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When I bought this car, the interior really was in a pitiable state. In fact, water was infiltrating somewhere, most likely from a badly fitted screen or inferior quality rubber seals.
I did strip the interior and chiselled off the original bitumen material jaguar originally applied for sound proofing as it has gone very brittle and cracked, letting moisture in between, corroding floors. Luckily, floors panels were very sound and still original, probably thanks to the Ziebart anti corrosion treatment from new.
I ended buying the last 9m of original Jaguar carpet facing in Red from Woolies which had to be glue to a harder hardura backing. I reproduced all the carpet sections and sound proof mats in my living room and it really looked good. Unfortunately, this material is quite fragile and will not stand much wear, resulting in my set looking tired after 2 years of use. It was time to replace it again. I still have close to 5m of the material if one day I want to revert to original spec (I won't).
My wife came to the rescue and bought me 6m of a very strong, durable wool carpet with hard rubberized hardura backing, direct from the manufacturers. I only had now to cut it to shape!
Meanwhile, I had to reproduce again all the floor pan sound proofing sections in a thicker material, including engine bay and boot. I purchased several meters of extra thick (20mm) hardura material from Woolies; which I cut exactly as per originals, checking for exact fitment on the car. I then glued a self adhesive bitumen mat to these hardura sections for extra sound proofing. I even put this hardura under the dash top, rear seat panel and rear parcel shelf!
The centre console, sills, rear inner arches, floor pan cross members and small sections on the inner bulkhead were covered in a special black rubberized hardura, excellent quality, again purchased from Woolies. This material is excellent, very flexible and easy to apply. For the floor pans I re used a similar material albeit in red that I made few years previously, on top of the new 20mm hardura mats, giving now a total thickness to floor pan sections of over 30mm!
For the transmission tunnel I've used a very thick material made of high density sponge layers with a 1mm thick foil of lead on top of the 15mm hardura for extra sound and heat proofing as this is the most sensitive area. This material was purchased from NF Auto, specializing in kit car building and Ferrari P4 replicas.
Aluminised heat proof mat as used in rally cars was then glued with special high temperature contact glue to these hardura sections to reduce temperatures inside the cabin. Besides the floor pan, this material was also applied inside the centre console; A & B pillars panels, under the dash board top, rear parcel shelf and all the original heat shields found on the engine bay, under the car, starter motor and various pipes sensitive to heat.
I did strip the interior and chiselled off the original bitumen material jaguar originally applied for sound proofing as it has gone very brittle and cracked, letting moisture in between, corroding floors. Luckily, floors panels were very sound and still original, probably thanks to the Ziebart anti corrosion treatment from new.
I ended buying the last 9m of original Jaguar carpet facing in Red from Woolies which had to be glue to a harder hardura backing. I reproduced all the carpet sections and sound proof mats in my living room and it really looked good. Unfortunately, this material is quite fragile and will not stand much wear, resulting in my set looking tired after 2 years of use. It was time to replace it again. I still have close to 5m of the material if one day I want to revert to original spec (I won't).
My wife came to the rescue and bought me 6m of a very strong, durable wool carpet with hard rubberized hardura backing, direct from the manufacturers. I only had now to cut it to shape!
Meanwhile, I had to reproduce again all the floor pan sound proofing sections in a thicker material, including engine bay and boot. I purchased several meters of extra thick (20mm) hardura material from Woolies; which I cut exactly as per originals, checking for exact fitment on the car. I then glued a self adhesive bitumen mat to these hardura sections for extra sound proofing. I even put this hardura under the dash top, rear seat panel and rear parcel shelf!
The centre console, sills, rear inner arches, floor pan cross members and small sections on the inner bulkhead were covered in a special black rubberized hardura, excellent quality, again purchased from Woolies. This material is excellent, very flexible and easy to apply. For the floor pans I re used a similar material albeit in red that I made few years previously, on top of the new 20mm hardura mats, giving now a total thickness to floor pan sections of over 30mm!
For the transmission tunnel I've used a very thick material made of high density sponge layers with a 1mm thick foil of lead on top of the 15mm hardura for extra sound and heat proofing as this is the most sensitive area. This material was purchased from NF Auto, specializing in kit car building and Ferrari P4 replicas.
Aluminised heat proof mat as used in rally cars was then glued with special high temperature contact glue to these hardura sections to reduce temperatures inside the cabin. Besides the floor pan, this material was also applied inside the centre console; A & B pillars panels, under the dash board top, rear parcel shelf and all the original heat shields found on the engine bay, under the car, starter motor and various pipes sensitive to heat.
