Hello,

I've been toying with the idea of getting the wood in my car refinished. I did want to send it off to Saul at British Auto Wood, I've seen his work first hand in a Mark 2 as well as a few E-Types and it's truly amazing, however I'm not crazy about the idea of sending the wood off, as I won't have a set in my car for some time. I've been looking at this website and I'd like to know if anybody has purchased from them before, Jaguar XK8 Walnut Veneer Wood Dashboard Set LHD - XK8 and XKR Interiors. Both options weigh in at about $1,000.

Jacob

 

Just did it, 976.20 GBP for a full set of LHD walnut veneer and a shift knob which I may or may not use, I'd rather have one that matches. For me this is my most exciting purchase to date, more so than wheels. The wood really makes the interior beautiful and mine isn't doing very well, it's milky and cracked.

 

Have only purchased shift knobs from them, two walnut, one ash. They are lovely.

 

I found a few mentions to them on the forums by using the search feature, but nothing recent. When is the last time you dealt with them? I hope they're still in business, I tried to call their phone number to ask a question and the call instantly drops. Also, how was shipping to the US? It looks like they have everything already made, but it's not entirely clear. Interestingly my order number is #000071, which leads me to believe they may have very little business if order numbers are sequential.

Jacob

 

Last order about 6 months ago, I tried calling them about a year ago, but that didn't work. I tried emailing them at the same time, but no response. So, I ordered one, and then, in about 4-6 weeks, one came. Threw two other payments over the wall at different times and out popped shift knobs on the same schedule. Communication doesn't appear to be their strong suit.

That said, your post reminded me I might want more of their stuff. So, I sent them another email. Will let you know if anything comes back.

 

I sent them two emails and got very fast responses, I was specifying I didn't want the black airbag icon as my car did not come with it. I then asked if the sets were made to order as I was interested in time frame and have heard nothing. They said they answer the phone 8-8 and suggested I tried calling again, still nothing.

 

You've gotten more than I have. Perhaps they answer more often if you're not asking about shift knobs, how much it would be to keep the replaced wood, time frame...

Edit: wrote too soon, apologies to them for this time. They wrote back with the answer fairly expeditiously this time. 200 GBP to keep the original wood.

 

Still no response here, I guess the want the time frame to remain a mystery. I sort of want to keep my wood too, though I have no use for it. He asked whether I had sat nav, so he probably has to look at it eventually, even though I ordered it without.

 

Back of new piece

Old piece bottom

Old piece top

So, I got the new piece, the airbag portion is attached with those metal fasteners, I need to reattach the straps to the new piece, how do I remove them? Really stuck here

Jacob

 

Lovely.

Rivets, carefully drill them out. Then get pop rivets and put back in the same size (easy to measure hole diameter and depth, get a cheap rivet tool and rivets for that depth and width).

Gives me hope that mine is not far behind. Their communication is often one way...

 

Huh, an even worse problem. The original piece in my car has what seems like extra lacquer on the back and I cannot figure out how to remove it!





Its holding down the plastic backing and trip computer switches like glue.

 

It's the trip computer that's proving problematic.

 

Razor blade carefully under the edges? I have some plastic ones that are occasionally useful (generally not sharp enough to cut through anything you can't cut through with a fingernail).

 

Yeah I used a heat gun and a long flat head screw driver, the lacquer is insanely tough when thick, the issue is there are metal tabs inside it. I'll see what I can do. I accidentally nicked the edge of the new wood, it's tiny and thank god in a place it's not noticeable or it'd drive me crazy.

 

Well, nothing went according to plan. It's like somebody took apart my dash and discarded half the fixings. The alignment isn't perfect, but it wasn't perfect from the factory either, the original wood is handmade and it's very apparent when you inspect it. There are some imperfections around edges, which wouldn't matter if I were using the chrome rings, it doesn't bother me terribly as is but for the price it's annoying. I got the trip computer switches out eventually, it's attached by metal tabs, I had to shave the tabs down on the new piece as they were too wide, it is very apparent that the original tabs were cut by hand. I used JB KwikWeld as I had an issue with the plastic backing since there was no longer the massive amount of glue to hold the corner down. I'm pretty happy with it however it doesn't align with the other one perfectly but I don't think it's getting any better. I left the airbag piece as I don't have the tools to replace the rivets, I'm going to the shop on Monday to pick up my Saab 900 and they offered to take care of it quickly then. I hate working on interiors, it's so easy to scuff up leather and vinyl bits. Anyway, here's some pictures.


JB weld to secure this corner where the glue was previously

Airbag piece really looks bad now, huh?

 

Who am I kidding, it bothered me too much so I spent another two and a half hours tearing it apart and attaching the plastic backing better using JB weld in the corners. Alignment is better but still not perfect, now I actually think it's the best it can be. For anyone wondering, the hanging button in the pictures is my Bluetooth system's little button which I need another adhesive square for.

 

Closure

 

So, the story goes like this...

A long time ago in a land far away, I liked the wood 'door caps' from Myrtle (xk8interiors) and my wife said 'looks very pretty'. So, then those became 'free' (emotionally). I then (two or three months later) noted that it wouldn't match the rest of the wood, and I probably 'needed' that too. She said 'makes sense'. Again, 'free'. My current shift knob is also aftermarket to match the original wood in the car, but she has the one I need to match the new 'notional' purchase and didn't want to give up hers and go back to plain. 'Free'.

Then I showed her (about 6 months later) the burl steering wheel. 'Very pretty' (i.e. 'free'), says she. Then it was but a tiny little suggestion that the header would look nice with the rest of it to complete the sale.

Ordered 7/20, came today.

The final child has just deferred from her first year at University, so clearly I'll 'pay' next year.

I don't have time right now to put it all on, but looks great on the dining room table.