As some of you may know from previous threads, my wife and me have been looking for an XJ-S ever since we bought our X308 Vanden Plas.

Since then, we have gathered enough experience with local knowledge (very limited), parts availability (OK), service (average) and other issues.

Bringing the Vanden Plas from good to perfect, and its driving experience surrounded by wood, high-pole carpets, and the scent of leather, made us decide that our next, and probably last to buy car should be an older Jaguar, and specifically an XJ-S if possible.

However, due to Taiwan’s legislation, car imports of anything older than ~6 years is impossible due to emission regulations.
That limits the availability of classics to cars which were either directly sold in Taiwan long time ago, or to cars imported in the same time period, and licensed then.

Due to this, the emotional appreciation of classic cars is rather low, and many ‘classics’ are left on the side of the road, their ½ year technical check overdue, their license expired, never to be accepted on the road again.





All this means that the choice of ‘good’ cars was basically zero, and the total availability of licensed XJS’s limited to probably ten.
Over the last 2 ½ years, some went up for sale, and we have seen about all of them.
Till last month, all were rejected for various reasons, mostly due to the technical state.

However, after another failed attempt, a red 1989 Convertible came up for sale.

~~to be continued for the next 2 years~~

 

So any pics of the new Jag? Taiwan is a small place for such a car, with such a market for scooters and bikes, I'm not surprised that there aren't many to pic from.

 

I am a simple Dutch bloke who just hit 50.

I moved to Taiwan in 1997, lived there for 3 years, and got married on the move.
Together we spent 15 years in Shanghai, China, both running our own businesses.
Totally fed-up with about everything there, we moved permanently back some 1 ½ years ago, and try to enjoy the good things in life here.

I am not new to cars, but have, for practical reasons, more concentrated on motorbikes.
Simply easier to handle.

Did plenty of projects for myself (below "old-and-New" Honda, Suzuki and Ducati were just a few), with all bikes bought cheap, sometimes not even running, stripped to the last bolt, then rebuilt as desired.







So now, fully settled on this little island, and with the more then full support of the wife, it is time to do something bigger, much bigger.
So that 1989 red lady I talked about came in very handy.

~~to be continued for the next 2 years~~

 

So, after a long search, a lot of soul scratching, and the help of some very helpful forum members, we finally decided on a 1989 V12 Convertible.

Looking good from some distance, getting a bit worse if you get closer, quite a mess here and there once you get too close (but that is for later).

The V12 was initially holding me back.
Not for its reputation, but as the 5.3 liter cost 2.000 USD in road tax every year, excluding any other costs such as forced insurance …
However, found out that the license can be suspended for a year each time, eliminating most of these costs, pretty helpful for the renovation period.

So, for those who did not read my other thread, here some pictures “from a distance”…

 

Fast forward from the last months till yesterday …

Was not sure on driving the car home, or just put it on a truck.
I guess reading this forum gives you each and every reason to fear the beast.

One of the issues of this car is the horrendous smell.
Both foot-wells have been flooded, and the underlying carpets were soaked.
I don’t know how to describe it, but it was something like the laundry from a football team after a tropical game, then left wet for some weeks in a corner … it is the thing which creeps up in your nose and still can be smelt after some hours, shower and all.

So, with the sun out, some high spirits, the car having passed its technical 1/2 test a week earlier then agreed, and the tow truck number in the pocket, decided to give it a try, with plenty of stops to check.

Roof and windows down to survive the smell, the wife driving behind looking for smoke, hell and fire, and one eye permanently on the temperature gauge, off we went.
Then, nothing really happened, quite uneventful, with plenty of time to enjoy the ride, and several times complimented by others at red lights.

The car did quite well (at least I made it ..), no overheating issues, just a small fuel weep at one of the injection hoses.
She runs not as smooth as she should, but I did not even clean the filters, so that is not a real surprise.
I have all confidence that after a thorough clean from rear to front all will be ok.

So, she is home, and ready to start a 2 year process of bringing her back to her former glory.
She might look beautiful, but as mentioned before, come anything closer and you will find many issues.
But anyway, that’s for tomorrow … here some pics from yesterday’s drive home.

 

Great result, many congratulations, but please renew the injector hoses before you drive her, or even start her, again!

 

Awesome !

We drove our newly acquired, been sleeping for 20 years XJ12C 10 miles home with square tires, a medium sized fire going on from power steering fluid dripping onto the exhausts, one fuel tank, no power steering, only dodgy front brakes and very low fuel pressure. We arrived home exhausted and stressed but it was an important milestone in the life of the car !

Your looks like a breeze compared to that !

+1 on the FI hoses, and get that Daimler badge off the trunk lid !

 

Seller told me it is a very rare Daimler, I even paid a premium for that .