I've a used a light, flexible, general use black carpet, noted for its sturdiness and flexibility when applying it to the most contorted panels. It looks smashing and looks very similar to the original albeit much easier to clean. I've re used the original extra thick boot hardura sound proof mat as it was in such excellent condition. New boot side panels had to be reproduced in fibreglass as originals were wrapped. I covered these sections with 15mm hardura followed by the black carpet, fitted perfectly.
I've chosen an upholsterer who quoted me 1500 euros to the whole leather interior and roof lining. Out of good faith I've paid him immediately half but asked to send me first a sample of the red leather he was going to use. It was rubbish quality and more fit to a Peugeot 205GTi than a Jaguar. Four years down the line (as he insisted in doing the car after it was restored, despite having all the material to work on, only needing the car for the roof lining) I deliver him the car. Five months and innumerable phone calls after he promised the car would be ready; I just went there to pick up the car as I knew he would never touch it after already receiving the money in advance. Crook! Fleeced me off 250 euros for removing the leather seats and I had to wait three weeks for the remaining refund of 750 Euros! I might just buy a sewing machine and do the work myself, bound to be better too!
I purchased in England five hides in a stunning dark red, from Connelly's as a clearance deal, just after they ceased to trade with hides. The quality is stunning; the tanning is perfect, smooth and supple. There are no marks on the leather from barbed wire, scars or mishandling. New Dunlop pillows were bought for the front seats as originals were too squashed, but still very comfortable! The seat frames, parcel shelf, dash cross member and various other metal bits were sand blasted and powder coated in semi gloss black.
Door panels had to re fabricated in fibre glass and covered on the inside with water proof membrane from 3M. The so called upholster kept the previous panels badly stored and they wrapped. It really was annoying as I've produced those in 1999, spending many hours drilling and cutting these MDF panels. 3M bitumen mats were used inside the doors to eliminate road noise and give a nice "thump" when closing the doors. I've also used fibre glass to reinforce the centre console and its panels that go under the dash, to give more strength and help subdue the noise and temperatures.
The wooden dash was still in good condition after I stripped it and varnished in 1999, so it was left alone as I like the not too shiny original look. The MK3 Moto Lita steering wheel will be replaced by a MK9. The instruments bezels were chromed in 1999 as I prefer the pre 1970 look as Jaguar was forced to paint it black to obey US anti glare legislation.
I've chosen an upholsterer who quoted me 1500 euros to the whole leather interior and roof lining. Out of good faith I've paid him immediately half but asked to send me first a sample of the red leather he was going to use. It was rubbish quality and more fit to a Peugeot 205GTi than a Jaguar. Four years down the line (as he insisted in doing the car after it was restored, despite having all the material to work on, only needing the car for the roof lining) I deliver him the car. Five months and innumerable phone calls after he promised the car would be ready; I just went there to pick up the car as I knew he would never touch it after already receiving the money in advance. Crook! Fleeced me off 250 euros for removing the leather seats and I had to wait three weeks for the remaining refund of 750 Euros! I might just buy a sewing machine and do the work myself, bound to be better too!
I purchased in England five hides in a stunning dark red, from Connelly's as a clearance deal, just after they ceased to trade with hides. The quality is stunning; the tanning is perfect, smooth and supple. There are no marks on the leather from barbed wire, scars or mishandling. New Dunlop pillows were bought for the front seats as originals were too squashed, but still very comfortable! The seat frames, parcel shelf, dash cross member and various other metal bits were sand blasted and powder coated in semi gloss black.
Door panels had to re fabricated in fibre glass and covered on the inside with water proof membrane from 3M. The so called upholster kept the previous panels badly stored and they wrapped. It really was annoying as I've produced those in 1999, spending many hours drilling and cutting these MDF panels. 3M bitumen mats were used inside the doors to eliminate road noise and give a nice "thump" when closing the doors. I've also used fibre glass to reinforce the centre console and its panels that go under the dash, to give more strength and help subdue the noise and temperatures.
The wooden dash was still in good condition after I stripped it and varnished in 1999, so it was left alone as I like the not too shiny original look. The MK3 Moto Lita steering wheel will be replaced by a MK9. The instruments bezels were chromed in 1999 as I prefer the pre 1970 look as Jaguar was forced to paint it black to obey US anti glare legislation.
