Jaguar Cabriolet Hood and Leather Upholstery Refurbishing

Gareth's Jaguar cabriolet had been parked up for a while. He had decided to keep it for a few more years, and it needed a proper birthday: hood clean and reproof, drain flush, Krytox on all the rubbers, and the interior brought back to how it should feel. One of the boot drains was partially blocked -- cleared as part of the drain flush.

The hood looked patchy and dirty when it arrived. James thought for a moment that it might have been dyed at some point. It had not -- it was just that dirty. Once cleaned and dried, the 2-year nano-coating went on and it came up completely differently to how it arrived.

The interior was the most dramatic part of the job. Gary had arranged for Allan, who does the leather and upholstery reconditioning work, to come in. The driver's seat had wear, the steering wheel needed attention, and the door panels had aged. Allan worked through all of it -- seat, steering wheel, door panels, carpets, fabric trim on the sides. Gary's reaction on camera when Allan showed him the result: "I am saying that is amazing. You have done a tremendous job of that." The interior went from tired to immaculate.

The wheels were complex -- studded, and Gareth took them to Rolling Rims himself to have them refurbished rather than leaving them with us; it saved him some money on the wheel work. Once they came back they were ceramic-coated. Gary showed Gareth a nearby Lexus that had just had Matrix Black applied to give him an idea of what the bodywork coating would look like when he comes back for that next visit.

The bodywork was given a ceramic wax spray this time as a holding measure. The full ceramic coating is planned for a separate visit once the body shop has addressed a bonnet imperfection from an old local repair. Gary's verdict at the end: "I could easily see this being a future classic."