I will be repainting my Tudor White XJS as the next big item in this ongoing project. If I retain the Tudor White, my blue interior will remain.

However, I'm strongly debating changing to British Racing Green (and yes, I'm well aware of the extra work a color change requires). I'm waiting to see an example in person before I make that decision. Some of the BRG photos I've seen online appear far too dark for my taste, but I'm sure lighting (and the specific BRG shade) play a big role.

If I go with BRG, the blue interior has to change. I think that would be a hideous combo, at least in my mind's eye - I've not seen any examples online, and probably for good reason. I'd likely go with some sort of tan color (though a slightly darker tan would be nice).

I know dyeing the existing leather is possible, but all the dyeing videos I've seen are pretty tame transitions (light tan to dark tan, something like that). Blue to tan is a pretty big change, so wondering if anyone has done this, and if you have any product or procedural recommendations specific to these cars. If blue --> tan is not feasible, I imagine blue --> black would be quite doable, and I'm okay with black. It's just not my first choice.

As a side note, if anyone has repainted their XJS in a different shade of BRG than the original Jag BRG shade, I'd love to see photos.

 

I don’t believe you can successfully dye blue leather to tan….but someone else might. I think you may as well do a total leather and carpet replacement.

If you are changing the color of the car….yikes…..you can pick any BRG you want.

Do you want to stay with a flat paint, or metallic?

 

Two-stage base & clear coat, but no metallic.

 

Vee is correct. Blue to tan won't work.
If you're going with a nonmetallic you might want to consider a single-stage urethane rather than BC/CC. That can save you a few bucks in the colt of the paint.
Some body shops don't subscribe to that idea as it's a bit less forgiving than BC/CC but many shops use SS for solid colors and BC/CC for metallics.

 

Other than cost, is there a downside to BC/CC? I've heard single stage is "softer" but I don't think I've seen side-by-side images of an XJS in single stage vs. BC/CC in the same color (never mind in person).

 

A very personal choice, but stick with the White with Blue interior! That's a nice combination!

A re-coloured car will always be that, even if it looks good from the outside. Unless you literally strip the whole of the bodyshell, which I'm sure you weren't considering. And white is so bright that the interior boot, door, floor and engine panels will always stick out and look uncomfortable against a dark exterior.

As I said, a personal choice but, seriously, keep it original!

Good luck

Paul

 

Yeah you know it's funny, I've never liked white cars until I got this one. In fairness, it's not "white white", it's more like a cream - I can't stand the bright white modern cars I see. For whatever reason, the XJS does look really good in Tudor White. Other than a Testarossa, Countach, or C1 Corvette, I can't think of any other cars that look this good in white.

That BRG and tan interior is such a beautiful combo though.

 

Here's a good quick video explaining the difference:

 

I agree. I usually don't like white cars but I do like my '93 in pure, very bright, white.
Here it is. . . (shot with single-stage pure white)
Sorry purists. ;-)). ( But I do keep my '96 perfectly stock_

 

Most leather dye is really just paint. So strip the old dye off and then add the new color. I started to go from tan to red in the fall, then I put the car away for winter and haven't restarted the project yet. Lacquer thinner was doing a pretty good job of removing the old color. It also gave me a good chance to moisturize the leather.

Here's my thread from that time, asking similar questions. I went with Leatherique in the end. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...eather-252207/

 

Awesome, surprised I didn’t find that thread in my initial search. Thanks and do you have any pictures of the work you did so far? Or if not, will you post to that thread when you’re done? I’d really like to see the results.

It certainly seems going from blue to tan is quite doable based on everything in the thread you linked.

Looks like their fabricoat product could be great for changing the headliner and carpet colors: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tFHLs76k_Sk

 

I hate white cars. Isis Blue is a great interior color though. Looks great with grey metallic exterior. They had a grey blue metallic that was amazing, wish I remembered what it was called. I wrecked that car 20+ years ago…