Just sharing a re-spray/refresh of my wife's X-Type.















Some before and afters:













Windshield reveal:


Some ebay center caps that needed to be modified:




After the 1st wash:




This car has been in my family since new, took me to h.s. graduation, maintained by me after the dealer, was/is my wife's 1st car, has seen both east/west coasts, and took both our newborns home from the hospital. Lots of memories with this thing. It's not a forever car but since the plan is to get at least another 4-5 years out of it, I figure it may as well drive and look nice while doing it.

 

Looks gorgeous, 95naSTA!

Cheers,

Don

 

Dandy, btw my ebay caps did the same thing, faded(or peeled?) to silver from the red I bought.

 

Thanks @ Don.

@Dell The faded ones were OEM..

 

Wow, I have not seen a new looking X-Type in some time. Nice job!

 

Looks great !!!! Where did u get the windshield reveal moldings from please ?

 

That looks very good. I have sprayed several panel of my Jaguar-racing-green X-Type myself as well, but the result does not look quite as good.
Have you got any advise for the next time, when I spray?

 

Thanks guys!

I got the windshield reveal moldings from ebay. Pricey but worth it for me at least.

For re-spray tips, I really can't say since I didn't paint it. I've done some decent body work and used to prep cars for paint but never picked up painting.

 

Ah! That explains, why the final paint finish is so perfect.
I personally thing, that my paint-work is not too bad, but I most certainly cannot reach the level, which a local spray-painting company can deliver. They are using a totally different kind of paint, too (2 pack - 2 component paint without harmful solvents). After someone crashed into our metallic Jaguar racing green 2004 S-Type, they fixed it - and it looks better than is did before - it looks factory new.
Also: X-types seem to be prone to loosing the outer layer, the clear coat - especially here in Australia, where it gets bombarded with UV-rays. I already re-did the roof...: I carefully removed the outer clear coat layer only, and left the green paint undamaged and I sprayed on only new clear coat.

 

Yeah, UV is definitely not bad where the car lived for 20 years and a handful of those years it was garage kept. It did see two years of southern California sun though and the roof rails ended up with some clear fail. Overall the factory paint was very very forgiving. It was easy to buff out scratches/scuffs. It was relatively thick too. I picked up a set of passenger doors from I believe an 03 and when I went to measure the paint depth, it was about half of what this car had from the factory. I don't know if that was in 02 thing or what but I can't believe they both started out with the same depth and I know this car never had any prior paint work since it was in my family from new.

The front bumper support brackets that are riveted in were both previously damaged from the bumper getting bumped. I attempted to repair them pre-paint with my plastic welder and wire mesh but it didn't survive the R&R at the body shop. Getting these locally means spending 5-6 hours plus $50 in gas to go look at a few in a salvage yard that are also likely broken. I found someone on UK ebay selling the brackets removed from the bumper but they weren't shipping to the US. I used their picture and google lens to find Auto Reserve Jaguar, also on that side of the pond, who would ship to the US. It ended up being $70 USD shipped for the pair but it was better than potentially flushing a day down the drain. They also arrived in good shape and it only took about a week.

Originally I was going to re-rivet the bracket back in but didn't have the correct size so I used fasteners I had on-hand.

 

Once more update. I've tried different trim restorers on the rear bumper lower trim over the years but none seem to last. I decided to try painting it this time.

I went with:
SEM 38338 Scuff and Clean with a Grey Scotch Brite pad
SEM 38353 Plastic Prep
SEM 39103 Black Original Flexible Bumper Coater

 

To rejuvenate the black plastic as shown above I use "Mother's Naturally Black Trim & Plastic restorer" or similar.
This stuff is a bit pricey, however, so, alternatively I use left over ATF (Automatic transmission fluid) to rejuvenate that trim...

 

FWIW, that mother's product is one of the few I've used that did not last over time.

 

I agree, it does not last over time - same as ATF. So, I just do the plastic-treatment pretty much every time I polish the car.
And I might be imagining, but I thing, that mother's stuff lasts longer, when applied repeatedly.

 

So this stuff is pretty amazing. Lasts for 2-3 years after application. BTW, wear synthetic/latex gloves, (ask me how I know). Smh...