so…tonight the frost played a trick on me…the dashboard cracked! I already had a small crack but bearable now this new one is huge… right above the drawer. what do you suggest? I remove the drawer and try to intervene from underneath or go to a specialist (who?) or buy a new dashboard…or try to disguise it in some way (but how?)… open to all solutions… worthy of this majestic car
Hi Max …
There are a lot of videos on YouTube dealing with cracked dashboards. There a lot of options.
Wheeler Dealers had a recent show that featured a dashboard being repaired. I guess it’s a question of how good you want the repair to look and how much time you’re willing to invest.
sure…i tried something with my old '81 porsche 924 but with orrible effects…But what would you do in my situation?..I could buy a new dashboard (i found it for 300€), but my enemy is time…so maybe I can disguise it also because if I wear it new it could break that too, I live in a seaside resort where it goes from 40 degrees in summer to 2 degrees in winter
Cut a carpet pattern and cover it up. Helps with reflections too!
Some accessory companies may actually make a carpet type dash cover specifically to fit the XJ40. Worth researching.
Sand smooth, filler and vinyl over the old may not work. Find a decent used one.
I have a carpeted dash (even though my dash is in good shape) and I bought it from a company who supplies them based on your model.
When I researched the XJ40 dash carpet cover, I found the only listing and it was for a 94 XJ6, nothing for 93 and earlier …so I thought, what luck and went ahead and ordered one. I’d been a fan of a carpeted dash ever since I bought my first Nissan one at a while-you-wait upholsterer who set up at the Alameda flea market back in the late 80’s.
When the cover arrived for the Jag, I was disappointed to see it didn’t fit. 
I guess because the X300 began production mid 94, that was the XJ6 the company had the pattern for. Actually, the only places it didn’t fit were the alarm sensor area and the corners of the windshield. The angle of door pillar to the dash is less sharp in the 40 than in the X300, so the carpet was missing a pie shaped blank area about 2" wide at door pillar.
I called the company and they refunded me and told me to keep the item as the cost of shipping wasn’t worth it etc.
I installed it anyway rather than tossing it out and TBH I don’t mind the gap at the pillars, I guess I got used to it over the years!
The Permatex vinyl dash kit is worth a shot. It’s not going to be perfect but it minimizes the problem and it comes with a small iron and texture patterns that you mold in as you cure the vinyl filler. If the only other solution is replacement, it’s worth 25 bucks to try it.
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I am not a snob … but …
Somehow I believe that carpeting a Jaguar dashboard would tend to diminish some of the cachet of the marque. For instance …
or …
or why stop there …
But of course it’s all about what makes you happy and what you can afford 
Larry …
And you come up with an entire car carpeted … I an not worthy 
!
I watch guy’s painting videos. He also has a few dash restoration videos. Depends on how involved you want to get.
One of the better and more condensed YouTube videos on how to do it: I haven’t seen many other methods that seem to work as well.
OK, well maybe (?) I AM a snob but I agree…if you want to cover the interior of your vehicle with faux fur go right ahead, but please do it to your Honda Civic or Nissan Sentra, not your classic Jaguar.
Hardly turning the interior into a shaggin wagon with dingle balls - this is the type of cover I installed, cuts down on annoying windscreen reflections from overhead streetlights and prevents sun damage.
so on Thursday I leave the car to a dashboard specialist who will try a specific two-component glue for restoration, but he has already told me that the material they are made of is very bastard … so we will see what happens, if it stays connected it will make it disappear with specific grouts… but it remains to understand if the glue will hold up! among other things I thought but if I remove the drawer will I see the crack from underneath? maybe you can do it there too…