Hello,

I have acquired a very nice 1986 XJ6 - that unfortnately is in need of (at least) a driver's seat -- current seat has much sun damage and tears.

Looking for a nice Biscuit color Driver's seat -- or possibly both seats/(the pair). Must be in Very Good or better shape - willing to pay decent money for a good example!

Any help, please let me know what you have!

Thanks so much,

Miles
(I'm in Portland OR)

 

Just wondering , why not recover what you have? any seats you turn up are just going to be tired 30 year old units, unless you snag some recovered ones.

 

if you are willing to pay decent money, I agree it is better to buy new leather covers.

and you can find those near you at

BAS Jaguar Trim ( be prepared to wait forever for a reply) http://www.basjaguartrim.com/

World Upholstery ( they reply quickly) http://worlduph.com/jaguar/

in the UK:

John Skinner Ltd. http://www.jaguar-trim.co.uk/

 

I Need to cross-shop, but i went to a well rated upholsterer in my area yesterday and he quoted me $2700 to do the front 2 seats -- which is way more than I had Imagined... I'd like to keep my budget around $1000-ish or less -- and that is why I figured I'd consider a used - but well kept (or previously re-done) seat or seat(s) as an economical option...

That -- or surely another local upholsterer can do much better than $2700. I about fainted!

 

Well, all 30 + year leather isn't perished. Just sat in mine while out on errands.
Clean, comfortable, no bad spots or even loose seams. a lot depends on the PO's location and the care he/she gave them. But, clearly not for sale....


Four ideas:


1. If in the USA, David Boger of everydayxj's probably has a nice pair at a reasonable price.


2. With some fitment, others have reported use of XJ40 seats.


3. A fellow on another forum faced with budgetary limits, chose velour.
Look great. Some cars came that way.. In cold or hot, they feel better tot he posterior.


3. Substitute a top end vinyl. looks alike, and a lot cheaper. Some of the upholstery in the base car is vinyl!!!


A couple of decades ago, I found a partial roll of N...hyde, cheap. The 'vinyl" in my 69 IHC Scout II was lousy. A local shop made door cards and covered them in that material. Slick as you know what. At my request, e ran a double seam across he center. Looked like real designer styling.


Carl

 

$2,700.00 is highway robbery. Just buy two front seat kits in Biscuit from World Upholstery and if you are half-handy with tools, you can install them yourself, no big deal to do.

in the Series 3 XJ, the seat is mounted to the seat frame with one screw, then just pull it out of the car;

the seat Cover is stretched over the seat frame and foam mold and held with clips on the sides and string washers underneath, very simple to undo and redo.

the Back is part of the entire seat frame, and the best way to work with it is to remove the entire seat frame from the car which is held in place by 4 nuts.

otherwise, you can take the new covers to local upholstery shops and get quotes to remove old and install new.

Seat Upholstery, Carpet Sets, Converitble Tops, Headliners, Door Panels and Rubber Seals for Jaguar XJ Series Sedans from World Upholstery & Trim

 

Carl, yes,

only the tops of the seat covers are actual leather, the rest is vinyl. It can be said that all of the XJ-6 upholstery is vinyl except for the tops of the seats and you would be correct.

I've already checked with David and he has nothing worth reusing.

I'm considering vinyl too, leather is a pain. In fact I am considering redoing the tops of my own seats in vinyl because the rest of the vinyl is like new, only the top leather is worn. Nowadays there are "leather-looking" vinyls and I've just convinced myself to bypass the bulls**t and just do vinyl.

Back in 1967, Jaguar went with a vinyl material called "Ambla" for the Jaguar MK-2 seats. A few people protested. But they are not protesting today, because the Ambla has outlasted leather 10 to 1.

 

Fancy shop and Jag owner premium I reckon. Thats about what I paid for mine front and rear in very nice leather. I know its a different country but it is a rare day (in fact one I have yet to see) when something is cheaper in Australia than it is in the US.

 

Jose:


I am off to a good start this morning. I learned something!!! I thought the entire seat in my base jaguar was leather and the other stuff vinyl!! I know the door cards are vinyl. One has a teeny bare spot exposing the backing material!!!


Tis disappointing, huh. A tad deceptive and why???


Kinda like Ricardo Montalban's Corinthian Leather.


Way back when I bought a repo 56 VW. Issues to fix. One was that the seams in the front buckets were split. I removed them. Easy !! I wet to a local upholstery shop in the San Fernando valley where we lived. Honest guy. I can fix that easy, better than new. Resewed in nylon in lieu of the original cotton.


Decades later I paid too much for a 71 Mustang coupe. Red, in and out. Wife's favorite color!!! Couple in distress, seeking a new start. Slashed seats!!!!


I got replacement kits. As you say, not all that hard to R&R.
I remembered an old tactic. let the vinyl out in the sun to soften. Looked just fine.
A lot of other stuff to fix. Brakes, shocks, tires, etc. Although it's 302 V8 was more than well worn, it ran and the car drove very nicely.


Carl

 

yeahh Carl, it is ALL vinyl, except the top or "front" of the seats and backs on the front and rear seats, and the headrests.

all sides and backs of front and rear seats > vinyl
center console > vinyl
center console lid > vinyl
ski slope panel > vinyl (except the last few years they were veneered in wood)
door cards > vinyl
kick panels in front of door cards > vinyl
vent panels on each side of center console > vinyl
black vertical panel towards front of center console > vinyl
black dash cap > vinyl
black foam edges on bottom edges of wood dash > vinyl
black under dash panels > vinyl
black rear parcel shelf cover > vinyl
black air vent on center top of rear parcel shelf cover > vinyl

Many elements of the XJ-6 dash design are first seen in the 1966-1967 Jaguar 420, the rarest of the rarest Jaguars, only made for 2 years.

then the1968 XJ-6 dash design was carried all the way to 1992 with some revisions.

 

You'll also find, if you look at enough cars, that the quality/style/texture of the leather used on the base-level XJ6 cars varies quite a bit. Sometimes even on the same car.

The upper level cars (VDPs, Daimlers, Sovereigns) got a more consistently higher grade leather

Going to all vinyl is tempting because, as mentioned, there are some very nice vinyl materials nowadays. Not at all like the plasticky stuff from ages ago. Or, some go to fabric. A pal of mine had his redone in a very nice tweedy-type material. Looks and feels great and is similar to what jaguar itself used on the non-leather-specification cars.

In my mind, though, a Jag without leather is.....well...you know....just not quite the same

Cheers
DD

 

I meant to mention that my XJS had a true all-leather interior. The entire seats, door trim panels, console....the whole interior. It wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, to be honest. All that much more to take care of.


Cheers
DD

 

We see what you did there, in the upholstery thread :-)

 

I did the velour! I love it

 

bottom picture is an older one as you can tell i was still in process of putting car back together! (before anyone asks why i have no handle on drivers door) lol

 

Sure does look warm and inviting!!! Or cool and inviting? Dependant on ambient heat of the night.


Carl

 

Might be worth dropping a line to these people, they are sorting through a whole load of interior bits and gradually listing on ebay.

JAGUAR / DAIMLER SOVEREIGN XJ6 S1,SEAT BASES BLACK LEATHER PAIR,CIRCA 1969-1978 | eBay

Shipping costs may be an issue but should be a lot less that $2700!!