Thought I should introduce myself. I'm now on my fourth Jag, having had an XJ40, two X300s and now a XKR. The saloons all got LPG conversions with varying degrees of success, the last being pretty much flawless, having paid a bit more and getting an install using Prins kit. The XKR was bought at a bargain price in pretty good condition, and gets maintained by the same people I have always use; a marque specialist in Somerset.

I've had some unhappies with the XK, having killed a head gasket and then a whole engine 100 miles later when an oil cooler hose failed, dumping the entire lot on the motorway and I didn't see any warnings because there was heavy traffic occupying my attention.

It's a lovely car, though. Goes like a train and looks gorgeous.

 

Welcome to the forum Jerry Jones,

Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums. You seem remarkably relaxed about a failed engine but perhaps it's a case of time has healed the wounds!

Follow this link XK8 / XKR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the S-Type forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for info on regular issues.

Please remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User CP button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.

You can also visit the UK Region forum by following this link UK - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in this country.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Welcome to the forum

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!

 

Hello, Jerry,
Welcome from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Hi Jerry,
Welcome to the forum.. I see Graham has supplied you with some links to get you started here. You will be hard put to find a friendlier group of Jaguar fans anywhere on the net and should you have any issues just pop up a post, and you'll be sure of a response.. I suspect you will also find issues listed online here that you can assist with as well - and please feel free to wade in and help out with anything.
There are frequent meets around the country - I personally organise the Bi-Annual Brighton meets - but there are meets through the year and all over the UK which offer a great chance to put faces and cars to names and you would be made very welcome.
Please enjoy your time with us - any problems or queries you are very welcome to drop me a line and I'll help if I can or point you towards who can help :-)

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Jerry Jones,

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

 

Hi and welcome aboard, its good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums

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There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
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Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody. No point being enraged about the engine woes; learning has now taken place and all the known problem areas have (hopefully!) been sorted: Timing tensioners, water pump, thermostat, serpentine and blower belts all got rescued from the knackered engine, being brand new and undamaged. The chains on the replacement (second hand) engine looked like new so we kept them.

But now you know why I entered the RealGauge draw - it would have saved my neck twice over had I got the audible alarm turned on. If I win, I'll be adding the oil pressure bolt-on too.

Now for some cosmetics: the front seats have been painted with one of the (matched) paints tht is cracking but can easily be removed with acetone and a proper refinish applied by a nice chap in South Wales with a mainly furniture-based business that I went to see. The headliner needs to come out when the seats are out of the way and have new cloth and foam attached. At the moment I have a small collection of glass-headed pins above the rear window!

 

Jerry,

The vehicle leather refinish paints from the likes of Gliptone and Furniture Clinic in the UK are water based. Acetone seems a bit extreme as a solvent to remove it.....?

Graham

 

I think the S Wales chap is a Furniture Clinic franchise. No idea what has been used on there, but acetone shifts it quite nicely on the tiny area I tried - I'll leave it up to him to choose his potion, though :-)

 

Jerry,

It'll be interesting to get details on the process and technique he uses.

Bolster wear is a regular issue with both XK8 and XJ8. Members have approached repairing this with several methods and varying degrees of success.

Graham

 

I believe that they use a pigment system followed by a flexible lacquer. Here is the chap I went to see:

Leather Repair Cardiff

You may wish to call him and have a chat. I had bolster wear on all 3 of my saloons as well as this XK. I just decided to live with it but may well look at a localised repair in future. This car needs the whole lot doing, though, because of the cracked paint.

 

Furniture Clinic head quarters are based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne - approximately 15 miles away from me in Durham.

They have built up a good reputation with the classic car sector in the UK over the last ten years. I haven't used them myself but will be interested to see before and after photos of the work on your seats.

Graham

 

Don't hold your breath! The engine work has emptied the toy budget. Lots of before and after shots in their gallery here: Gallery