Does anybody have an actual email address for Myrtle Productions in the UK? They show some wood XJS sport steering wheels for my pre airbag '89 XJS. The elm in the photos looks light and the walnut looks darker than my Elm trim in my car. I was trying to find out actual color. Their "contact us" button on the website isn't working and takes me to an error page.

That is the only place I have been able to find and Elm sport steering wheel that is an exact drop in for mine. If anybody has any other sources for that exact wheel, I'd be happy to hear that too.

 

Had the same problem when I tried.
Try this website,
Jaguar XJS Steering wheels - Jaguar XJS Interiors as they do some nice ones or alternatively I bought a wheel from someone that advertises in Jaguar World Monthly on 0044 1425 477856.
Good hunting.

 

Does anybody have a source for wood steering wheels that the same style as the factory ones? I am having a hard time dealing with Myrtle Productions... They offer to make one, but don't say what they'd need or a what price. I ask the price, they tell me whatever it was on the website. It takes 10 days to get a shipping price... etc. Its been back and forth for about a month and I don't seem any closer to getting a steering wheel.

 

Yup, that them all over...l bought an walnut air bag wheel from them as l wanted to put it on my '92. As mine didn't come with the air bag wheel l knew that l would need an air bag so Flebay click later l had one. When the wheel arrived it came without the fireing pin and rear cover for the air bag, so l called them. He said that you have to take off of the original wheel and that as its an early car l will need a small spline adapter from an xj 40. he will look for a pin and cover, never heard from them again.
So a quick call to jag cats and l got both parts and fitted the wheel.
But l must say to those of you who are used to US customer care.......some UK companies don't give a **** and will try and blame their customers and pass the buck quicker than ice melts in Hell. Myrtles customer care is on par with that. As you are finding out, hopeless.


For those in the US there is a company in Altamont Fl. that does wood.stuff, l'm looking at getting the skislope with drink holders from them.

 

Try British Autowood | Dashboard and Woodwork Restoration
He's a British craftsman who now lives in Florida. He does good work, has a Facebook page where he posts photos of what he's done, and he has a store on ebay (US) under the name chap71

 

malc4d,

How do you like the wheel? I am considering purchasing an airbag wheel from him as well, since my wheel is in rough shape.

I bought the skislope with cup holders from the guy in Florida. He uses steel as the backplate for the veneer. The problem you're going to have is that none of the bezel clips will snap into the steel plate because it is thicker than the OEM wood.

 

Although my interaction with them sucked...the wheel is pretty good. Watch out though, I think that the US wheels have a larger airbag so l would ask them if they have a US wheel to send


Steering Wheel and Airbag-Usa - Parts For XJS from (V)179737 to (V)226645 | Jaguar Classic Parts UK

Steering Wheel and Supplementary Airbag - Parts For XJS from (V)179737 to (V)226645 | Jaguar Classic Parts UK


I live near him in Longwood so will pay him a visit in the New year

 

My experience with Myrtle Productions...

Originally ordered the "Jaguar Classic XJS Walnut Steering Wheel" on November 30. Or tried to. Got an email back that they were experiencing problems with their online store, and that I could call them, they could call me, or I could order via email.

I elected email. First sent payment info on 12/1. Heard nothing for three days. I inquired, and was told they didn't receive it and to please resend.

Sent it again that day. Despite asking for an order acknowledgement and tracking #, I never heard from them again...until tonight.

FedEx shows up at the door (after trying to deliver, noticing that there is no matching address...they had the good sense to call me since the shipping address that Myrtle put on the box was wrong), the photo says the rest.

Their customer service is pretty non-existent, at least by U.S. standards, and their website photos misleading...if you look, they show you the wheel with the "insert" in it, not mentioning anywhere that I saw that you don't get that part...but what struck me when I opened the packing was the strong scent of wood (or varnish or whatever they finished it with). Very cool! It looks fantastic, is heavy, in the sense that it "feels" like quality.

How well it fits I'll find out when I install it tomorrow.

Oh, it was packed very well, and FedEx was kind to it. Lots of bubble wrap and wadded-up newspaper. And from looking at the TV section, I see that they have pretty much the same level of programming (crap) that we have here in the states :-)

Thanks,

John
1987 XJ-S V12
63,000 miles

 

How does the color if it match with your dash? From the online photos, it looks darker than the dash in mine and most of the interiors I see.

 

Yes, without a doubt it is darker than the balance of the wood trim in the car. Not by "a lot", but noticeable to anyone but the most casual observer.

