It is time to clear some things out of the attic. I’m curious as to what the consensus as to a fair price.
I have two NOS Girling front shocks for the Mark X. Not sure if they were fitted to other models. I have had them on the shelf for over 25 years.
I acquired a set of Mark X interior wood. They were refinished many years ago and wrapped up. Not show quality, but very nice. Unfortunately missing the top dash piece.
I’m sure I will be digging up more spares from my restoration.
Micah
Hi Micah, once you have decided on pricing please use the correct forum (classifieds) to post the items.
The shocks I cant say, as:
The wood;
As we all know, well finished wood is very expensive, but needed for any restoration
To have it re-veneered costs $1000s…I believe a MKX costs more than $3000GPB by a specialist in UK
therefore, especially if you have a full matching set, someone needing them should be willing to pay approaching $800-1000 imo
otherwise I would offer them individually for 30,50, 100 depending on size and condition
There is over 40 wood items in a MKX
I have a 420G with quite good wood, and many spares woods, in varying condition
Its not easy to find good stuff if you need it
I agree with Tony. If the veneer is intact and well adhered, it worth a lot more. To reveneer those pieces with curved edges is hugely difficult, and the existing veneer is often only a very few thousands thick. I spent a lot of time regluing edges before stripping mine. Not to mention the difficulty and not-insignificant expense of getting good Carpathian Elm. The problem is that not so many mk10s are getting restored, so small market.
As I mentioned, it has been refinished and is install ready. The only reason I did not use it in my restoration was because it is missing the top of the dash.
Like my D-type wheels, I would like to find the wood a good home.
My original wood had a nice vacation in Coventry before it returned to me well rested and revitalized.
Micah
Is the veneer not Walnut Burr veneer ?
MKX/420G wood does seem lighter in color than new Walnut veneer, which has to be bleached to match
It is Carpathian Elm. I’ve never been able to definitively I’d the trim wood, but it appears to be a mahogany species, not Honduran, more along the lines of a Luan.
It is walnut. The UK shop that did mine said they could not source the original and used walnut from California.
Micah
I see the line that says it’s walnut, and in researching previous posts, I see that the question has been pretty thoroughly argued before. According to other sources, Walnut was also used, so I stand corrected there. It is significantly easier and cheaper to come by. Some sources do say Carpathian Elm was used in multiple models of vintage jags. On my '66 Mk10, I am 100% certain that at least some of the original wood, which I refinished in hand-rubbed oil varnish, is elm. I initially patched some areas with walnut, but didn’t get a perfect match until I used elm. That said, the veneer on my car’s dash has the wildest and craziest grain of anything I’ve seen on a vintage jag, probably not typical.
Your wood is exceptionally beautiful, although a different look than the original, which I believe was applied by French polish technique and has been described as a satin finish. Your car does set the standard for top Mk10 in so many ways imo.
I am currently looking at the sorry center console in my car and noticing significant differences from yours. Was it changed for the 4.2? Your 3.8 appears to be have the console incorporated into the parcel shelf, while mine is under the shelf (saggy, splayed sides, general a sorry mess). Perhaps this was because of changes to the ventilation system. With most of the rest of the interior done, I need to tackle this soon., and I think it’s going to be a major challenge to make it look good.
Ron,
Thank you.
The original wood on my car was lighter and did have a much more distinct pattern than the current wood. The new finish is definitely not satin. It was done to a mirror like polish.
The center console did change between through the years. I’m not sure when this took place. I ran into this issue when Bass did my interior and did not understand the differences. I had to send them back the console and have them redo it.
I’m not sure when this change came into place, but my original console was made of a flimsy red colored pressed paper material. It was awful and was damaged by water at some point. I managed to find a replacement that was entirely made out of metal with the center heater control/radio section out of some type of plastic. Bass said they never saw one before and thought I had it custom made.
Micah
Thanks for the very helpful information about the center console. I doubt seriously that I will find one of the metal replacements, but it does give me the idea of remaking it in metal. I have a stomp sheer, box/pan brake, an English wheel and some skills, so it shouldn’t take more than a hundred hours! I have two original 4.2 style of the pressed board you describe, both in poor condition. The other thing is that the original position of the speaker doesn’t clear the shift cable on the left side of the console, so it might be an opportunity to correct that.
Looking at your photo, I think your wood probably was Elm originally. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Jaguar PR people might have assumed it to be walnut as it does resemble it fairly closely, and nobody from the shop bothered to correct them. Interesting photo from Jags From the Shop Floor.
Jaguar French polish.pdf (138.7 KB)
Micah:
I have a 66 Mark X, 4.2. I must say that your interior looks simply fantastic. Bravo.
I’m very interested in your wood if you’re selling it. Please contact me at robert.ruggeri.esq@outlook.com.
Bob
Ron,
I would search around for one if you can. Those paper ones are just mush and you cannot do much with them. The metal one was beautiful and really kept its shape. The plastic was getting a little brittle. So, I reinforced it with some fiberglass.
If you cannot find one, maybe a little bit of fiberglass will get yours back into a better shape.
Micah
I have several saloons, but this 420G has beautiful veneer, much darker and a great varnishinh done in the mid 80s.
Yes, quite lovely. I would call your wood light compared to mine. I’ll try to get some decent photos.
The speaker is interesting. Looks aftermarket, and partly outboard from the side of the console, just what is needed for the automatic. Micah doesn’t have the clearance issue to the shift cable with his car being a standard.
Thanks very much. I made a quick search and nothing like this turned up for sale. Yes, I’ve considered reinforcing it with fiberglass. First, I’m going to soak the spare one in water and see if it can be reset, then maybe it can be adequately reinforced.
I’ve got the extra Mk10 center console disassembled, and it may be helpful for others to know that the press-board material is impregnated with some kind of resin, and it responds to heat by softening, allowing straightening of the distorted pieces. I’m going to reinforce the pieces and make sure I can fit it to the car before recovering it - does not like to fit. Leather on order. I’ll make a separate posting when it’s finished if it’s decent.
Here are a couple shots of my refinished dash to show what I’m talking about with wild figure in the original wood. Finish is a hand-rubbed mixture of oil varnishes which include a lot of tung oil, topped with paste wax. Ham-fisted PO did sand through in a few places, easy to do.
Just on the press-board material, I wonder if you could use a real thin epoxy that will soak in. I do a lot of old wooden boat stuff here in NZ and we use a product called Everdure by international paints which is a marine wood primer, not sure if its available overseas. This is extremely thin. Designed as a wood primer or for use on damaged wood that has gone soft. Its 2 pot and and easy to mix, you just brush on and it really soaks in and sets hard. I wonder if this will work to stiffen the material again.
Good thought. I like the sound of it. Unfortunately, does not seem to be available in the US. It’s on international E-bay with stipulation that it may not be shipped here.
I would just use 2 part resin and fibreglass mat to reinforce it, with the possible addition of some thin aluminium ribs to help maintain shape
Thats what I did with the section above the rear window that is covered with headlining, and many other similar issues,
cheap & proven, banishes moisture forever, very strong
