Well the squeak stops when I press upwards on the lip of the dash, which is odd as it's nothing that I touched when removing the instrument panel. Anyone have any insider tips how to remedy this, I think I'd prefer a burnt out cluster lamp as opposed to this squeak lol.

 

Had my local garage take care of some overdue maintenance -- a ball joint, leaky power steering hose, leaky transmission plug, and cleaning out the breather tubes and throttle body.

Then this morning, as the cherry on my Spring maintenance sundae I took care of a task a bit more within my skills and available time: fixing my broken power mast. Thanks to this video on YouTube it was easy as can be.

And now, it's time to drive!

 

Try spraying some dry lube in the area where it squeaks, I can't remember what I used, but I cured a squeaky dash on a Lincoln that way.

Find a product that evaporates and leaves something like dry teflon behind.
Vector

 

Bicycle shops got that stuff for chain lubrication.

 

Last weekend I got around to cleaning the wheel barrels. There was so much build up inside that I ended up taking the finish off of the barrel to get them properly cleaned. I don't mind though because they looked 10x better when I bolted them back on. I used dish soap and steel wool for the barrels. I am guessing they had never been cleaned in 17 years


So dirty






Took at least an hour per wheel




Comparison






Boom




Waxed the wheel and tire shine




Lots of work paid off

 

Looks amazing with them fully cleaned

 

Yesterday I simply cleaned the wood and dusted her off. She's in perfect shape to the point where I don't have to clean her as much; but what's the fun in that?

 

+1, very good looking.

 

My son calls them rims. I'm still call them wheels. I put them on last weekend. I knew the tires on the stock rims were getting thin, and decided to put winter tires on the stock rims and get all new rims and summer tires, pictured. At least two of the stock wheels now are cracked or bent beyond recommended repair. Going to get the other 3 (including the spare) inspected and decide whether to get an entire new set, or just replace the damaged ones.

I am considering cutting a hole in each center cap so I can fit the Jaguar centerpiece into them. I had decided on these long before my son bought his 03 Mustang, which incidentally, has the same wheels, except of course the center caps and are grey instead of black.

 

3dcarstickers.com can make you up Jaguar center decals in any size you desire for $8 or you can send them your own custom design and they will make them up for $19. That way you can stick them right on your existing caps with no cutting or extra work. I have used them many times over the years and been very happy

Jaguar ? Online shop 3D wheel center caps

 

Can you just drive it up some ramps and do em or does the weight need to be off the wheels?

 

2003 XJR

I did the rear sway bar links this morning. I used the Moog brand, and had to modify the included bushing to get a good fit, but they look great and the car drove good all afternoon.

I also took the car to have all four wheels road force balanced. It seemed smoother on the way home, but I came through town so my wife could run some errands so I never got up to highway speeds to really see if there is a difference.

I needed to get in front of another vehicle pulling away from a stoplight so I could change into a turn lane, but the other vehicle accelerated aggressively. I punched the XJR and zipped around him (way around him) in order to get the lane I needed. My wife said "My word this car is fast, that guy is WAAY back there."

Good times.

 

I had mine up on jack stands, not sure if that is necessary, but that is how I did it. The only tough part is that the front bar is VERY heavy compared to the rear, lol!
Vector

 

Closed her down after changing the old secondary tensioners (which, by the way, came out like new) for the alloy ones, and adding new plugs.
Did a test ride, all clean, no leaking and and no smoke, ready to go ...

 

Finished waxoyling on the rear end today here's a before and after

 

What is this version from?

 

I pulled my electric exhaust cut out off and sent them in for service under the 4 year warranty DMH gives with their products, it's actually been a little over 4 years since I installed them, but Doug is fixing them anyway.

They were about .001" away from sealing completely when closed, so he is putting in brand new motors for free, under warranty, can't beat that!

I absolutely love these cut outs, mild to bad and anything in between with the push of a hidden toggle switch.

I am trying to figure out how to put some on my Ferrari now!
Vector

 

damn i want to do this... do you have any video clips demonstrating?

where'd you mount the toggle switch

 

Upgraded secondary timing chain tensioners. Total of about 3 hours with the help of good ol Buck.

I have to say, working in the non supercharged engine bay is much easier.

57K on the clock.

Tiny cracks just starting. See attached pics.

This install was a breeze. Everything co-operated nicely.

 

Hi Plums, If you are referring to the oatmeal gear surround with chrome bezel I actually do not know for sure what model it was out of. As some know my car was a total basket case when I acquired and among other issues it was missing a good portion of the interior. I recall grabbing that surround from a junkyard XJ6 or XJ8 VDP. The wood surround is wrapped in vinyl and I make those shift knobs