[Saloon-lovers] Mark VII wood question and XJ12 query

Hello Everyone:

I have a '53 Mark VII - 736959BW. A friend recently gave me a marvellous
piece of interior wood for my car but I’m not sure whether its correct for
mine. The piece in question is the large section which runs across the
back of the front seat. Mine is plain with no ashtray housing and a plain
wood capping which runs the full length of the trim board. The one I have
been given has an ashtray housing just like the ones on the front door
trims. It also has two 3/4" long pins set in a recess in the upper forward
side of the trim which the capping board would cover if it were one piece.
These face one another and would appear to act as hinge pins for a cover.
What is this trim piece? What do the pins hold and does all of this fit a
mid-production Mark VII? Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to
offer.

A final question: Do any of you own late model XJ12Ls? I am considering
the purchase of an '89 and would like to have some input from knowledgable
owners - and especially from former owners.

John McEwen

Hi Craig:

The only thing on the face of the board is the ashtray plinth. The pins
I’m referring to are located forward of this, on the top surface of the
board but on the forward edge - toward the front of the car. The board is
backed by a piece of wood about 1" square which runs the length of the
board and gives a screw surface for the top capping. Between these two
pins, the 1" sq. piece is dropped about 1" and continued on. It then is
raised to the top of the board and continues to the end. This whole thing
forms a recess in the top board in line with ash tray plinth, however the
finished edge of the trim board is not recessed. It may form a wooden lid
for the ash tray with a recess for the forward edge of the lid to swing
into. It sounds complicated but is not - I just can’t describe it well.

Does anyone have any ideas.

John>At 05:21 PM 10/25/99 -0700, you wrote:

Hello Everyone:

I have a '53 Mark VII - 736959BW. A friend recently gave me a marvellous
piece of interior wood for my car but I’m not sure whether its correct for
mine. The piece in question is the large section which runs across the
back of the front seat. Mine is plain with no ashtray housing and a plain
wood capping which runs the full length of the trim board. The one I have
been given has an ashtray housing just like the ones on the front door
trims. It also has two 3/4" long pins set in a recess in the upper forward
side of the trim which the capping board would cover if it were one piece.
These face one another and would appear to act as hinge pins for a cover.
What is this trim piece? What do the pins hold and does all of this fit a
mid-production Mark VII? Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to
offer.

Are there 8 holes in the face of the board, arranged as 4 groups of 2
separated by about 1" each? If so, the piece you describe is the division
window trim for the DS420 limousine.

Craig

10/26/99

Hi John McEwen & all – John, I suspect your front seat rear wood capping
is original – the key to whether the piece you were given will fit is the
length – if it’s not exactly 52 3/4", it won’t fit. I have no photos of
the early automatic Mk VII with the bench seat wood showing, so can’t
confirm or deny the center ashtray – the Mk VIII and Mk IX had bench seat
wood exactly as you describe yours (no ash tray or anything else but burled
walnut). I hope this helps – take care – Larry Martz*****
Hello Everyone:

I have a '53 Mark VII - 736959BW. A friend recently gave me a marvellous
piece of interior wood for my car but I’m not sure whether its correct for
mine. The piece in question is the large section which runs across the
back of the front seat. Mine is plain with no ashtray housing and a plain
wood capping which runs the full length of the trim board. The one I have
been given has an ashtray housing just like the ones on the front door
trims. It also has two 3/4" long pins set in a recess in the upper forward
side of the trim which the capping board would cover if it were one piece.
These face one another and would appear to act as hinge pins for a cover.
What is this trim piece? What do the pins hold and does all of this fit a
mid-production Mark VII? Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to
offer.

A final question: Do any of you own late model XJ12Ls? I am considering
the purchase of an '89 and would like to have some input from knowledgable
owners - and especially from former owners.

John McEwen

Thanks Larry. The new piece is 52 1/2" long. The fellow who gave it to me
assures me that it came from a Mark VII but as I mentioned, I thought all
the ash trays were on the doors in the back. I also can’t find any
pictures. Could this be from a Mark VII?

John>10/26/99

Hi John McEwen & all – John, I suspect your front seat rear wood capping
is original – the key to whether the piece you were given will fit is the
length – if it’s not exactly 52 3/4", it won’t fit. I have no photos of
the early automatic Mk VII with the bench seat wood showing, so can’t
confirm or deny the center ashtray – the Mk VIII and Mk IX had bench seat
wood exactly as you describe yours (no ash tray or anything else but burled
walnut). I hope this helps – take care – Larry Martz


Hello Everyone:

I have a '53 Mark VII - 736959BW. A friend recently gave me a marvellous
piece of interior wood for my car but I’m not sure whether its correct for
mine. The piece in question is the large section which runs across the
back of the front seat. Mine is plain with no ashtray housing and a plain
wood capping which runs the full length of the trim board. The one I have
been given has an ashtray housing just like the ones on the front door
trims. It also has two 3/4" long pins set in a recess in the upper forward
side of the trim which the capping board would cover if it were one piece.
These face one another and would appear to act as hinge pins for a cover.
What is this trim piece? What do the pins hold and does all of this fit a
mid-production Mark VII? Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to
offer.

A final question: Do any of you own late model XJ12Ls? I am considering
the purchase of an '89 and would like to have some input from knowledgable
owners - and especially from former owners.

John McEwen

Gentlemen,

Sorry for not adding my 2 cents worth earlier, but
I’ve been driving my Rover P4 through France and just
got back to England yesterday - a nice holiday but it
would have been nicer in the Jag.

I have a 1956 Mk7 that I drove around in Australia
before importing to England when I moved here. My MK7
has a centre ashtray as described by yourselves.

Perhaps there were different ashtray locations
depending on export market?

regards,

Andrew.=====


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