1986 XJ-SC leather seats skin replacement and interior trim question

XJ-S
1

Hi Guys,
I wanted to start with some quick upgrades to the interior:

  1. seats/skins, what is the best way to match identical skin replacement color? Should I use 3 letter trim code from the side of the doors? does anyone have any experience using this company?

https://www.lseat.com/search.php?search_query=xjs&Search=

My current seats have this “pillow” like in the middle of the front seats - do I have to find an exact replacement to put new skins over the “pillow”? Do You guys think the seats are in really bad shape (first pic)?

[Album] Imgur

  1. Wooden trim around 4 switches, above radio (2nd picture in the link) - they seem to be made out of some sort of plastic (?) that will fall apart - I have seen on eBay couple people selling a complete wooden kit with ski slope (currently black plastic). Is it worth investing in the value of the car? Would you put in a completely new, wooden trim kit with a new wooden ski slope?

  2. Shift gear knob - it is not a standard but looks nice. The only problem is, that they had to change the stick to install the knob - as a result (I think) now my R engages in somewhere halfway between P and N, and D is near N position (looking at the labels). Also, the glass around P N R 1 2 has a small crack (second picture in the link).

  3. The armrest has some pretty low-end piece of a black “carpet” - is this normal, or it should be a bare plastic in there?

  4. Steering wheel - what do You guys think about the one that is in there? I will be honest, I have never driven the generic, always seemed to be funny-looking and I was glad it wasn’t there.

  5. how to find correct replacement for all the bolts and screws? Is there any guideline/list/your own experience with that? I think I still have the originals but they didn’t age well (especially the black-coated screws used to keep soft pieces of the trim)

  6. any suggestions as to what rubber floor mats to use? I never got any with the car, only bare carpet.

  7. where to find a good replacement for the door gaskets?

  8. what to do with sun visor rust? how to find exact color for the sun visor clip (3 letters color code trim from the driver’s door? Oatmeal?)

Thank You for all suggestions and help!

2

I used lseat.com on my XJ-S and am delighted with them. Ask for samples of the colors and pick the closest; the “dim gray” was real close to the LDY code of my car. Great upholstery for the money, even included the center console lid cover.

3

Might I ask which year XJS? It seems like the older ones (like my 86’) have that “pillow” and the skins seem to be covering it - a minor thing, just wanted to know if you had to deal with that?

4

Mine is an '88 and look identical to yours, with the separate “pillow” cushion. The lseat.com covers came the same way, with a separate pillow cover and a cover for the remaining U-shaped bolster. All the covers came with the pull down cords also, that pull the pleats into place. Good fit and I did the install myself (I used to work in dealerships and have done a few seats). You need some good, super-strong contact adhesive to install and take your time.

5

I just ordered the samples. On the website they only had a picture of the black leather, which made it virtually impossible to figure out any details.