For those that haven't kept up with the story, I bought a 1987 XJ6 with a custom steering wheel -- custom meaning a Jag hubcap super-glued to part of a Tropicana orange juice can stuffed into the front of what looked like a cheap parts-house steering wheel.

There wasn't much to like about it, frankly, but one thing I did like was the fatter rim size and smaller diameter. I don't like the "bus wheel" feel of these old Jags.

So we finally swapped it out with a wheel from NRG. Here's a before and after...

Before:



And after...



I think the wood color matches better now (it's actually better than this picture, thanks to sunlight angle), plus I like having the leather and wood pieces where they are. Very comfortable.

Jess

 

Well, not exactly my taste, but if you are pleased, that is what counts!!!


And for sure, worlds better than the original "concoction"!!!


Carl

 

I give you an A+ for effort but it would not have been my first choice.
I believe the XJS steering wheel would fit your car nicely and it would be a genuine Jaguar part. You can find these online all day long.

 

Looks good to me.

The first was, well, something "special" for sure.

 

Nice, but not my style. Much better than the last one.
I'm going to have a look at this one on a local car being parted out. Still waiting for a price from the seller.

 

That's an Enormous improvement!
(';')

 

Unless you never park in the sun.. you want to avoid those rivets.. they get HOT!

 

Nice. I don't think I've seen one with the leather like that. It would be nice to see a photo from further back to see how it blends with the overall look of the dash.

 

Very Nice, JessN16! I am especially impressed with the craftsmanship. Excellent upgrade.

 

Here you go ...

Before ...


And after ...



Note particularly the amount of standoff the old wheel had; that's not because I had the telescope extended, it's because that's as far down the column as the old wheel would go. And it just had two bolts holding it in.

Not to mention that if I ever rear-ended someone I was going to get a hubcap to the face.

For those who would like to see a wheel like this in an actual modern car, a lot of Lincolns have this same leather/wood pattern on the top and bottom gripping surfaces. I can shoot a picture of my wife's wheel for comparison. It is extremely comfortable to drive, as you can move your hands to different parts of the wheel to change up the feel.

Again, I'm not sure why the pictures of the new wheel make it look like the wheel is much darker than the rest of the dash, because it isn't the case. I will say I shot the new pictures with a cell phone camera; the pictures of the old wheel were shot with a high-end Pentax DLR.

Jess

Jess

 

Jess:


Ouch, the cell picture is better than the high end Pentax. Not questioning your ability as a photographer, but often the equipment is too complex. Me!!!


But, yipes, the picture of the old wheel in situ makes it even worse. good riddance of that awful messing with a good thing. I shudder to think of the punch in the chest that thing would deliver in the event of a collision.


Because of my former profession, I am sensitive to those things.


I hope you dumped that thing in the garbage to make sure it did not find its way on to a car and hurt someone.


Light and gloss make big differences. In my former profession I used a camera or two. At times, my limited skills hampered my ability to depict what I wanted.


Nice car, no question. Although, I said the new wheel isn't my taste,
it could grow on me....


And, for d.... sure, it beats the h... out what was there!!!!


Carl

 

Carl, do you notice in the two pictures of the new wheel (taken with the cell phone) how it looks like the wood itself has darker and lighter areas in the grain? That's not really there. I don't know what the phone is seeing. Also, there's a discolored spot on the glove box lid in the cell phone pic (also not there in real life) and the overall Jag dash is darker, more like what the Pentax captured. The phone seems to be much more sensitive to UV light and glare. I think I had a polarizer on the Pentax lens when I shot the old pics.

As soon as I uploaded these last night I started kicking myself for not taking both sets with the same equipment.

Jess

 

Nice improvement!

 

Ya, that fits in very well. Very nice.

 

Jess:


Naah, pick better reasons to kick your self. The salient points were
illustrated.


In my earlier years, I tried a manual SLR. I included bracketing F stops on pictures. Then, I decided, running the camera was detracting from what I was doing in the first place. Investigation!!!


So, I got a RICOH programmable,. and shot almost everything in "point and shoot" mode.


In my last year or so, I went digital. I still have the old Olympus. It still does the job, but lacks a USB port for easy down loading. But, still distrustful in a couple of ways, I did the shots in each.


I recently disposed of the old 35mm RICOH!!!


To the point, nice car, enjoy it.


Carl

 

I liked the older one until I saw the second set of photos - yeesh that really was bad.

Definitely an upgrade in the right direction.

The coloration thing is probably lighting related to the aperture of the camera and the difference between that an the human eye. Glad they look closer in real life - mine isn't a very close match but still a huge upgrade from the rubber black school bus. Plus the rubber is IMPOSSIBLE to clean as opposed to the wood.

 

Added this one to my 87 VDP 15 years ago. Has held up well with a modern look.
Matches dash wood nicely.