I've been very impressed by the engine detailing by XKRacer (Paragon Design UK), as exemplified in this photo:



I've especially lusted after the alloy coil covers with the "-- R --" logo that Paragon sells for £400 -- about $550 at today's exchange rate.

Recently, however, I found that Jaguar makes two styles of plastic coil covers that fit my XKR. The ones I have are parts number AJ86177 (right) and AJ88281 (left). The alternative coil covers are parts number AJ88281 (right) and AJ88280 (left). Yes -- that's right. Two parts that look completely different share the same part number (AJ88281).






(To further confuse matters, there is no difference between AJ88280 and the "alternative" AJ88281.)

I then had a thought: perhaps I could modify a couple of the alternative (plastic) coil covers to look like the alloy ones made by Paragon, using fiberglass. (I had experience with fiberglass from building a couple surfboards in high school.)

The parts I received had two parallel grooves running the length of the cover and a rough textured surface.



Without going into great detail, I used Bondo filler, fiberglass cloth and polyurethane resin, plastic adhesion promoter, 2K aerosol polyester primer surfacer, 2K aerosol high-temp gloss red engine paint, decals with the silver “—R —” logo, and chrome screws and washers. I also used a Dremel tool with grinding bits, a cordless electric drill with sanding discs, sanding sponges, and a filter mask (for sanding) and a respirator (for applying the paint).

(I found a guy on the UK eBay site who makes decals of the "-- R --" logo for brake calipers. He was able to enlarge the logo and make decals the size of those on the Paragon coil covers.)

Here is the result:






The photos show that the chrome hardware on my covers isn't functional -- it's purely "for show". Instead, the cover still snaps onto the posts protruding from the engine.

And here's what it looks like installed:



Next project: painting the supercharger and thermostat housing the same gloss red.

 

Very nice

 

You need to get shock tower caps to clean up those holes. I see you have CATS suspention, there is a specific part number for those that have holes for the wiring. If I get a chance, I'll hunt up some part numbers for you.

 

Thanks -- I've actually ordered them from Palm Beach Jaguar -- they should arrive soon. Not quite as fancy as the chrome covers, but much more affordable! I could use a source for two of the caps that cover the nuts. (I just got four on eBay for $10 each... next cheapest seller wants $20!)

 

In my post, I forgot to mention another advantage of my "faux metal" coil covers -- because Paragon's coil covers screw onto the valve covers, the only way I could use them would be to swap out my valve covers (with the snap-on posts) for the older style ones (that accept screws) at a cost of around $700. Just can't justify over $1,200 for a couple of fancy coil covers...

 

Can you provide the sellers name or link for the decals?