Having said that...and not trying to sidestep the issue...it makes driving the car 2x times more fun that it was before! The stock wheel was just too skinny. It worked ok, but since owning this car is as much an emotional experience as anything else, it certainly seems to drive nicer with the new wheel :-). I feel that I have a better grip on the wood wheel than the stock one...somehow it's just more fun.

For the person that wants everything to match exactly, I wouldn't recommend this wheel. My thought is that everything else in the car has, over 25 years, been bleached a bit from sunlight, and of course the wheel hasn't had that experience. But sometimes close is close enough.

Thanks,

John
1987 XJ-S V12
63,000 miles

 

Hello,


If I'm not mistaken, these wheels are "walnut finish" correct? In other words, a reactive paint/ink process to simulate the grain, and then finished in the polyester lacquer. I've always been curious as to how this is done, I'm thinking they might be dipped?


Cheers,


P.S by the way I'm not knocking the product here, I'm sure it looks first class

 

Britishautowood,

I know I bought a ski-slope from you a few years back. Do you make or refinish wood steering wheels too?

 

It's good to see Britishautowood commenting here. This is who I was referring to in my earlier post on this thread. From what I've seen in friend's cars, he does excellent work.

 

Thanks No sorry I don't make a walnut burl wheel for the XJS, only refinish the factory part wood/part leather wheels.


Since we are on the subject, I do make a Walnut burl rim wheel for the earlier cars (E-Type,XK,Mk2 etc). This is a Mahogany rimmed wheel that is veneered, and while they do look great when finished, are a time consuming pain in the ***! I veneer the rim in two halves, attached to the aluminium frame and then there is a lot of "artistic" touching in to be done with various pigments to get it all to blend. Needless to say I've only done a handful so far


Cheers,

 

Here's something that may be of interest to those using a Moto-Lita type steering wheel?

 

Very interesting! How much?

 

For the Walnut burl horn push ***'y, $149.


Cheers,

 

I ordered a Wooden Steering Wheel from MyrtleLTD.
My experience is as follows:

When I ordered it, it was April 22nd or 23rd.

When contacted approximately 1 month after my order was made as to why my order had not yet arrived, they indicated to me that they would look into it and get back to me. They got back to me within a day or two, and advised me that first one they had sent was "lost" in the mail (According to their shipping company- Fed Ex)

Instead of tracking it down, they made me another one and had it shipped out, arriving in early to Mid June.

When I emailed them, they were quick to respond and got it sorted out quickly. If it did in fact get lost in the mail as they say, then it was not their fault.

When the product arrived, I was happy. It was well wrapped and there was a nice lustre to it. There were no chips, scrapes or other damage, and it even had a nice smell to it.
Installation was easy, and it included all the required parts, costing me $60 CDN to have it installed by a Jag specialist.
There appeared to be what I can only describe as "White hardened Powder" where the AirBag met the wood, but it wiped off easily enough.

Although the wood is not a perfect match to my wood, it is beautiful none the less, and IMHO, sets of the interior perfectly. The wood colour looks better in some lights then others. All in all, I would order from them again as they delivered what I was asking for. I have included some pics of my steering wheel.

 

I just received my walnut simulated sport wheel w/o airbag. It does look pretty darn good. I ordered it January 28 and received it today - only 8 days later. I was ready for a couple of weeks wait time.

Like Britishautowood said, it looks like it is some kind of dipped finish and not a real walnut wood. It smelled heavily of laquer or finish when opening the box. But it does look high quality and like it will go with the rest of the wood. I also had Britishautowood refinish my wood and ski slope, and hopefully will be a pretty good color match by having non-faded wood everywhere. I just sent that out to him and he said it would be 2-3 weeks for that. I can't wait to see the wood brought back to life. I'll post pictures when done.

I am going to get into replacing the wheel tonight. It looks like for these non-airbag models, that there are 2 screws from the back which retain the horn pad, then after removing that I can get to the nut that holds the wheel on.

I am thinking I better have my original wheel lined up straight and marked so I can get this one on just the same. Any other tips or advice about removing or replacing before I get into it?

 

living in the uk i have had dealings in the past with myrtle (formally banham) , never again, they supplied me a custom instrument panel, none of the panel lights could be fitted as the supplied holes didn't line up, and the position of the
2" smiths gauges meant they were obscured by the steering wheel, when i
complained about the thought they had put into the dash i got short shrift and then no reply
and never heard from them again