Yeah, I foundba LOT of little things from a few Jaguars in one of the local yards....nice thing is most people don't take much from them. I found the braces, overflow tank, etc. and got all the exterior trim which was very nice. I also pulled a mint black center console and dash as well as all the dash controls. The aluminum finish was extremely nice-much nicer than what's in the car now. The AC the only issue that makes me nervous to convert over to a GM unit but I'll figure it out.

 

X2 on the AC!! I have a new condenser, radiator & fans for a '96 Camaro. I hope I can figure it all out. Fortunately for me I have a brother-in-law who is a certified AC technician with his own charging equipment. My LT1 is painted and pretty much ready to install. I'm currently replacing the steering, wishbone & cradle bushings. When that's done I'll put a new filter in the 4L60E, new rear seal-already replaced the front-and then attach it back to the engine and drop it in. That's when the real fun starts with wiring, hoses & AC. All that accessory stuff really clutters up a nice, simple installation...sigh.

Great score on all the OEM Jag pieces. Some of those (especially in good condition) are getting harder to come by.

Sneak peak at my LT1:

 

Guys, there's nothing mysterious about my AC. Regular hoses go to all the usual places.

Perhaps there is a different condenser with the conversion, but it all plumbs right into the OEM Jaguar system. If you need, I can get some pictures to show how mine is connected.
(';')

 

Well, I plan to spend the weekend test fitting my dash insert mockup board fitted with Autometer gauges! About 5 hours was spent just on the CAD drawing to get this trial piece cut on a CNC router. I plan to add indicators for the turn signals and high beams. Also, I have an addition to it in which I plan to have a small Jaguar logo routed into the lower right of the glovebox door by about 1/16". There is a technique I'm going to try which involves filling the recessed logo with a grey corian type glue material-letting it dry and then apply several layers of polyurethane coating so the surface is glossy and flat with a 2D logo look. It just seems there needs to be something on the door and a small Jaguar logo IMO would look pretty tough! I'll post more pics as project develops.

 

I've been thinking of doing something similar with my glove box door but haven't had time to give it a lot of consideration. Now that you mention it though, I'll begin thinking even more seriously about how to do it.

I wonder if one of the small badges from just behind the front tire might look OK there. I just happen to know where there are a couple of those.

Thanks for the idea!!
(';')

 

Wow Nice work. Are you leaving out the idiot lamps?

 

The only idiot lamps I'm going to add are different colored LED's for brake warning, left/right turn signals and high beam indicator.

As for the glove box door logo badging, I am going to try to router about 1/16" out of the surface in the shape of the Jag logo, then fill the space with a grey Corian glue material and then once the whole piece is stained and poly coated, the logo will have a 3D look to it but be buried in the clear and I'll cut/buff the dash bezel just like an automotive finish and give the bezel surface a perfectly flat, glass like finish. I can see it in my mind so we'll see how it turns out.

 

You, Sir, are an Artist!

(';')

 

Lol.....thank you for the compliments! Actually, I am a graphic designer who happens to be a builder so I'm more of a design/fabricator I guess you could say. Between the people I have as close friends who are also designers from various industries, we all tend to pool our skills together when it comes to building stuff like this. My personal preference is to completely update a vehicle whether its brakes, suspension, interior or electrical but build it to appear stock-as though it could have been originally built that way to begin with.

 

I would Love to do that with my car but I don't have the skills, the contacts, the resources, the work space nor the time. So I watch others do it and live vicariously through their projects.
(';')
ElinorB.

 

Although I have respect for your skills, I think those gauges are the worst I have ever seen, especially on a jag. They look so cheap and plastic. Not stylish and jaguarish... Especially as you say your intention is to "build it to appear stock-as though it could have been originally built that way to begin with.'

Matter of opinion i guess.

 

Well, if money wasn't an object at all, I'd go with Nexus gauges and a carbon fiber hardboard instead-but like everything, cost is a compromise. Besides, these are easy to read, my dad is in his 60's now and I think its a good compromise-but yes, you're welcome to your opinion.

 

They're fine. Don't yuck someones yum. Thats what my kids learn in Kindergarten. When you do your dash on a CNC and program the machine for hours then you can crack open your wallet and have any gauges you want.

 

Opinions and the internet are two things not going well together :-)

was there something wrong with the original gauges? The wood of your dash seems in good condition. Maybe a bit of varnish. Why did you choose to use other gauges and gauge layout?

Really, I don't mean to critizise all the beautiful work you do! Keep going!

 

Well a couple gauges had the lettering previously "touched up" with what appeared to be white model car Testors paint and applied with a 2" brush....

The oil gauge had been replaced by an Equus gauge which was the only gauge that did work-and I am not a fan of mechanical oil lines-factory Jag or aftermarket it had to go.

Then, I didn't care for the Celcius temp gauge, the tach was calibrated for a 6cyl., the dash bezel (one of many reasons for a replacement) had a universal pushbutton start hacked into it maybe because the previous owner didn't know how to fix the ignition switch? Or possibly related to the crappy wiring job overall for the V8 swap...? So, those things along with a host of others got me to the point of removing a lot of the suspect issues this interior had.

Plus there are other things I prefer such as;

if the column, dashpad and seatbelts are the only things black in an otherwise tan interior, why not have the console black as well? I like to have the black accent carry down through between the front buckets.

 

Ok...quick update-I got the final dash pieces routed and cut. I still need to figure a solution for the Jag logo-routing it out just wasn't an option in the CNC program so....thinking of a flat silver mylar that will lay over the stained surface and be buried in clear. But, the grain is really close to the original a the wood is a ribbon mahogany and is a solid piece instead of a laminate. Just test fitting right now....still need to add turn signal and high beam indicators LED's.

 

OK, You MUST tell us how you found the Exact tree from which the veneer was peeled!!

Joking aside, I don't know How you could get that any closer to an absolute match! I won't Even ask how many boards (or lumber yards) you had to sort through to get THE EXACT RIGHT ONE!!

As I have mentioned above, You, Sir, are an Artist!
(';')

 

Thought:
When I was a kid we had a pantograph that was adjustable for making drawings of various sizes or merely transferring them from here to there.

I have seen very small routers, with needle burs (basically a Dremel on a jig), with which some people make small bas-reliefs. What if you use an image of a Jaguar, tracing its outline with a pantograph onto your glove box door, and then use a Dremel to chew out the material inside the outline, and then fill it with your contrasting media. Would that work?
(';')

 

Do you know if these things have enough bonnet clearance? If they do I would like get one of those (easier said than done here, but anything can be arranged with persistence). One of the problems I had with mine was getting enough air into the system. A filter top on a 14" filter has helped a lot, but really ducted cool air would make more sense. Been thinking I would fabricate something but dont want it to look like a Bubba modification. A stockish looking filter set up would be good, but that nice low bonnet line makes it awkward (and I want to keep a nice low bonnet line).

 

I haven't decided on an air cleaner just yet myself...but I'll be working on it this weekend so I'll have to see what I can come up with. As for the wood choice, I basically sorted through sample at a milling/cabinetry CNC shop until I found a good match-and its called "ribbon mahogany" so at least we have a name for the style and type of wood that I agree looks really close-and being a solid hardboard is a much better quality than the OEM veneer laminate Jaguar used.