If I could find a way to refinish my wood for small dollars I wood (pun) But it seems it is a pain in the hind end and costs an arm and leg.

Something like this.....maybe.


I do prefer the wood but spending mega dollars isnt my idea of fun.

 

Google "woodworker hobbyist clubs" along with your city/state. Find a local woodworker hobbyist club and contact them. Their members will be mostly retired guys who spent decades in the industry. They will have all sorts of professional woodworking tools at their disposal, and they will be able to make any wood you bring them look better than new. All you need to do is to get the wood pieces off of your car without breaking them....

You will be amazed at how professional your restored wood looks. Your cost? Those guys will probably be happy if you bring them a box of doughnuts and a 12-pack of beer. They do these types of projects because they enjoy bringing faded wood back to life and helping folks such as yourself....

 

Excellent idea.

How in the heck do I remove the wood???//

 

I've removed wood pieces from dashboards back in the 1980s, but not on these XKs. There are guys on the S-Type forum who have removed their wood pieces for refinishing, and I remember them posting tips and tricks on how to do it. Go search there. If you cannot find the threads, start a new one there and simply ask. You'll get the help you need....

 

I'll have to vote for WOOD!

 

Wood. Carbon goes against the grain.

 

That's funny! 😂

Love the wood!!

 

Sure you have enough there Sam?

 

add me to the wood pile

 

At my age............................................I'l l always opt for "wood"

 

LOL! Actually I prefer Cialis. It lasts THREE DAYS!

Hmmm... maybe I should clarify. It's effective for three days.


I might get slapped by Jim for throwing out this plug, but I like sharing useful info. shaz-steroids.com sells it for a buck fifty per pill. I've ordered from them several times and never had a problem. And it's real, too. I ordered some fake stuff from another place once and got ripped off. It ships from the UK, so there is not much customs risk for people in the US or Europe. You have to pay by Western Union, though.

 

You guys! You forgot one option in your poll!

Real wood, with Piano Black finish

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...56/#post446184

Get's my vote!

 

I am piano black fan, carbon is Ok.. not much of a wood fan unless it is birds eye maple

 

Wood forever.

 

I purchased my car in July 2005 and it was one of the last new XKRs in the area so I really didn't have much of a choice. At first I wasn't sure about the carbon firbe but it grew on me, maybe because it was different. IMHO The carbon fiber is a better fit the nature of the XKR than the XK8 and it certainly made my 3 gauge conversion simpler. Thanks Steve! (and Frog)

I don't think there is anything wrong with either wood or real carbon fiiber. I have had both and never felt like anything needed to be changed. In the U.S. the carbon was on available in special edition cars (2005 Carbon edition XK8 and 2006 Victory Edition XKR) I believe it was an option everywhere else.


Not sure I'd be too keen on the vinyl.

As a side note: My 2001 XJR required veneer replacement under warranty as the lacquer became cloudy after exposure to sunlight; that was a bit of an ordeal so maybe that biased my thought too.

 

Old School Wood!!

 

I had a 1990 Majestic with the full wood and picnic tables. Sometimes at night I would sit in the car in the dark with the interior lights on and just take in the warm glowing beauty of the wood. Nothing could be more elegant. Then I got a 6.0-liter XJ-S, which also carried the wood. And was also lovely to look at. My current car is a 2005 carbon fiber edition XK8. And I must agree that the carbon fiber is more in keeping with the overall feel of the XK, which is truly more sporty than elegant. The carbon fiber was actually one of the reasons I choose my car. It also has the chrome gauge and pedal trim. And it does really look hot. Nothing wrong with wood, for sure. But in this context I do prefer the carbon fiber. My only regret is few people can appreciate what goes into creating carbon fiber. In fact, most would assume my dash is as plastic as a Yugo's. P.S. Ever look at the prices for carbon fiber dash components. YIKES! How about a grand just for the three-gauge panel w/o the gauges!

 

Just done this for someone, not a bad cheap option, think I would prefer some rings and J Gate surround to lighten it a bit

 

Wood and leather...gives that warm feeling. Leave the carbon fibre to the German cars.

 

One-off pieces of carbon fiber are time consuming to make, but manufacturing large quantities, like with the carbon dashboards, isn't complicated at all. It's no different than making a fiberglass part. The carbon fiber fabric itself is about 5 times as expensive as fiberglass, but it's worked just the same as fiberglass. Kevlar gets complicated because it's hard to cut and the resin doesn't want to adhere to it as readily as it does to glass and carbon.

I used to make surfboards for fun and I made one out of carbon fiber just for the heck of it. I also built a fiberglass airplane. I have a lot of experience working with glass and carbon.

I'm kind of ashamed to ask this, knowing the quality of your work, but is that real carbon fiber or a wrap? I figure it's real, but maybe your client was cheap.