[Healeys] Heritage Upholstery and trim

[Patrick Yoas]

(I'm probably the guy who Steve's referring to that brought up the question as
to what the rear quarter panels were supposed to be on BJ8's with Leather
Interiors.)
 
When my Heritage interior arrived I noticed the rear quarter
panels being plain instead of having the embossed pattern. After all, the door
and front kick panels are smooth too so they look "correct". It does look good
and correct since the rear squab fold-down shelf was embossed unless a leather
interior kit was ordered. For some reason I inquired about the side panels and
things snowballed from there with me communicating with Steve and the Concours
experts. I also checked the Factory Parts Manual very closely and it too does
confirm that the is only one part number for the rear quarter panels depending
on the color and whether early BJ8's or late BJ8's and seatbelt or should
harness applications. 
 
Unfortunately, I had to send my Front seats back to
Heritage to be redone since the quality was not up to par. Tony did call me
right away when I left him a message about the seats along with pics of them
and told me to send them back "immediately". (That was good customer service).
The Front seat backs arrived a few days ago but not the seat bottoms. Emails
to Heritage have gone unanswered. All of the comments about customer service
issues with them are the same issues I have had and still are having. When
buying interiors I've learned a few things...be sure of what is included and
what is not!! I would have gladly sent my dash facia chrome trim and center
console chrome trim with my order to have them install them. Do not get rid of
your original interior until you finish installing the new interior. You'll be
surprised how much you need the original interior plus some of the hardware!!
 
Patrick Yoas
 
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 13:32:51 -0500
From: "BJ8Healeys"
<sbyers at ec.rr.com>
To: <healeys at autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Healeys]
Heritage Upholstery and Trim
Message-ID:
<004801cf1869$866f0850$934d18f0$@rr.com>
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Anyone considering a new Heritage leather interior for
their BJ8 should be
aware: Heritage will supply the rear seat side panels in
plain vinyl
without the embossed squares unless you request the embossed
squares.

Having once received a telephone inquiry from Kaye Kovacs of
Fourintune
about the original configuration of the BJ8 leather interior, I did
a survey
of owners whose cars survive with the original leather interior.
Admittedly, leather was relatively rare on BJ8s, having been installed on
cars
for the USA and Canada only when specified by the original owner (UK
market
cars with leather were more numerous, sometimes being sold by dealers
with the
factory leather interior already installed). Surviving leather
interiors are
even more rare, and those whose cars are in the BJ8 registry
still fewer. The
survey determined that all of the surviving interiors
reported on had vinyl
side panels with the embossed squares. It's risky to
draw definite conclusions
from such a limited set of data, but so far no
original leather interior has
been found with plain vinyl side panels.

Tony at Heritage called me about
this same issue recently when queried by
one of his customers who received the
plain panels. Tony expressed his
opinion as an "expert in Jaguar and Mercedes
trimming" that the plain side
panels without the squares just "looked better"
since the BJ8 leather rear
seat back does not have the squares like the vinyl
seat back did. He
indicated he intended to continue supplying the side panels
without squares
unless requested by a customer. He does have the equipment to
emboss the
squares for those who want them.

Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8
Registry
Havelock, NC USA