I have decided to upgrade me seats in my MK2. What seats seem to work the best? I hear the 1990-1995 xj40 seats work. Any opinions? Also does anyone have experience with dyeing leather seats?

 

I agree that Mk2 seats are not comfortable for long journeys. XJ40 seats seem to be the usual choice and I believe most find them good. Sovereign/Daimler series 3 XJ seats vaguely match the Mk2 pattern, but aren't great for comfort. I have some old series 1 XJ seats that are passable for comfort and look of the time, but don't match the rear seat. Also they weigh almost nothing compared with the original Mk2.

Many years ago I recoloured my Mk2 seats to original with a kit from Woolies. It covered the cracks and scrapes well.

 

The Best recolouring & restoration of leather we have found in SA is Gliptone UK by a country mile ~ nobody else comes even close. They also have a factory catalogue that goes back forever being such an old company. They could teach Connolly a thing or two and that says a lot. They also sell other products now but leather & it's restoration or matching is their real game. Even companies like Mercedes Benz & BMW recommend them. Suggest you read all the info on their site. Do not confuse with Gliptone US ~ a different company (many fights over the branding ~ this is the real Gliptone). The Mk2 seats are crap but some clever upholsterers can improve them vastly while maintaining the basic look & feel. Some even take a mould of the primary driver's butt. Much like they do in F1. They then build it into the seat with standard pattern upholstery. Soft foam is used to hide the fact that a hard shaped device is hidden in the seat maintaining the original look until you sit on/in it.




https://gliptoneeurope.com/

 

For me I hate the XJ40 seats in a Mk2 or S Type. Sir William Lyons designed the Mk2 and the S Type with the idea that the seats should not be seen from outside the car. The backs of the seats are almost level with the window line so when you start putting a high back seat in it spoils the lines. Also if you are a large or tall driver who likes your seat slightly reclined it puts the back of the seat past the "B" pillar and is very visible through the rear side window. In my opinion or looks horrible and makes the cabin area even smaller than it is already.
I know many will say "Oh but it is safer with head restraints." It is also safer with crash protection bars, roll cage, air bags, full harness seats belts, collapsible steering column but if you want all this buy a new car and stop screwing around with a 1960s car. For me I only do relatively short journeys but I did drive 400 miles to Coventry and back a couple of years a go and the seats in my S Type were comfortable. Yes not as supportive perhaps as a modern seat but I have since renewed all the foams in the seats but not had a chance to do a long journey since.

 

A seat that's too comfortable will put a person to sleep.
I believe that's a problem with modern cars, they're so comfortable it allows one to drive practically 24/7, and that's when accidents happen.
It's a car, a piece of dangerous machinery, not a living room.

 

Mk2 seats may well be better for sleeping on than driving a car. In combination with the steering wheel and pedal positions, they induce a unique mix of back and bum ache. Perhaps they suited overweight businessmen? In addition, there's the lack of lateral location for spirited driving. It would be good not to have to hang on to the steering wheel or wedge yourself against the door. MK1 seats were much better and one of the reasons I chose the vaguely similar early XJ seats. The narrower plan and reduced weight are also useful.

 

Modern cars sense you might be going to sleep & a cup of coffee flashes on the dash and an audible signal gets progressively louder. My car is so equipped. Sleepy drivers start to wander & lane recognition cameras pick this up very quickly.

Good seats are extremely firm but maintain proper posture leaving you refreshed at the end of a long drive & I don't wish to harp on a German brand again.

BTW ~ South Africa produces over 60% of the leather used by the German big 3.

 

I think the S Type seats depend very much on the driver's build ~ as do all seats. They do lack lateral support but if you are built like me at exactly 6 foot & weight 100Kg's you merely fold down the centre armrest & are comfortably wedged between the door & armrest & very comfortable on a long trip.

 

i recently drove from california to ohio in my '67 mk2. i seats were perfectly comfortable for a 6-8 hour drive per day. the only criticism i have is that they offer zero lateral support (a common attribute of ALL cars w/o bucket seats from that era), which is noticeable if trying to drive aggressively on a winding road, or recklessly around town. if the seatbelts had a shoulder harness i don't think it would noticeable at all.

the benefit is superior entrance and egress for the old-timers that often own these cars.

 

I'll sell you my 1984 XJ-6 front seats for $150.00.+shipping.
Driver's seat and back covers are shot, Vinyl is perfect. Passenger side is perfect completely and original Biscuit. Both have seat and lumbar heaters and headrests.

 

Seats
Early XJS seats fit reasonably easily into MK2s and provide improved lateral support. I have seen this done on two cars.
Colour change.
For Australian forum members there is a product www.CouchGuard.com.au which comes in basic colours and can be tinted to match.
I used this on an X300 driver's seat to change colour from grey to biscuit. Even the concourse-oriented members of the local Jag club could not pick the difference

 

I was going to dye them but I found a good upholstery shop and got them redone in leather for a good price. I used a complete set of seats from a 2002 Vaden Plas as I wanted the picnic trays yet have comfortable electric seats with headrests. I also sectioned the rear seats to fit. The MK2 and 3.8s seats are not comfortable no matter if you spruce them up with better materials as they give you no support for your back or head.

