Hi,
My '03 X350 has been my daily for the last 12 years. According to the 'plan' I managed to win a salvaged 09 have it all Portfolio for very decent money and get it Poland - arrived yesterday. The plan is to maintain it well until I die. The hood has been stuck, so I had no under pictures. Huge risk overall, but - no risk, no fun I managed to open the hood (surprisingly hinges survived), remove the shattered headlamp and lower the bumper cover. Forgot to mention the guys in Poland managed to start and move it for few minutes it to load and unload. Hopefully no damage was done, since I assume the car has no coolant.

At first sight it seems, that apart from hood, bumper, and fender that bar supporting the coolers and coolers themselves got hit the most, down under everything seems ok. The old X350 will be a donor to make things easier, but obviously I need a bumper and grille, not sure about the fender. It will be done by the pros (hopefully still at a third of US prices , but the more I know, the better off I am. Would be very grateful for any insights on how to best replace that bar - perhaps someone knows how it's attached, how to deal with the coolers, what to do on the occasion - like the ground points I know of. Would be grateful for essentially any tips, since I know the experience here is huge, and we all like to see the classics on streets. Attaching the pictures, as they say the most. Wouldn't be surprised if the previous owner is around here somewhere

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17tj...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vth...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12v6...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1At4...ew?usp=sharing

 

Best of Luck to You;
Great to see someone else saving an injured Jaguar from the scrap yard.

 

Man I can't offer any guidance but posts like yours inspire me to keep this baby going for as long as I can despite the occasional thoughts selling it. Good luck with the project!
P.S. Any chance that lower bumper mesh grill survived the front wreck? Mine fell off and for the life of me I can't find a replacement.

 

This is pricey, but HYG:

https://minagallery.com/jaguar-xj8-x...sh-grille-kit/

 

That grill is for an X350. That Portfolio is an X358 I believe. 2008 UK, 2009 US. You can occasionally find them on ebay and they are not cheap. I bought one piece by piece 10 years ago, about $750 and that was just the upper grille.
In fact, they are all over ebay now. Just 2 of them below. Seems $1200 for the upper is the going rate now. I could sell mine, but then I'd be up a creek if I pranged the nose of my Portfolio.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28553275360...3ABFBMhISj0fxl

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28644265058...Bk9SR4SEo9H8ZQ

 

Xenon Headlight will be expensive if you don't have one off your 03 that will work. The X358 grill is different than the X350 as for as the emblem placement, When i fixed my 05 XJR I wanted to look like the X358. I modified the 05 grill with a piece of PVC pipe and some epoxy for the emblem mount and used a center cap emblem for a the badge. The badge diameter is a little smaller but nobody notices the difference and it saved me a bunch of money when I did this back in 2012 as these cars where hard to find as salvage units back then.

Your Portfolio will be a nice ride when you get it done.

Good luck

Wooford XJR.

 

Depending on the market the car was originally sold in, the Xenon lights can be different. Some are Bi-Xenon, some are not.
Furthermore, on the 2003 X350 they can also differ technically, as they have an additional levelling system that the later cars do not have anymore.
Might be that they still can be swapped in your case, just be sure of the compatibility.

Best regards,

Thomas

 

The lamps look identical on the outside, but I remember from the past they got rid of the leveling, as useless, since the suspension does that, and the ballast has changed slightly, from memory: from 4 PIN to 8 PIN or something similar, and the newer one is actually much cheaper then the old But I found a guy here to repair them at a fraction of the cost. Would be nice if the old one would at least get me through the inspection, however you call it. Thank you very much for all the replies, will take it step by step, if anyone has played with the intercooler, I would be grateful for some insights - my coolers are smashed and the old one is NA, so I can't even take a peak to see what to expect.

Edit: If I have to pay $1K for a grille, I'll invest some time and will 3D print it

 

https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/a...ranslateSearch


https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/a...ranslateSearch

 

Thanks a lot Jaroslav, if that's to price both for the upper and lower grill, I will buy it. How much did you pay for shipping and how long did you wait?

I'll need to get my car to the workshop, the air is gone and it's very low, and if I could avoid that, I don't want to start the engine. Has anyone tried to apply the voltage to the compressor to raise the car? It should be possible, but I never heard.

 

Cheers
My only experience with buyee.jp was me buying an item from an ad that included a warning which I disregarded, and it had bit me. (I am still trying to resolve that.)
But that was completely on me, the buyee.jp itself was both supportive and communicative.
The ads above are simply what I found there, knowing JAP does have couple of x350/x358, many of them LHD...

