I installed it today with the usual amount of bloodshed. It does look nice.
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Every Jaguar collects DNA from every owner eventually…
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I forgot to mention that when I was getting ready to install my refurbished dash pad, I decided it would be a good time to clean up the map light connectors. Somehow, I managed to snap the metal tabs off without realizing it. There’s not enough left for the electrical terminals to grab onto. If I’d known before I recovered the dash, I could have riveted a new map light in place. Oh well, too late for that. I drilled the rivets (very timidly with visions of the drill going all the way through the dash pad) and pulled it off. I’ll install a short 12VDC LED strip in it’s place.
Dave
where did you get the 12VDC LED strips
thanks
Harlan,
I just order these today
They’re cheap enough so if I don’t like them, I won’t feel bad. Stay tuned, I follow up next week with what I think.
Dave
The inexpensive LED strips seem to be fine. I attempted to install one strip in place of the map light but the stickiness isn’t enough. I’ll have to try some carpet tape or golf grip tape.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for sharing this adventure with us. It’s motivated me to get off my butt and improve the look of my car.
Electrical tape was supposed to be a temporary band-aid a few few years ago. Instead, I’ve just kept adding more and more, and still can’t keep up.
And the corners look horrible:
Did you buy Welsh part # BD-22732?
I really appreciate seeing and reading about your process to guide me, thanks again!
Ed
Yes, that’s the part I bought. Except for the very left and right sides, it fit perfectly. Those bits on the ends were easy to trim. It was time consuming but not difficult.
You’re taping skills are excellent!!!
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Yes, can’t tell. Blends right in. 
I put one of the LED strip lights in today. I wouldn’t recommend the product I referenced above. Each lead has four strands of extremely fine wire. You can’t crimp it. I stripped about an inch and tinned it, then folded it over and soldered it again to give me something to crimp. Anyway, one strip is in and it looks okay. The color seems a bit blueish. The adhesive might be okay on a smooth metal surface but it would not hold under the dash pad. I found a heavy duty indoor/outdoor double sided Scotch tape at CVS to stick it up under the dash pad.
I’ve really got to do something with grimy oil gauge.
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I hope to keep building on my last few wins by replacing my dash pad.
This project seems like an e-Type-owner’s right pf passage, similar to the boot lid springs, which turned out OK.
The 24 small metal clips should help a LOT.
I read a few brief mentions of clips in other threads, but didn’t understand what they referred to until I took this apart. Huge help for the front edge under the wind screen.
Unlike other projects where I could read, study, and try to understand how something should work, this project is going to be more like artwork, requiring patience and breathing skills.
Many others have posted encouraging results, we’ll see how I do.
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Good Approach!
I finally re-covered mine a few months ago.
I found the heat gun that I got on Amazon to be very helpful in bending that cover to my will.
Here are the before and after pictures.
- Tom -
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Very nice. The material seems to be a good match to the old. Was it an original and where did you source the cover from?
The old one was the factory original for the car.
The choke lever couldn’t hold its position, because it wasn’t properly adjusted. So, Mom would lever her hand up on the dash panel to keep the choke engaged, while the car warmed up. Over time, the foam in that area of the dash panel broke down and the cover cracked. (I have a very strong memory of this, because as a small child in the passenger seat that choke lever was right at eye-level.)
The replacement was purchased a year ago from Moss.
-Tom -
I have the aluminum base all cleaned off now, and am waiting for my heat gun to arrive to start molding the new pad on. Tonight, I am strategizing about how I will put it all back together. I took off the trim panels from below the dash, and am figuring out which hoses to connect where, and when.
One question I have is in regards to the two center nuts near the fuse panels, and specifically, about the brackets to which they attach.
These brackets are held in by one screw, so the bracket easily tilts down toward the inside of the car, but could possibly also be removed.
I did some very minor damage to the threads of the 2 bolts which are welded to the aluminum dash base, just taking the dash pad out. Just now, when I tried putting just the aluminum base back in, it’s easy to imagine doing more damage to the threads of those bolts as I wiggle the dash pad back in place.
Do I just need to be patient, and lean the brackets down as much as I can, and then level them back up after the new dash top is in place? Or would it be easier to just remove the two brackets, and then struggle to reattach the brackets once the dash it sitting in place nicely? Even though it’s just one screw on each side, its a really tiny place to work.
That‘s the way I did it - twice.
Martin
Yes I had that too, a design flaw IMHO, I think a solution is to remove those brackets from the dash panels and slot the holes a bit to give some wiggle room, then you just have to tighten them once they’ve engaged the dash top.
A site familiar to many I am sure. Slow but steady wins the race…
Dave, were you able to get any pictures of the finished ends? I’m not quite there yet, but my old pad was not in good enough condition when I removed it, for me to get an idea of how it should look before I re-install.
Thanks, Ed
Sorry Ed I did not. I realized that the ends are hidden by the chrome pieces so I just wrapped the vinyl around the tips and glued it as best I could.
Does your car have those chrome pieces? I just checked on SNG’s site, the part is called “dash scroll finisher”.
Dave