Hi to everybody,
I'm new to the forum and just dropped two lines of presentation in the New Members section.
A friend of mine has a 1975 4.2 XJ6 rusting in a parking lot. It's been left in a garage for the past 19 years, and now is outside, exposed to the elements.
He wants to get rid of it, and I'm wondering about how much time and money I would dump into it in case I'd buy and restore it.

Good things (not many):
1) Aside from the hood emblem, some switch and a few other little things, it is complete
2) It seems to me a low mileage one
3) Interiors are in good condition. Seals and carpets ok. Seats ok. Woods ok.
4) I think I can buy it for a reasonable price.

Bad things:
1) Rotten underneath: doors sills and floor pans for sure, perhaps the "shell" under the rear bumper, too
2) Mice nests inside the engine compartment and on the floor - they might have chewed something.
3) Rusted roof (no vinyl anymore on it) and driver side fender - cannot determine how badly, but I puched hard on the roof and it didn't break down, which makes me hope hope it's not beyond repair :-)
4) It has an LPG system retrofitted - might be bad for valve seats on some engines
5) Windshield scratched by the metal of the wipers

I didn't check if the engine turns, yet, and, of course, couldn't check the suspensions, the brakes, the gearbox, the carbs. At the moment it might be a nice project car, or a can of worms, as far as I could check.

I know that is impossible to determine how bad is the scenario at a glance, but I'm pretty sure that someone can tell me what is most likely gone bad and which failure (aside, of course, of a locked engine or a bad transmission) can be a sentence of death for the car. Please keep in mind that you can buy a very nice one for about 6.000€ (about $7.000).
In a few words, might it be worth a restoration, in your opinion?

 

IMHO not worth restoring, best as a parts source. Series 2 cars have never been much sought after, and also suffered bad build quality throughout their production life. You would have to spend a shed-load on it to get it into a reasonable condition, and would never get that money back or even a large percentage of it. Too much uncertainty if you can't do a more detailed inspection. Also you are not in the best of places for Jaguar expertise.

 

That's what you have there. Maybe the seats and door liners are worth saving, or maybe not.

If you can "get a very nice one" for $7000US, and you want a Series 2 (in my opinion the prettiest of them, but I freely admit my bias), then you should put your money there.

You could *Easily* sink Twice that much money into this car and still have basically nothing to show for it except a sheaf of receipts and more work to come. Every bolt you remove will have unpleasant surprises behind it.

My car for example, was apparently in very nice condition, but the Previous owner spent more than $30,000 on it in 1986 ($6000 on leather alone)! We bought it for a Mere Fraction of that in late 2013, spent some time learning what it needed again, and then embarked on a year long replacement/repair of all suspension components, brakes (new calipers all round, new MC + all hoses), driver floor and various other things.

Save yourself the heartache, disappointment and frustration. Find a better example.
(';')

 

And again.......that'll be a money pit for you....find a better one.

 

Buy it as a a donor for the manual gearbox and other bits if you want to restore another jag. Chrome bumpers are worth looking at as well if they are in good condition, can't quite see if it's got the chrome wheels but again if they are and in good condition they are worth collecting/ rescuing.
The rest of the car seems doubtful as a project.

 

Thank very much to everyone,
that's what I feared.
I'll take a closer look the next week and take more detailed photos. I'll try to crank the engine, also, to see if it turns over.
I will keep an eye open to see if a better one comes up for sale at a reasonable price, and in case take this as a donor.
I will keep you updated, thank you!

 

If that car was here in ooh-sa I'd be all over it. That is quite a unique model with the manual transmission and we dont see them here. I agree with most others that its too far gone to restore at present values. But if thats your dream car then.... do it. That said, I would get it running, patch the floor and enjoy it as it is. Who knows what the future brings.

To get it running and safe be prepared to change at least one fuel tank, rebuild the carbs, maybe even a webber conversion, replace the fuel lines and replace the some brake lines. Check the brake lines carefully, as designed they foolishly cross over the front and are in direct weather so they rust out. Fluids and rubber bits too.

 

if it's dirt cheap it might be worth getting just for the manual transmission parts.

Cheers
DD