Hey guys here are pictures of a project I have just completed. It is my friends car which I have spent the last 12 months or so working on after hours.

Here is a couple of details.

Interior:
Red leather seats and door panels.
Red leather on bottom on dash and center console.
Black alcantara on top of dash and door panels.
Black alcantara headlining.
Black carpets and custom Black floor mats with Red leather binding.

Exterior:
Full matte black vinyl wrap.
Satin Black wheels.

Let me know what you think good or bad.

 

Not all of the features are to my taste (matte finish) but the interior looks great.

I really like the leather dash and had been thinking about something similar. Did you remove the dash or somehow manage to cover it in place? Any trouble getting buttons to fit once it was covered?

 

This matte paint thing is all the latest craze--until it will not be! I don't recall seeing anything stupider or more lame looking than matte paint jobs. Almost every time I see one of those gems I (mistakenly) find myself thinking that the car is primed and ready for painting.

Sorry to be blunt but you asked

Doug

 

Welcome! Well taste is quite a personal thing - it would be boring if we all liked the same things, so with that in mind I'll be a little more polite.

I actually like the Matte wrap. It gives it a bit of a fighter-jet look. The nice thing about wrap is that I guess you can take it off later if you want to change the look again. I also like the red leather. Where did you get the leather from?

I prefer shiny wheels and personally I don't like the 'alcantara' finish on the steering wheel, but I have an aversion to suede-like finishes on anything at all that I have to touch - just some personal weirdness I cant explain.

More important than my view is, what does your friend think of it?

 

It's not really to my tasts but it does look well done and will certainly turn heads.

Mark

 

Big fan of the red leather. looks like a very well done job.

Not so fond of the black alcantara, but it looks better than I would have expected. Take it off the steering wheel please, makes it look like one of the aftermarket wrap-arounds you find in the sale bins.

Can't decide about the matte finish. Wouldn't do it for myself.

 

+1 on the fighter jet look. "Stealth". I think its cool. The steering wheel does look a bit too thick but that's small potatoes against the rest of the canvas you created. I have been thinking about some wide rally stripes on my gray '01. That matte black might be the right color. Thanks for sharing...whether I like em or not, I like seeing what others have done with an open mind..keeps this whole XK adventure interesting. Thanks! Jac

 

Thanks for the input and opinions.

I stripped everything off the dash but left it in the car and removed the windscreen (which broke). I used skived leather which is thinned to 0.9mm so clearance for buttons and the glove box and things weren't a problem.

Haha no need to be sorry the matte black is either love it or hate it, it is only vinyl so it can be removed and return the car to its original paint.


The steering wheel was an experiment as I personally hate wood grain in cars so could either cover it with leather or alcantara. Im happy with the result just not sure how well it will wear.

 

Black wheels just look like dirty old steel wheels, isn't that why we went to Mags and Chrome.

I don't care for matte black either. car companies could save a lot of money on paint if the craze catches on.

 

I think the red interior is horrid. I do love the matte black vinyl wrap though.

The only thing that looks bad is the orange lights on the sides. They look MUCH better clear.

 

Nice job. I gotta give you credit for trying out something new!

I think matte black looks good on some cars, especially those with very sharp angular lines (think Nissan GTR or Cadillac XLR). I don't think it matches our Jags well however.

I like the red interior, looks great in my opinion. I'd love to cover my dash in leather too. Not digging the alcantara, but thats my personal taste.

You should VHT smoke the orange signals to blend them into the matte black finish in my opinion. I think it would look a lot cleaner overall. Happy modding!

 

I will be changing the orange lights to clear in the new year along with a new emblem for the front. Hopefully I can find one the same as the center caps but with supercharged on it.

 

You've certainly had some flak!

No denying it's a quality job and all credit to you for the time and effort involved.

The only absolute no-no for me is the steering wheel. If you and the owner don't like the natural wood grain finish on the veneer then why not refinish in satin black. This would match the remainder of the styling and is much safer to grip.

Graham

 

Don't mind the interior, if it had been quilted I would of hated it but like it is works, not a fan of the alcantara steering wheel.... I have also done the carbon wrap on the wood panels which I like.....

Needs lowering at the back, you have gone so far with some striking ideas but the rest of the car looks almost standard, when you do something like this I really think you need to go the full hog, even the XKR I wrapped I think the owner should of gone further and I did change some of the panels....... This is all my own opinion of course which is often up for speculation




Might be able to help you with a badge too

 

Looks like you've done a top quality job there mate. Should be proud of yourself. Your friend is very lucky.

Is this something you do professionally, done before, or just had a stab at?

 

Haha that's all part of the fun of doing something different.

The steering wheel seems to be generally disliked but I think it looks good and its nice to hold. If it wears badly I will just redo it in Black leather.
The owner and I have discussed lowering the car which he will look into in the new year.

I work with leather in new cars but its just fitting supplied covers. I do any custom work at home in my spare time. However this was the biggest interior fit out I have done and the first time I had done a dashboard without removing it. This was all so my first attempt at vinyl wrapping. I just watched some youtube videos for inspiration.

 

Not a fan of red myself, but it looks nice on that car. I also went with a carbon wrapped dash and flat black wheels. Don't mind the steering wheel but think it needs some contrast (that's a lot of black), problem is it does look like it came off a Dodge to me. The wood looked out of place on my car so agree with covering it up. Shame no one makes a brushed steel wrap in black. I tried the silver and blue and it was just too much.

Would love to see a better shot of the headliner. I really hate that on the stock car, particularly the trim around the window. I took the chrome ring kit and used plasti dip black to set off the gauges a bit better. I may eventually have them powder coated black.

The leather work is stunning. I'm OK with the flat black, thought of doing that, but I so love the blue on my car that I can't. Looking at your car reminds me I need to lower mine, both need lowering.

 

The steering wheel seems to be the most unpopular part.

What about one of these:
Jaguar XK8 Carbon Fibre Steering Wheel - XK8 and XKR Interiors

or this one (which I like better):
Jaguar XK8 Carbon Fibre and Leather Steering Wheel - XK8 and XKR Interiors

Not exactly cheap but if you are really trying to finish off a certain look...

For that matter, could you do a carbon fiber wrap on the wood parts of the wheel?

 

The car looks fast just sitting there. It looks like it wants to eat something NOW!!!! I am not really a Matt finish fan but for some reason this car looks mean fast. It also looks like there was alot of time and effort put into the job, Nothing to fault there.

I guess you can nit pick but over all the car is really an eye catcher.Hard to believe it is a wrap & not paint.

Good work.

 

Having a black coupe, I have always been curious what it would look like in flat black. Now I know! Bad ***. Well done.