Car is home, and will not move before all of the fuel and ignition issues have been addressed, promise.

 

Well, that brings it up till today, and a transformation of this blog from describing into exchange, or so I am afraid .

Starting something new, I always need a couple of days to check slowly, hatch the plan, write down the lists, and come into action.
With the complexity of the XJ-S, it might take some weeks.

Well, that fits perfectly, because we will also get our new apartment this week, and that will require some time painting and refurbishing as well.
Yes, pay-back time to the wife…

Because of this, all I did was some random preparation work.
First cleaned out the trunk, so the next action there can be the filter and the catch tank.

It also gives an idea that this car involves more than just a wash.
The carpets are all loose, dirty, and smelly, and there are additional wires everywhere (including power all the way to the front), and I need to figure out what they tried to circumvent before I rip out all.
I will re-carpet the trunk in a later stage, and keep the old ones to be used as templates.







Also tackled the foot wells, and removed some of the carpets.
The driver side seems to be water-caused only, and is basically dry already, waiting for further action.
The passenger side however is covered in an oily, smelly mess.
This is surely not just rainwater, and I remember reading about a leaking condenser (?).
Well, the interior will come out at a later stage, but I will need to work on further damage control for the steel work.
Still, I don’t think the damage to the body is too severe.





~~to be continued for the next 2 years~~

 

Best wishes on the restoration. That car is almost a twin of mine and I will enjoy reading all the updates. Driving your car home creates a certain bond, luckily you arrived unscathed. I drove my '97 XJ6 home from LA after I bought it earlier this month. It was only about 350 miles but it has given me a very positive attitude about the car. Hope that lasts!

 

Overall, and particularly in light of the unique market you had to face, I think you've done very well. Yes, lots of work ahead, but you seem to know what you are facing.

Given your injector hose issue, you're going to likely also need a new injector wiring harness/loom. You might contact forum member Safari who is about to do a production run of these. Here is the thread:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...arness-159220/

Good luck, and looking forward to hearing about your progress.

 

Thanks Mac, for the thumbs-up and Safari's thread.

Today I suspended the license, can do that for a year without too much consequences, saving 5.50 US dollars a day on taxes.
Sounds not much, but it is fair amount of money for parts after 365 days...

I will be able to park her tomorrow at a place where I can leave here for 3 months, so that I can start to take off parts.

 

Great story! I look forward to your updates. I'm dealing with a similar issue with mine, it has been sitting for a few years and has a long list of things that I'd like to repair. Best of luck!

 

Well, settling on an other apartment, and the consequent work, took a whole lot longer then expected. It made me that I did absolutely nothing to the car since the last post.

Anyway, today I finally managed to make some baby steps, basically clearing out the trunk and transferring all loose parts to the little storage I have.
It will allow me to drain the tank, then slowly work my way forward to the engine compartment.

One thing I did do today was rather important, I removed the leaper from the bonnet .
Need some wood to make it a nice paper holder ...

 

Eric life does get in the way. Keep plugging away until you can generate some momentum. Trying to keep your enthusiasm up can be a challenge. I'm about to swap out the transmission myself. Keep the faith.

 

Good move !

Hopefully the Daimler badge is next :-)

I will be in Taiwan again some time in August..... I'll PM you nearer the time and see if a meet up is possible.

 

Sure, most welcome, I will leave the badge for you to remove then.
Wait ur update, should be around.

 

OK, as mentioned, did not do anything on the car so far, but painting up a house gave some time to make a plan of action at least.
For budgetairy reasons, I decided that I will replace the precautionary items (coolant hoses, injection hoses, etc.), and further those parts which I will bump at during a full system-by-system check in the coming months.

I will first tackle the fuel / ignition system, then dig deeper on the cooling system, then electrics, A/C, etc.

On the fuel / ignition, I plan the following:
- replace fuel filter
- clean buffer tank / strainer
- check inlet / outlet pressure regulator (any advice on replacing?)
- renew injector hoses
- clean injectors ??
- replace spark plugs
- check / maintain Lucas parts

Considering that the car has been more standing than used, any more advice on the above start of the project?

 

New HT leads? A very good idea to replace the B bank FPR, whih is the important one. Blow out the fuel lines with compressed air. Clean up the engine earths is very important. Check the first few inches of the shielded wire from the Lucas amp to the ECU loom (assuming you have Lucas ignition?) to ensure the insulation is OK on the central conductor wire. If Marelli ignition there are important precautionary fixes to do on the dizzy which others will mention. Also on Marelli cars a good plan to renew the position sensors on the flywheel and front end pulley and ensure clearance is set correctly, again, others who know will advise. Change coolant temp sensor on the B bank thermostat housing, and keep the old one as a spare in the glove box. The car will stop dead if this item fails.
Greg

 

Greg, well noted and many thanks!