed the bottom skins from the driver and passenger seats and had them re-made in wonderful pleather since i was too cheap to pop for a real hide.

 

Retroren, that's amazing! Had someone described what you did, I would've winced and thought "too bad about someone ruining a nice set of seats". But it's stunning! I'm glad you shared how it turned out.

Somewhere in a Jaguar on-line forum are instructions on how to 'collapse' the North American bumpers to a European profile. Looks same, doesn't stick out as far.

 

Kudos to you Bro! At first, it looked like a mistake to remove the original interior, but your final result looks fantastic! Support from our Significant Others can often be lacking, but I don't blame her really, since that driver's seat bottom looked pretty awful! It's amazing what you can stumble across at a wrecking yard, and you made the most of the opportunity. Have you posted pictures of your car?

 

thanks for the compliment. i've been posting bits and pieces of the car as i've been doing various projects like fancying up the brakes or installing adjustable rear shocks. now that she runs reasonably well and the interior is pretty much done, i started wheeling out the paint. once i get a good coat of wax on her, i'll post a few pics of my somewhat revived xj6.

 

You'll have to finish the story by telling us what your fiance said at the end.

Great job, by the way.

 

her comment went something like this: for what you spent and for how long it took, it should look as good as it does....i believe there is a compliment somewhere in there:}

 

here's a few pics since i finally had a chance to wheel it out using griot's complete compound. it buffs out pretty shiny. i haven't even polished yet.












now i have to put my mechanic's uniform back on to fiddle with: left fuel tank only one working, change diff oil, repair cruise control, fix central locking system, verify ac blows cold as after i replaced the compressor/drier/expansion valve and got it charged, i never tried it out. at least will look pretty sitting in the garage.