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THE 100 POINT E-TYPE

Edition 9: Trim

Our in-house trimmer has been working away in the background whilst the car re-build has been taking shape. Different aspects of the cars trim is fitted at various intervals through the cars rebuild, followed by final fitment before the car undergoes its comprehensive pre-delivery checks.

In this edition of the 100-Point E-type, we discuss the materials used and the period details that remain to ensure the desired factory finish is achieved. 

Edition 9 1 Edition 9 2

The door cards are prefitted in to place to ensure a perfect fit before being trimmed in Vinyl. Once the door cards are placed and aligned correctly, they are removed and a thin layer of foam is applied before being wrapped in Vinyl as finished by the factory. The original clip system is used to secure the door card in place.

Vinyl was used on all Series 1 E-type's due to its hard wearing finish. The E-type's sills are trimmed in Vinyl to help prevent scuffs from footwear when climbing in and out of the car. Jaguar opted to use Vinyl as it was a more cost-effective option compared to using leather throughout. It's well known that the E-type was first produced on a budget. 
Edition 9 3  Edition 9 4
The rear bulkhead is trimmed in Hardura with Moquette on the wheel arches. You'll notice that #824 has a flat rear bulkhead that limits the seats rearward travel. The Hardura runs from the top to the bottom of the bulkhead. Later cars have Hardura to the recessed bulkhead which is covered in Moquette. This was due to the inflexibility of Hardura not following the recessed bulkhead shape. This change came in to effect in May 1962.  Flat floor cars have a square leather heel mat with a flag stitch detail to prevent the leather from rucking. In this image you will also see the removable passenger foot-board that was used to reduce the length of the passenger foot-well. The foot rests are made from plywood and trimmed in Hardura. 
Edition 9 5 Edition 9 6
When we acquired #824 in its unrestored state, the seat frames were the only part salvageable from the seating make-up. Our trim department set about stripping the seats back to the bare shell and repainted the metal frames grey. All wood trims have been replaced along with the foams. Replicas of the original seat covers have been manufactured and fitted by our in-house trimmer.  The hood is stowed in the down position. You can see that the original hood frame has been restored and repainted in the factory correct colour of grey. We carried out a spectro reading of the remaining paint chips prior to restoration to ensure the correct colour match. The hood itself is made from Mohair with a dobby lining in beige, also known as light tan. 
Edition 9 7 RS Edition 9 8
With the hood being in the upright position, you'll notice the long thin lead shot bag running across the rear of the hood to help prevent drumming. This was a feature of the early style hoods. We were extremely fortunate that #824 came with many of its original parts in its unrestored state. One of which being the iconic E-type steering wheel, easily recognisable with its smooth, rounded wood wheel, aluminium centre piece and gold-leaf Jaguar's head in the centre horn button. The wood has been restored and re-coloured to the correct light brown finish as displayed here. The later style of steering wheel has a thumb groove around its diameter that covers the aluminium on the inside edge with wood.
Edition 9 9 Edition 9 10
One of the most recognisable features of earlier 3.8-litre E-type's is the dot patterned aluminium dash and centre console. Amazingly, these are the original panels and carry only a small amount of patina. The reproduction panels available today differ slightly to the original design, making the original aluminium panel a real asset to a car's interior. The dot patterned aluminium changed in October 1962 to a cross-hatch pattern which was eventually replaced with leather panels in July 1963.  To the right-hand side of this image, you will see the one-piece fiberglass glove box which has been flocked in a dark grey colour. The changeover date from fiberglass to cardboard glove boxes is unclear and not documented to our knowledge. 

 

To read more from the 100 Point E-type, select the edition from the list below:-

Edition 1: Announcement

Edition 2: History and provenance

Edition 3: Components of interest (part 1)

Edition 4: Components of interest (part 2)

Edition 5: Body restoration

Edition 6: Paint

Edition 7: Engine

Edition 8: Assembly

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