 

That is simply not true. And headrests are not there to rest your head on. They are there to prevent whiplash in the case of a rear ender which I accept is a great safety measure and of course approve of. But if you don't have pyrotechnic belt tensioners triggered by an impact sensor, their effectiveness is severely compromised. I love the inside of your car other than the vertically stitched door cards. They should have been horizontal in the S Type tradition.

But the moulded seat within a seat works extremely well & gives you all the support you require including lateral and back. If it works for an F1 driver at the G forces they pull in all planes it will work for you. You are basically sitting in a custom bucket seat that supports your back & butt perfectly. Read my comment properly. They will do this better than your Vanden Plas seats could come close to. My upholsterer in Krugersdorp has done it in many cars including Porsche's uncomfortable Recaro seats. His only drawback is he has to do it in glass fibre because he does not have an autoclave. Easier to do in carbon fibre at the hinge point. (so you can recline the seat).

 

I installed XJ-6 headrests in my S type seats regardless of what Sir Williams decided.
My neck is more important in 2023 than the design philosophy of 1965.

I have modded my S type in many ways to suit me.
Just look at Primazz S type, talk about mods.

Anyway it was the mother of all mods installing those headrests. I don't wish it to my worst enemy. It took all three of us to get them right, Me, Myself, and I.

 

Those headrests are worth it IMHO if you are not going for concours. Your compromise is the lack of self tensioning belts in an accident which severely compromises the effects of a headrest ~ but they are certainly better than nothing so good for you Jose. Knowing the seats well it must have been a difficult job. I'm sorry my upholstery man lost the pics of my powder coated frames in Dove Grey in his cloud storage or we could show people your challenge.

 

Glyn, I fitted new 3-point safety belts but static, not self-tensioning, there is just no room for the mechanism. I guess a snugged shoulder belt is better than no shoulder restrain at all.

Curiously by 1964, (the year the car was built), Jaguar had anticipated the pivot bolt for the shoulder belt at the B post.

 

Retractable or inertia seat belts can be fitted to the Mk2 and S type front seats but require a bracket to fit them above the sill not on the floor. I saw some original inertia belts fitted to a Mk2 at a show and decided to make my own brackets. The bracket is bolted to the floor using the eye bolt that the tail of the seat belts is fitted to and there is a pre drilled hole for the bracket to be bolted to the "B" pillar. Below are photos of the brackets I made up and the inertia reels in place. They fit perfectly on the passengers side but for some reason I had to remove the recliner handle on the drivers side or I could not slide the drivers seat back and forth.



You can also fit the inertia reels to the rear seats and in my box of many parts I have the brackets to fit them. They are a single bolt on a swivel which goes through the parcel shelf and then the inertia reel is bolted to the bracket. Not sure I want to though as they sit on the rear parcel shelf where there are in my car mounting points for the brackets but they take up room and do not look very nice on view. I have standard belts in the back although they are not required by law but fitted them for when we went out as a family and my children (now grown up) would come with us. Ignore the old crusty inertia reel in the photo it is not one I intend to use again just happened to be in the box with the bracket.

 

I attached a plate to the bottom of the B-posts for my inertia reels. I cut a piece out of the coverd to clear the seats. Any seat belt is far better than none. Another advantage of a seat swap is extra space for belts.

As to the seat swap, it's a matter of personal taste and objectives. I know from experience that X300, X308 and X150 seats are excellent, as good as anything that I've come across in a car. However, they don't keep a 1960s ambience, which is what I want. I'd also like to save some unnecessary weight and that decided my choice.

 

Tommyrae, this forum gives great information but as I have found Jaguar owners are typically a bit snobbish and not supportive to modifying from stock so as long as you do not let them bother you or bias you, then you can get good information but just do what makes you happy, it is your car

I drive more than probably anyone on this forum with their Jaguar, (225,000+ miles in less than 5 years). I own high performance cars with more racing seats, etc. Having support for your full back and head is not just for high performance driving but also for daily. Half back seats will put strain on your upper body as well as not being safe for your head, etc. I have 3 point retractible, tensioned seat belts as well. I am not a Concourse person against any mods as I am what makes me happy. I think the Vaden Plas seats provide great comfort, adjustability, support, and keep with the Jaguar style with the picnic trays which is the reason for my choice. Sure for a higher level some ergonomic leather Recaro seats are nice but for this type of car I think the later model Jaguar seats would look better and from real world feedback, if you are not a Jaguar fanatic most people assume the seats came with the car.

 

A bit harsh calling some of us "Typically Snobbish".

If you describe someone as snobbish, you disapprove of them because they are too proud of their social status, intelligence, or taste. That is what Google says. The only part of that you can point at some of us is "Taste" which is subjective. Some like a Jaguar to be a Jaguar especially a 1960s Jaguar. Originality is not everything but I try and keep my S Type as 1960s as possible but far from concours. Modifications have their place and we would all love to have the monster you have in our garage but it would in my case have to be alongside not instead of my 1968 S Type. I also think that modifications have to be in keeping with the original style of the car. You have upgraded the majority of things that you cannot see so when you are sat at the lights your car looks for all intendent purposes a 1960s S Type.
Perhaps it is just that we British do have "Taste" and would prefer to keep our cars original rather than making them look vulgar and modified.
Everyone to their own.