HI All,
Any companies out there make a sportier dash for the xkr? The wood is very nice but I like something more like a brushed alum. any companies make this?

I imagine this is considered heresy but thought I'd ask!
Thanks
Chris

 

Sure, find yourself a full set of the carbon fiber pieces, in fact, there's even a member on here that wraps his own stuff in the material. That might be what you're looking for. Found in the victory edition jag xks.

 

Replace the most gorgeous wooden dash pieces in the world? Oh, I have to go lay down now as my head is hurting. I can't stand the pain..........................
Brian

 

Thanks for the pics!! That's what I'm talking about!!

SOrry, I know it's anathema to replace a wood dash!
Chris

 

You might check with upholstery places, as the carbon fiber can be wrapped around anything...it may be as simple as removing, wrapping, and reinstalling.

 

"Replace the most gorgeous wooden dash pieces in the world? Oh, I have to go lay down now as my head is hurting. I can't stand the pain..........................
Brian"

ME TOO!!

 

Me three

 

Me four! Say that real fast in your best Bostonian accent and you get charlie chan!

 

As a hobby I make furniture out of walnut, cherry, mahogany and oak and to cover the grain with something other than lacquer, varnish, shellac or just several coats of wax is insane. How could you desecrate this beautiful driving machine? And I thought you loved this car! Well just another thing I do not understand.

 

As I have opined before, while I think the carbon fiber stuff looks okay, I believe it is just the trend-of-the-moment. I would be willing to bet that if for the next few years cars came standard with carbon fiber or brushed aluminum dash panels, then wood would become the sought-after option if offered.

As an aside, I think the stupidest and unattractive things I have ever seen (and I have seen several of these in southern California) is the carbon fiber hoods or other exterior pieces on cars. Of course when I have seen this 9 times out of 10 it is on some rice-burner (if you know what I mean).

Doug

 

Oh yah doug, we know what you mean...(cringing smiley)

 

To expand, the carbon fiber hoods (or other exterior pieces) have an odd distressed look (like the hood caught fire) from most angles until you get up close and see that the hood is actually carbon fiber (boy am I impressed--NOT).

Similarly, the other dumb look I have seen on a few cars is the "stealth bomber" matte black paint finish. I have only seen this on maybe 2 or 3 cars now and in all instances they are some super high-end model (Lamborghini Gallardo or top-of-the-line Mercedes sedan). As if these "hey look at me" cars needed something more that shouts "hey look at me".

Being a 1970s muscle car vintage guy, I find it curious that super high-end luxury sedans like Mercedes and BMW are striving to be the bad-boy muscle cars of today. But I digress.

Doug

 

I went to the Turkey Rod Run in Daytona Beach last Sunday in the hopes that there would be many cool Jags and lots of Jag related items and parts at the Swap Meet. I had several un-needed parts in my trunk as well as a printout of every part for my car..........I was prepared! Not one Jag part to be found, and only 3 lousy Jags out of literally thousands of cars. That being said, it was a very cool show anyway, with unbelievable body artwork to admire. I saw something like what you are talking about in that some of the cars looked beat up as Hell, only to find on closer inspection that they had an intentionally "distressed" looking paint job. One of the cars looked as if it had just been pulled out a salt water lake after sitting for a few years! Interesting, and a neat curiosity...........just not my cup of tea.

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but for me, the Jag Interior Woodwork is a major piece of what sets it apart from mere mortal cars. I have taken that idea few steps further by adding Burl: Complete Console, Mid Door Panels, Door Handle Surrounds, Steering Wheel, Steering Wheel Control Surrounds, Handbrake Handle, Gearshift Knob and Ceiling Light Surround. Yeah, I like nice wood! A German friend was visiting a few days ago and when he opened the door he said it was like stepping into a nice Living Room. That works for me.
Brian

 

A quick question. The amount of wood in my 2005 XKR looks just about right but I have always felt that the door handle surrounds should also have been wood or something other than the plain looking colored plastic. Are these pieces reasonably available in wood and would they be a decent match for the original wood (I believe walnut burl)?

Doug

 

Brian,
Is your work in veneer?

 

Doug,

You can do most anything with veneer and you can shape planks of wood to do most anything if you have the right tools. Working with veneer you must have a clean surface, steam and a lot of patience. I usually use lacquer as a finish in fact I made a walnut shifter ball for my 95xj6 with 10 coats of lacquer finish and it has held up for about 3 years. I have no idea if replacements in wood are available.

 

Check this out http://www.maderaconcepts.com/NewSite/Madera_home.html I just found this on the web. or this one http://www.britishautowood.com/

 

Hi guys,
Yes, my additional pieces are all a Walnut Burl Veneer, made to order by Myrtle Ltd in the UK. He was VERY reasonable, and I found his work to be excellent. As far as it matching perfectly...........not quite. My dash is very distinctive, and I think that it would have been near impossible to have a perfect match. In making small pieces like the Door Handle Surrounds, it doesn't make any difference. With a huge piece like my Console, it is apparent that it is somewhat darker than the dash....................still drop dead gorgeous though. Myrtle only works on a few high end cars, and they really specialize in only a couple of items. I was lucky in getting them to branch out a bit and fill my custom order. One of their main items that they sell on eBay is the Burl Steering Wheel. My 2000 model came stock as a wood laminate rather than Burl. Myrtle makes a Burl steering wheel that is also a bit thicker than our stock one. Quite nice! I know that many people want to keep their cars 100% original, but I like customizing.........tastefully.
Regards,
Brian

FYI
This is his site:
http://www.myrtleltd.com/

 

I have done similar to my car with carbon fiber starting with the factory dash kit from a Victory Edition, along with the door panel inserts-innner door handle trims-ash tray lid-center console lid-seat belt trims as well as the overhead console & soon the seat runner trims, sill plates & lower a trims. I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

 

Very true! As diverse as they can be, I have never seen any Jag interior that I did not think was beautiful. OK, maybe only that one in LA that had a Pinkish-purplish dash............
Brian