Hi there!
From quite a while my wife and I have been dreaming of a proper road trip, and as for rather a while we had to survive on just one and rather low income, it was only an idea. Bu since things started coming out on a straight line again earlier this year, we did a rough calculation and decided it is possible, this year

So the search for the ultimate road trip car began. We were considering something cheap, but fun and safe (and I mean safe in case of a crash and safe as hard to break in). So we both quite liked the idea of Mazda MX-5, but then the car being a small thing and a soft, has been dismissed. Then we were considering Toyota MR-2 but somehow that idea just disappeared over the time. Then there was Focus, but it just seemed dull for road trip, and so and so on... I personally kept thinking about Jag for a while, but my wife didn't like the way it looked on pictures
Eventually, I've found one, not too far from Ipswich, and I managed to persuade her to go and check it out. The moment she saw it, she fell in love with it!
So we bought it, for 600 quid, with about 82k on clock, manual gearbox and all the electronic stuff working. All the windows, switches, lights, everything in working order. Of course there's few things I didn't quite like (which helped me negotiate the price down), but they aren't that difficult to fix.
Here's few pictures of it on the driveway













As I said before, there are some cosmetic things that need sorting (I mean, not really, but we want the car to look nice):

Dent on the roof:



Clear coat peeling off in few places



Driver's seat (someone had a big bum I guess?)



The roof lining



and more functional stereo



and mirror switch



nearly forgot about rust in 3 corners, one of which someone tried to fix before :-/








I managed to do several things to it so far, I'll write about it in next post soon

 

After seeing your neighbour's front passenger door, suggest you park as far away from them as possible.

Looking forward to future episodes in the adventure.

Graham

 

Lol +1 on eagle eyed Grahams comments about the neighbours passenger door.

Keep us all updated Firecrow and don't forget the pics of the roadtrip!!

No pics could mean an instant ban you know

 

:icon _clapclap:

Good one, Graham

But this Mondi has been sitting there on that driveway, believe it or not, well over a year already, it's so bad the passenger seat is rotting!!!

So there's no threat on this side Biggest threat is my younger brother, coming back home drunk Sorry, I forgot to explain, I'm using my parents driveway, as I don't have suitable space to keep it near my flat... So whenever I go to work on the car, I have to drive across whole Ipswich... Never mind, could've been worse

And since I didn't have much time to work on it lately, and my brother has been doing some weird mods to his peasant Rover 25, that's where it's been sitting for last few weeks



And don't worry JimC64, there will be plenty enough pictures, even though it takes ages to update 3 different pages Although the road trip won't be happening for next few months, there's still some time to work on the car.

So far I changed the engine oil, although I'm planning to change oil in the gearbox and diff. I installed high flow air filter, although I'm still working on the box and cold air feed.



I replaced broken glass mirror on the passenger side





And replaced the alternator belt, although it seems a bit narrow, guys at the Jayar said it is the right one. Well, it fits, it does the job and is in a lot better shape than the previous one



I tinted the windows with 30% tint. I checked and some of countries we'll be visiting have only 30% as maximum legal tint on all the windows, INCLUDING THE REAR!!! I'm in the progress of making the aftermarket radio surround, I'll be adding kill switch as well, got to change the speakers, they are 6inch, right? Oh yes, and I bought the kitty, I mean leaper, for the bonnet, and I would be grateful if someone could tell me please at what distance from the chrome grille it should be mounted?

 

If you post that question by itself in a new thread, one of the US members will get you the exact measurement.

You've got through a good work list already to say nothing of the floral display.

Graham

 

I'll measure that today.

Update: I hooked a tape measure to the front edge on the hood (bonnet) and the leading edge of the of the leaper base was at 4.5". Note that this is not where to drill, but where the base starts.

 

Cheers Tim! And thanks for posting it in mm on FB page as well I'm considering (not really considering, it is a must) replacing speakers, because they are distorting the sound even at very low volume... But since I got a parking fine yesterday (someone introduced new regulations yesterday in front of my block of flats), I don't have much to play around with, and I just want something that will do the job. So my question is, how do you guys think, will they do the job and will they fit in place of original speakers?

Replacement Pair of Car Door Shelf 6" 6.5" 7" Speakers | eBay

 

Great job by Tim with the measurements. Not such a great job by the Parking Wardens.

I noticed from your pics that a few items need replacing. The driver's seat is going to take a bit more than a rub with Connolly Hide Food!

You need to start thinking 'specialist Jaguar breakers' to save yourself £££'s. The speakers are a perfect example if you're looking to replace like-for-like at low cost.

Graham

 

That car was nice really , looking forward to seeing your progress and where the car sits is kinda funny too lol

 

Are you sure it's the speakers, and not the head unit. Mine sounds like it has the same problem, but it's with all the speakers. It would be somewhat strange that they'd all be gone, no?

I have another stereo that I can test with once I get around to it.

 

Firecrow,

I agree with you on that belt, it looks as if it is 1 "V" too narrow.

I use a 5PK990 for the alternator on my X300, so maybe check the number on the belt??. A 4PK990 will work fine, it just wont have the "grip" of a 5PK.

 

A tiny update!

As I mentioned before, I don't have 24h easy access to the car, as it stays at my parents' place. But there are several things I can do at home, when I don't have enough time to drive across whole town. Since whole project is on rather tight budget, everything I do myself, and all the parts I get for cheap, from eBay for example. Same with replacement stereo. We decided that stereo must have more than just CD player. And since USB stick most of the time would be in a way of a gearstick, SD card reader became a must. I managed to purchase second hand Ripspeed stereo for about 15 quid including postage. There's downside to it, it's silver...

rip speed stereo | eBay

So, not thinking too much, advised by my younger brother, I purchased a can of matt black spray from 99p store, which he tested before himself on his bicycle and speaker boxes for his Rover 25. Took the stereo apart, cleaned it and then sprayed it.









And here's result! Sorry about crappy quality of pictures, unfortunately S***berries don't have the best cameras...

 

Not much happening lately, not enough time to do too many things!!! But I managed to pull out front lights today, I didn't think it was going to take me less than 15 minutes in total! After reading some of posts here on forum, I was afraid it would take me ages! No lifting, no taking light's surround nor grille off, just a bit of lube in spray, screwdriver and my pair of hands



Will give them a little clean and next mod should be updated after weekend with better quality pictures, so watch this space I wonder if anyone can guess what it's going to be :P

 

x308 lights?

 

...........with LH Dip beams?

Graham

 

Numbers for the plate?

 

I like this, a much better spec than my car, I don't even have alloy wheels. How heavy is your clutch, where is the biting point? Ac or Sunroof?

 

I can't really tell you much about the clutch, as I drove it only once about 2 months ago, when I bought it, and that was mainly on dual carriageways, and after that we took it off the road so I don't remember much, except that I loved the comfort of the car . I'll check it on Monday and let you know, as I'll have to move it back onto the driveway, got to change gearbox oil, and possibly oil in the diff. Don't have a sunroof, just AC, which seems to be still blowing rather cold (not super cold though) air, so I'm not going to bother with regassing it.

By the way, today I'm about to start the 'little headlight mod', so here's the question: should I post pictures as I go with the progress, which will take next 2 afternoons I believe, or should I post it all when I finish and put them back on on Monday?

 

keep posting the pics!!

 

No worries mate, there will be some going tonight