Ok, let's get this out of the way; I'm a college student. I park in an empty parking spot on this packed campus, I come back to my car and see these cats around my car with a black car behind it saying it's "Private Parking, BRO, we're towing your car, the tow truck will be on it's way". There was NO signs saying private parking entering the lot or where I parked. So I tried to reason with them, they didn't budge. Long story short, 10 mins past, tow truck still doesn't show, I put my Jag in AWD & drove over the parking block in front of me and get away. (F*CK THEM!) I get to my destination and check the front of my car and see minor scratches + the leaper dislocated. I still have possession of it, thankfully it didn't fall off. Now is there any way that I can reinstall the leaper? It's bad enough I have to go get my car painted because of the scratches, but spending $500 for a new leaper & installation is something I'm looking to avoid at ALL COST.
P.S. I checked the site already for ways to install the leaper, but it never fails to see the thread get way off topic.
Can somebody give me instructions on how to reinstall this? Thanks.

-Q. Blaze

 

you just pop the hood open and screw the leaper on

 

Tried that, called the dealership, they said that since the leaper came off due to the metal band breaking, it cannot be used. I'm hoping this is a lie in the end. Will showing a picture of the leaper and the part that goes under the hood help?

 

so the part that screws on broke off or the triangle thing it all sits on?
yeah pics would be good.
you can get a good leaper from ebay for less than $150 USD if you do need to buy one. my car has a ebay one and let me tell you its the same thing as the original one.

 

Sorry for he quality, iPhone pics



This is what it looks like with the spring on, but it doesn't stay.

 

Looks like they were adding insult to injury by first trying to steal your leaper which is what happened to me a few years ago. I bought a replacement from the dealer for $170.

One tip that helped save some time and paint; to get the metal base off, use a few long strands of dental floss to lightly saw through the sticky foam that keeps it in place. Then gently clean off the area with some alcohol before replacing the new base perfectly centered.

 

Just found some old pictures I took when I replaced my leaper:

New Leaper:



Hood with no leaper and base removed:


Hope this helps!

 

No, they weren't trying to steal my leaper, they were trying to illegally force my car to be 'towed' & potentially steal my car from some unknown towing facility.

IDK if that may help because that part still seems in place & nothing is wrong with it, which in the long run may cause my problems & cost more $ trying to get it back to where it was.

Your Leaper definitely looks smaller than mine. Mine is the original from the X-Type and if you can compare it to mine; it doesn't have the second stem (or screw)hanging down behind the spring like yours.
Later on I'll try and remember to take a picture of the base that is still on the X-Type.
Thanks for your pictures though, they did help.
Problem is still unsolved on how to install the leaper though.

 

Hey QBlaze,

At least you still have the leaper.

I was on Depaul Campus, and had a similiar situation (parked behind us) But luckily I had my friend thats a lawyer spewing out some legal mumbo for me, had the kids boss on the phone in 2 minutes letting us go, apolgogizing.

Was it the same campus? I just came out of a restraunt off higgins the other day, and the leaper was turned around. Almost flipped.

(offtopic, sorry)

- FabFive

 

If you still hav e both pieces..and want to save coin..you could bond it together with some jb weld..can get it at auto store,hardware store's and prolly walmart.u have to follow the instructions,,and have a wet rag handy for fast wipe up on the leaper,,for no damage,,it will be a band aid solution but it will work

 

dont weld it, its illegal, and i know irish means well but, you could have two things end up happening. Ethier guaging someons guts out, or damaging your hood if someone attempts to steal it. ive been down a simlar road, you have a few options which could save you a ton. One costs 2.10, and a muscle, the other, steal your sisters hair clip, or a simlar metal, with a same demsnisions and difintly stronger. i also have a thread about how to fix it, but that method depends ont he cable your using.

 

sorry about the bad spelling, im at college, and my prof definitly would not like me being bored of his lecture and looking at a jag forums

 

This is what my hood looks like now without the leaper.

 

Let me know the details on your two options. I know it seems simple as just forcing the leaper back on the top, but that's not the case. From my observation, it seems as though you have to input the metal wiring piece (attached to the leaper) from the top of the hood through the hole, then under the hood connect the spring and the cap. From there I don't know where to continue. I may be wrong though.
Definitely don't see any screws, keep in mind I'm working with the OEM Leaper, not an eBay Leaper from a 3rd party.

It's cool, I'm at Purdue. I wish I had a lawyer friend with me, but I knew what they were doing wasn't legal because they cannot force me & lock me in their lot without having any signs up visible to where I parked. That's entrapment. I tried to work things out with them & waited about 10 mins & the tow truck still didn't come, so imagine how far away the towing center is. Also, in the back of my mind I'm thinking they may be running a scam to try and get away with my car once it's towed, who knows, that goes on a lot now-a-days. I worked too hard & put too much on the line for my ride, which made me do what I did. Now I'm stuck w/ this situation.

Thanks, but IDK about that. Imagine going through an automatic carwash & losing the leaper. I've already had to file a claim against "Mike's Car Wash" for knocking off my fuel cap earlier this year.
I think if all else fails & can't come up with a safe & reasonable solution, I might as well just wait until I get back to a Jaguar dealership (none in the middle of Indiana) and just get my grill repainted & the new Jaguar leaper while leaving this perfectly fine ORIGINAL leaper to waste. SMH

 

okay soo you have to take the base off the car, maning the silver triangular piece left ont he hood has to come off, its a simple bolt, next get a steel or meatal cable.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ht=disco+stu55

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...=hood+ornament

the second is one solution, just cut the excess wire i hope that helps

 

Now how can I take that off without scratching up my hood even more from this situation?
& where did you get your steel/metal cable?

Thanks, the most helpful posts so far.

 

QBlaze, go to your local hardware store and find some picture hanging cable (metal braided cable) along with some steel cable crimps. NOrmally the cable crimps look like a figure 8 and what you are going to do is to feed the cable through one side of the 8 and crimp it down. THen you are going to run the cable through the end clip, through the spring, through the leaper, back down through the spring, through the end clip and then through the other side of the figure 8. THen you will want to put a little bit of tension on the spring by pulling on the cable to compress the spring. ONce you have the tension you want, you can crimp the other side of the figure 8. That will attach the leaper again. From there you reattach the base to the car and you should be golden. COst of fix should be under $5. Having a second person to help with this may be handy as you will need to get the crimpers/vice grips between the end clip and the crimp.

Some of the crimps may be a single metal tube that you end up crimping. IN that case you have to be pulling on both ends of the cable at the same time as you are also crimping the tube. This is where having a friend compressing the spring with say a pair of needlenose pliers will help with the cause. The use of a bench vise to crimp the tube comes in handy too (place the end clip on the top side of the vise with the crimp tube between the jaws loosely, then pull down on the cable till you get the tension you want and then tighten on the vise till the tube is crimped down).

 

try thermos method, i like my hair clip method...sounds like a rice fix i know, but the cable can be cought from anyhwere, it cost me 2.10 canadain, its just a bicycle brake cable, the thing it, its just a temp solution, the cable is weak compared to the old one, so try something a bit stronger

 

Thanks so much for the detailed description. I'm headed to the local hardware store now.

Quick question though, how do I get the base (pictured above) off of my hood without damaging the hood even more?