Where I made a mistake:
I was buying a steering wheel, and the ad was accompanied by a warning saying that this item might be ineligible for shipping via air cargo.
I disregarded the warning thinking it was some default isht added for legal reasons because the website detected I am sitting outside of JAP...
...well turns out it wasn't any default isht, and the root cause was that the steering wheel included an air-bag (which I didn't care for anyways)

 

So currently I can't find an intercooler c2c31200, that is from vin G47... something. What I can have is the previous one. Someone told me the differences are very minor and it should fit. Anyone?

I have a following problem: the car has no battery and is just above the ground, all the air is gone. The front is damaged and there's no coolant in the system. I need to to load it and transport it to the body shop. The options I had in mind:
1. get someone with SDD to inflate the suspension just to load it (no one nearby)
2. start the engine for 2 minutes and hope for no damage.
3. An experienced guy told me they raised them manually and inserted some wooden blocks between the levers / wishbones, so it remains high. But he's on vacation, coming back next week.

Anyone heard about the last method or could comment on the topic?

 

Hi,

option one would require the engine to be started, as well, as SDD tells you to start the engine during the inflation procedure. So you have option 2 or 3.

Regarding the starting of the engine, as long as the engine has no oil leaks and enough oil in it, it is no problem to start the engine and let it run for a few minutes, as the cooling system really only comes into play when the engine has reached a certain heat level.

Best regards,

Thomas

 

Thanks Thomas, very important point, I thought the inflate option is just for such cases - can't start engine. If not, it hardly differs, since after engine start it'll try to lift itself anyhow.Anyone else?

 

I don’t know if I would have been as brave as you… but best of luck with it. The end product is worth it. I have an ‘09 Portfolio in the Astral Gold and enjoy it very much!

 

Hi chemosabe, just googling sometime ago I saw one with a very close VIN to mine from you area. Mine is H30042. Only time will tell if I'm brave or stupid

 

Andriuss
Mine is H29933.

 

Hi, progressing very slowly, but I'll need to have everything done in next two weeks to avoid some fines. I'm stuck on the following topic: had to remove and mount all three radiators - main, AC, and intercooler, two are new, one has been repaired. I'm looking into the manual, and there are two procedures to refill the whole system - one simple, and one requires a special tool with a manometer that you screw on top of the expansion tank, create vacuum, suck the liquid in, etc. No other comments are supplied. I don't want to mess it up. Could you please share how did you replace the coolant in your cars? It has to apply to the Supercharged version, since we have two radiators and compressor cooling on the same liquid / circuit. I'm afraid that i.e. the intercooler radiator will be empty, etc. Please help.

 

About the radiator and intercooler, I recommend taking this opportunity to have custom ones made in all aluminum. The stock ones have plastic end tanks which can't be trusted in the long run. It's not a big deal, you find a shop that can do it, they order a core(the fins and tubes) in the correct size, and fabricate custom tanks and barbs. Also, you can split the engine and supercharger cooling into two completely separate loops
The supercharger intercooler has it's own pump so you just divorce the plumbing and add in a reservoir for the intercooler. You should also upgrade that pump while you're in there.

As for filling, I've not checked the service manual but vacuum is always the best if you can. It ensures that you don't have any leaks, you watch to make sure it holds a vacuum, and prevents you from having any air trapped in the system. If you can't get the equipment to vacuum fill then I don't know of any reason you shouldn't be able to fill normally.

Edit: I just checked the FSM and it does say to vacuum fill, but I don't see any warnings saying you can't fill without vacuum. Nonetheless, that isn't a guarantee and vacuum is the fsr superior method.

 

Vacuum filling is not a must, the Jaguar workshop manual shows both options.

When I replaced the valley hose on my SV8, which in my opinion is more important than the radiator job recommended by Pirate_Freder, especially as you already have the radiators, I refilled the whole system in the traditional way without any problem. My intercoolers where empty, as well, as I had removed and cleaned them.

The only "special tool" you need is the is the big hex insert (I think that it is a 17mm one, but I am not 100% percent sure) needed to open the supercharger circuit to be able to fill it. You can see it in the picture between the suoercharger intake and the intercooler on the left:


I have attached the relevant excerpts from the workshop manual.

Best regards,

Thomas