I am in the process of replacing all the wood in my 87. I replaced the wood in my 79 four years ago and, in my opinion, enjoying the beautiful woodwork is one of the best parts of driving a classic Jaguar.

But one problem with the process is that your car is out of commission while you are having the wood re-veneered or are doing it yourself. Here's where it gets interesting. I had our friend David at www.everydayxj.com pick out a complete set of wood and ship it directly to Saul at British Autowood. While my project was in the queue and then being worked on I was driving my car. You can use any old weathered and cracked wood pieces as long as they are not warped and have no rot. The refinished pieces arrived this week and I can quickly install the dashboard and trip computer panel and I'm back on the road while I finish up getting the other pieces in.

Below is a photo of the trip computer panel that I got put back together today. You can really see the book matched pattern on this piece. If you are not familiar with that term, the piece of wood the dashboard veneer comes from is actually split down the middle and opened like a book with the seam running down the middle so one side of the piece is a mirror image of the other side. Check it out on the photo below.

Jeff

 

Saul does beautiful work, I have been to his shop,.

 

The wood replacement project on my 87 is coming along. I discovered an issue that I wanted to document in the Forum for folks installing re-veneered pieces in the future.

The problem is with the glove box latch. It mounts from the back and it has a protrusion that rests up against the back of the wood and the threaded ring around the lock fastens it securely from the front. The problem is the re-veneered door is thicker than the factory door by the thickness of the veneer wood and the clear finish. So when the latch mechanism is installed the push button does not stick up above the cylinder. If you have small blunt fingers, no problem. A lady with long fingernails would not be able to open the latch, or someone wearing gloves.

I went to Harbor Freight and got a $20 dremel-like tool and plan to recess the back of the door so it is back to the original thickness and the latch looks and operates properly. I'll let you know how it works.

Jeff