Hi everyone, My name is Johnny, My wife and I both are getting ready to retire and decided to start restoring vechicles. I started working on vechicles since back in the 60's (working with father). But new to dealing with Jaguars. While driving around a couple of weeks ago, My wife (Charla) and I spotted a Jaguar sitting behind a Pawn shop. Needless to say it now resides in my shop. It is a 1988 XJ6 (40) Vanden Plas. All original as far as I can tell. We both fell in love with it as soon as we saw it. silver in color, Body fairly straight, Interior, with the exception of the wood trim in the console area in excellent condition, We decided to restore it for our own use, not to sell.
Some history about myself, My father taught me to repair, not replace parts unless their was no other option, still adhere to that. Also went to Tech school and graduated as a Advanced Master Gunsmith. (Thought I wanted to do that, but changed my mind).
So far I have spent about 12 hours rebuilding the door handles where they where broken 3 out of 4 where not operating. Luckily I learned in Gunsmith school how to deal with Zinc Alloy (Pot Metal) time wil tell if they hold up.

Thats about all I have to say for now, except glad to be here, and I'm sure I will have some questions for you all.

Johnny

 

Welcome to the forum Johnny,

Sounds like the car has found the right owner.

 

Johhnny, welcome to the Forums. I Think you will find a lot of useful information around these parts. I would love to get my hands on something like you have. Give the kitty some lovin' and I'm sure the kitty will return the favor many times over. There's a lot of smart guys around here, so, pick their brains. They are normally more than willing to asssist and tell you what you need to know. So, grab a cup of Joe, sit back, stare at the pretty kitty and enjoy. Don't be afraid to pass on what you can like how to fix pot metal (I would like to know).

 

Welcome to the forum Johnny. Love to see a photo of your car if you can post one. As well as the work you did on the door handles! Getting corrosion out of Zink alloy is still a mystery to me. I like your dads philosophy about repairing parts if you can. Having two older English cars I know this feeling well! Cheers John.

 

Welcome to the forum Johnny, good luck with the restoration.

 

Welcome to the forum Johnny!