Hi my names Alex and live in Surrey England.

Ever since I was a kid I loved jag and the understated power and elegance of the xjs. Was never into the Porche or testerossa most boys my age had hanging on their walls. To in your face for me. And now I'm older I Finnally had the money to restore one.

I have a 1987 jag xjs-c 5.3 and currently pulling my hair out as to why won't start.
Just wondering if all jag owners are now bald or have just tuffts left from too much hair pulling over the years?! 😂
I bought it five years ago at a bargain price and only bid on ebay for £2500 simply I think as the po had done a terrible description that stopped anyone wanting to bid.

My plan was to do the mechanical work myself drop the front and rear sub frames and get the bodywork professionally restored. Unfortunately my mate didn't have the time so I found a place on-line that had rave reviews and a good Web site with lots of restored classics(looking closer I now realise none of the restorations had any finished photos a d the reviews are fake)
He had even been on car sos I think it was.
Well two years later and a lot of money spent I got a heap of a car back with filler plugging rot etc. I did sue, long story but after following citezens advice before taking to court I got myself into the situation of only being able to claim some money back. And it turns out he does this a lot and has a field of half restored rotting cars where people have obviously just not had the money to carry on and given up.
Anyhows due to this I had to learn welding and spraying to be able afford to get car finished all done from you tube tutorials! .
I bare metalled the car again cut out all the rot that he had left and covered in 6mm(i kid you not) of high build primer that looked like it had slapped on with a paint brush.
Welded everything up including front of roof that crumbled in my hands and windscreen scuttle that had rotted down into the plates underneath and interior. Epoxy primed then primer then sprayed. It came out well but unfortunately I don't think I done enough clear coat in places so I blew through in a couple of spots on rub down to get rid of orange peel. I dropped the sub frames and cleaned and sprayed underside with high grade underseal (forgotten name but not cheap) then wax oil. Rebuilt the interior and roof and as my first restoration I am extremely happy with how it's turned out so far paintwork not perfect but will sort at some point. And passed mot with no complaints about my welding so that was good.




The sort of rot left after apparent restoration. What you can't see there is there is a piece of metal held in place by filler bridging the whole across top

After cut out rotten metal on what was underneath also

How car looked. The original colour is the green it is now.

Just gutted I had to go through the fact I was ripped off first.

As I am someone that would normally at least try and tackle something myself first, as I don't really trust others and unfortunately I was proved right.

Have an annoying non start at present thread already done. Awaiting new dizzy cap at present for it.


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Welcome to the Forums.

You have achieved a LOT, and it looks good, better than most for sure.

Good luck.

 

Thank you, its added more strings to my bow being able to now weld etc, and have learnt a hell of a lot having the starting issue I now have about how the engine works etc.

 

Welcome to the forums Alex,

When I opened your post and saw the first photo, I thought "that's in remarkably good condition for a UK XJS" then the tale of woe followed! Great job on both skill and perseverence.

I can see you've already found your way to the XJS forum so there's no need for a link to it from me. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for information on regular issues. You can also use the UK & Eire Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/uk-eire-68/ to find other members in your region.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Welcome aboard Alex.

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Alex,
Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!!!!

 

Wow! I'm sorry for your losses. Can't help with no start though as mine is in limbo while life happens.... best luck in future. oh, and welcome.

 

Hello, Alex,
What a very sad story you tell!
Like you I have very deep seated trust issues about anyone working on my cars, and your story gives validation to that mistrust. But by this time you have doubtless had your fingers into Every cubic millimetre and know where it is, what it is, how it's supposed to be, and you've probably put it right. Congratulations on a long, torturous job Very well done.

Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Thank you yes it's been a journey and shown me that with a bit of confidence you can tackle most things. I'm in no way saying I am an experienced welder now but watching the videos on you tube that actually show you how to weld actually on a car rather than two sheets of perfect metal on a bench gave me some good tips. After praticising in garage my first attempt under wheel arch where it wouldn't be seen clearly showed its not as easy as on a bench.
But after learning more as I went I went back and cut those bits back out and re-done. The satisfying bit was putting metal back into the hundreds of holes he had just filled. Lots of overlapping spot welds to bridge gap then grind down smooth but at least I know the only filler on the car now is to smooth out repairs rather than fill holes.

I had been charged for something like 300 hours of welding the guy who came round to analyse car for court case tore into the work saying he thought he only done about fifty hours and some of that was not mot standard which I had to repair.

 

Welcome to the forums.