Just got a 1971 XKE V12 Coupe - Suggestions Appreciated
 

Hello to all!

I am ecstatic to be able to join the league here. I recently took ownership of a 1971 V12 coupe. The car is rather rough, but mostly mechanical and cosmetics in terms of bringing her up to a good looking Jag.

Looks like the car hasn’t run in a few years. The interior is shot, there are a number of wires that really look like they don’t belong. But I am not seeing any rust what so ever, only some surface rust of engine and suspension components. I am in the beginning stages of flushing the fuel lines, ordering rebuilt kits for the 4 carbs, and taking an extremely close investigation of the brakes. The immediate goal is for it to “GO” and for it to “WHOAH”…

So my thread here is for the forum team to provide as many suggestions on how best to proceed getting this beast up and running strong.

I am an automotive engineer working here in the Detroit area, so I know a fair amount about cars. I also have experience with an old Triumph that I went through years ago (I know about English cars quirkiness’s) and I would say I’m a halfway decent backyard mechanic. Just don’t have a full blown garage of tools and equipment.

Thanks all!

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When I got my 1977 MG Midget in October 2010 it had stood since 1996. I trailered the car from where it was, (an old friend's house) to a one-man-band garage that had done a lot of work for me. Louis recommissioned the car. This involved replacement of all fluids except gearbox and diff, and a check of brakes and their action. As part of this, one front flexible brake hose needed replacing but the car was in remarkable condition. Like your E-type V12 I had no worries about rust as the car was on 22k miles and virtually perfect in that department. Even today, I can't believe how lucky I am !!
So if it were me, I'd get the car recommissioned on the above lines and make sure everything works and get it checked for roadworthiness. Do you have a mandatory check in the US, or shops that do this ? If so, get a check done. Then, if all is OK do what I call "shakedown" runs first of small distances then longer until you're confident about the car running reasonably reliably. Being a carburettor car, you may find you get a lot of fuel leaks due to seals losing their resilience, so it might be a good step to replace all the flexible fuel lines, (inspect the steel ones for rust, of course !!)

Electrics in the era of this car in the UK could be a bit flaky, and I know this is true as I was there at the time. A lot of my friends in Birmingham worked for Lucas. They tried to do a good job, and mostly succeeded despite the bean counters.

Hope your car runs well and you get many miles from it. In the UK they are now serious money to buy, so serious, I will never be able to buy one.

Hi Sptfr78,
I would suggest that you join the local Jaguar Club, Jaguar Affiliates Group of Michigan (JAG of MI). We will be having our annual Concours d'Elegance, Saturday 25th at:

Canterbury Village
2369 Joslyn Court
Lake Orion, MI 48360,
E-types are usually the largest class of vehicles.

The monthly meetings are normally 2nd Wednesday of each month from 7:00PM–9:00PM, except for the month when we have the concours, at:

Archie’s Restaurant
30471 Plymouth Road,
Livonia MI 48150

So come on out and check out the cars and meet some people who love Jaguars, We usually have Welsh Jaguar and at least one Jaguar dealer selling there wares.

I did see that the club will be at Canterbury on the 25th. Unfortunately, we won't be home then. Funny, Canterbury is less than 5 minutes from my house....

I will investigate joining the club; sounds great!

Can you tell if the club is doing anything for Woodward Cruise next weekend? I would really enjoy seeing some of the club's XKEs.

Hi Sptfr78,
I don't know of anything organized for the Dream Cruise. Up to about 3 years ago we had our Conour's on Woodward north of 15 mile, but we lost that envue. So the next meeting would be Sept 12th at Archie’s Restaurant in Livonia. Come and checkout the club. There is a lot of helpful people in the club

Where at? I'm also an engineer in the auto industry here in SE Michigan. We may want to get together sometime and swap crying towels!
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