Bought and installed new tires and those chrome Pentas. Took it on some highway blasts, no vibrations anymore. Putting proper wheels and tires on took care of almost all of the strange low speed instability as well. Turning steering while not moving is much much easier now. Even for fresh, non broken in tires, grips like hell around turns, and doesn't rub fenders anymore.

Got home and saw the dash lights seemed a bit dim when I was parked and idling. Revving the engine made them brighten at higher RPM's and then dim down again. Grabbed my meter and checked the battery, 11.8V at idle. Guess I'm checking grounds and alt wiring tomorrow. You just can't win

 

I finally got the last bulb to replace in the dash today...the pesky clock light. Mine was dim and during my vent replacement what little connection the wires in the bulb had finally broke loose. I'm getting to be a pro at removing the different sections of dash. Light bulb installed and clock is bright as can be now at night!! Also finally got to give the lady a proper bath. Car looks fantastic and I get compliments everywhere I drive her.

 

Nice, after tackling my dash, I have one light out in my climate control panel, I'm putting off/dreading doing that because I have an aftermarket double din head unit installed & not sure what's required to remove & re-fit that. These little bulbs require a lot of work lol.

 

There is one out in my climate control as well I think. Having the FSM has sure made the difference with learning how to do things on this car. It helped that my local Jag dealer is as passionate about the cars as I am and they offered free tips and hooked me up with wholesale parts!

 

Filler the 200.000 km today... 125.000 miles... And all is working fine (on petrol)

 

Congratulations on the milestone, or should that be kilometrestone?

Did not realise that the metric speedo was only in km/h, not dual scale like the mph speedo which has kph scale inside the mph scale.

 

Yeah, that is a weird thing. World wide all mph speedos have the kph markings. But no kph has an mph marking...

 

Nice one, but I see 200.000km leaves a lot of dust ...

 

I rarely clean my XJ... My XJ-S is just more important

 

Just took it out and drove it. Since purchasing my 98 XJ8 last month I have really enjoyed it. She cruises so smooth and have to be careful or I will be speeding before I know it.

 

Topped off the battery and drove it. With the mild winter here I've been able to keep it going more often. I need to bring it in the garage and do some minor work and updates to it though, competing projects keep getting in the way.

 

Overhauled an entire front axle or better said, am still doing it.

New bushes
New balljoints
New bearings
New alignment screws
New antirollbar drop links
New antirollbar bushes
New subframe mounts

The entire bugger should be finished tomorrow - finally! All this just tomget rid of a clunk in the front axle...

 

Spent 2 afternoons waxing the VDP, all by hand.
First time in my life I used a cleaner, now that really took away 90% of all swirls and spots, very nice result.
Finished off with a layer of carnauba wax, then took her out for an early spin this morning.



Always on the lookout for other Jag's, ran into this dying XJ40, a sad view.
I actually like the XJ40 more and more, and it is sad most of them here are in a very bad shape.

 

Looking good Eric, but I don't like the XJ40 though. I never have, but what it grew into I love.

 

I put a for sale sign in mine (98 XJR), but the windows are tinted so much you can barely see it!

 

I know this is not the right thread to discuss this, but I think a well maintained XJ40 in the right color looks as majestic and as good as our X308's.

 

Nice looking car Eric,very good job.When you say you used a cleaner do you mean a powered cleaner or just a liquid sort of cleaner,I've seen people use a rotary one like the pros use,the results seem quite good.What size wheels and tyres do you run,they fill the arches nicely.
I also like the XJ40 especially those wheels on the red one but I bet they're a job to keep clean.
Enjoy your VDP,
Take Care,
Andy

 

Thanks, Andy.
I know there are pro's who do a better job, but I also know that here, in Taiwan, there are plenty who butcher the car, say 'sorry', and still ask for the payment ...
So, I prefer to do it myself, even if that means some limitation as I do not have electricity.
I used a liquid cleaner, which grinds lightly in various degrees depending the cloth material used, and just took hours of careful motions by hand till I was satisfied .

The rims are the double fives from the ~2001 XKR, they come in a staggered 18x8JxE33 for the front, and 18x9JxE35 for the rear.
The tires are 245/45 for the front, and 275/40 for the rear.
Tires have an outside diameter of 677mm (26.7"), hence the full arches, and are about the widest fitting within the fender lips.

 

Thanks for the info Eric,I'am now wondering if that configuration will fit on mine without any alterations,it looks very nice,I have the Starburst 16" wheels and 225-60-16 tyres which are ok and they're in pretty good condition,people tell me if I go low profile I will lose comfort in the ride,I'am not a sporty driver it's just a matter of what looks right and your's looks spot on my friend.
Thanks again,
Have a good day,
Andy

 

Andy,

When I bought my car, it had the exact same size 16"rim / tires as yours.

I wanted larger and wider, but an OEM look, and I wanted the tires to stay within the fender lips (some 2cm within the arches).
I think I spent 1/2 year reading and re-reading each and every forum post I could find on the internet regarding the upgrade, and of course there was plenty of incorrect and contradicting info.

Took the dive when I found these rims in Japan, and luckily everything worked out exactly as expected, simply my best looking upgrade I did.

Comfort wise there is really not much difference, the front is sometimes a little bit more talkative, but the car is certainly not harder.
I think that is cause the tires still have a 11cm sidewall, and my comfort Vanden Plas suspension.

The modification will surely work on your car as well, there are some 3 models of XK rims which are all 8J/9J with the same offsets.
You should be able to find a decent set in your country.

The only modification you will need to do, but that is only 15 min work, is to 'halve' the rear bump stops, at least if you want to use 275 tires in the rear.

As usual, if anything else, shoot me a PM and I will see if I can be of help.