I have had my X308 since October 11th. since then I have replaced the temperature panel bulbs, the J Gate illumination bulbs, put in a used but not broken ashtray and lid, all four tires, replaced the missing engine covers (does anyone know where to get the plastic clip the holds the engine covers together in the back near the firewall?), I have replaced the worn leather steering wheel with a worn leather and walnut steering wheel (and refinished the leather and airbag so it looks very good now).

And...

I re-dyed my cracked and worn front seats. I used Furniture Clinic colorant and satin clear coat. The process was pretty easy but it took forever to tape the sable piping on my ivory seats. And I spent a lot of time using the heavy crack filler to fill deep creases. I did the passenger seat two weeks ago over a Saturday and Sunday and then the driver seat the following weekend. I took out the seats and I can't imagine doing this job with them in place and having any kind of success. There is just too many coats being airbrushed. Overspray would kill the interior...

I am very satisfied with the results as it has made the interior very presentable now. I had to buy extra color although I wound up only using a fraction of the new bottle. And I started with the matt clearcoat but then ordered the satin as it matched the sheen on the back seat leather finish perfectly. The matt was too flat looking. I also did the steering wheel which turned out well.

You will need to buy cans of air to run the airbrush. I used the can provided plus a tall Badger can and another Iwata can of air. I also wound up buying a basic Badger airbrush as the one supplied was giving me fits and not giving a steady stream of paint. The Badger was flawless.

Here are a few before and after pics.



This is how the interior looked the day I bought the Jag.







Passenger seat out of the car. Showing the wear along the side bolster.





Passenger seat after prepping and scrubbing.





I used plastic electrical tape to do the edges as the tape is flexible and can curve.





Regular blue painters tape cut in half lengthwise to tape the piping.





Driver's seat back in the car.





Passenger seat installed back in the car.





More detail shots of brushing on the first coat (all other coats sprayed on)





Prior to clear coat





Clear coat number one. (I did six coats of clear-three suffice but I had put on 3 of matt and opted for satin)





Driver seat wear. All of these creases were filled prior to colorant.





Driver side bolster wear. Lots of sanding with 650-1500 grit sandpaper.





This is the passenger seat in place.





Detail of passenger seat.





Passenger seat bolster detail.





Before shot of driver seat.





Driver seat after initial coats of colorant.





Looking down on the driver seat and the bolster. The heavy wear is gone.





Spraying the steering wheel. I had drip issues...





It looks okay but you can see some drips of clear along the edge that I tried to sand down.





This is the interior as it looks today. Compare it to the first photo and you can see how much improved it looks. Car is very presentable now.





Steering wheel looks okay. Wish the airbag was a better fit. Wheel looks much better than it did. Waiting for walnut shifter knob to arrive and finish off the interior.

 

Looks nice ! I have some similar issues on my front seats this post may be the catalyst needed to remedy it lol.

 

That is a hell of an improvement, and it must be a whole different feeling entering the car.
But there is something wrong with that airbag cover, that can't be right the way it is, and looks odd in the otherwise nice interior.

 

Amazing improvement! Job well done!

 

Awesome Job!
Great write up, wish I could keep details like that.

Can you give more info on what you did? The sanding, the filler, and the spraying/coating? Where to buy, etc.

I have Ivory seats also. With my rear suspension almost finished this was next on list.

Any details you can give for which color, and how much. Also, how to spray on. Could some stain clear come in a spray so I would not need to buy a badger (whatever that is)

 

The interior color code for an ivory interior is NED so make sure you specify that when ordering a color.

Look up Furniture Clinic and browse their site. They have video tutorials that explain everything better than I could and each kit comes with written instructions as well as an airbrush. I used a Badger brand airbrush because it worked better for me. Good luck and take your time.

 

A W E S O M E - exactly what I need to do in my 2001.

 

Wow! Looks great; good job!

 

Looks fantastic, great job. I hope it holds up, I got a year out of my last dye job and am going to look into furniture clinic for the next round.

 

Great improvement in the seats, Scott!

Nice running into you today in the yard and exchanging info.

 

Doug,
Great meeting you as well. Seriously drop me an email when you want to tackle the upper tensioners. I am interested in helping and seeing how it is done. Have fun putting in your ashtray.

Scott

 

That is one fine job you did on your seats and wheel.

 

A stunning final addition to my XJ8 interior.





Finishes off the interior nicely.

 

Good job.

I had an early Flamenco Red x300 VDP with a light (almost white) full leather interior -- The light colored Jaguar interiors have always been my favorite.

My 1982 was a dark turquoise metallic w/ cream.

 

Nice job!
I will do the same on my freshly bought XJR.
I would like to know which quantity of colour you did use for the 2 front seats, for the 3 layers (you said 3 is enough).
Thanks!

 

Had my front seats done recently, really turned out nicely.

 

I used one bottle of Ivory which came with the Furniture Clinic re-dye kit and ordered another bottle but only used a little of that. Used a half bottle of satin clear coat for the final three coats. But re- read the original post for further details. Good luck.

 

I finally had my front seats recovered properly. I had re-dyed them twice with Furniture Clinic products in the last 5 years and it they were starting to wear and look tatty again so I decided to get it done right. I bought 51 square feet of Connolly Autolux in the original ivory from UK Hide (which was the perfect amount to do both seats with only small remnants left over) and had my guys at North Hollywood Auto Upholstery do the crafting of the new seats. Roberto and Pedro are masters.They matched the sable piping perfectly and installed the heater elements I bought from the junkyard. So now my front seats will be heated. Installed the relay and the heated seat control panel. The results speak for themselves. They did the sides and back in leather as well instead of the original vinyl. The car now smells like I am sitting inside a new baseball glove.

Lord Donnington looks magnificient once again.

Scott
Savannah, GA

 

So nice to see someone investing some serious money and time into these cars!
Great looking!