I say new owner, I've had her 2 years, but i've decided to put a concerted effort into maintaining and restoring.

'97 xj executive and done just over 126k. What are the first few things I should look into replacing/upgrading. I don't mind going away from factory spec, but am looking for (in order of importance) fuel economy, comfort, performance.

I have already emailed Andy about his bracket (though not sure if it will fit my model)

I'm a real noob here, but have an engineering background.

Any advice would be much appreciated

 

Welcome! Check out the forum "sticky" threads with a few FAQs on buying guides, etc and I am sure others will chime in.

But bottom line, fluids, battery, and suspension bits as with any old car. If nothing else is "broke" it probably doesn't need fixing.

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Welcome Det...make sure you pop over to the New members and intros section and do a proper intro post so a mod will take note and bequeath proper full-member status on you once you hit all the gates.


Good advice from Al....also check out a thread I started "Most common problems" or some such....will give you a heads-up what is coming down the road. For now, I'd say the most pressing issue would be to get a hand on your a/c condenser (heat exchanger in front of the radiator) and try to give it a shake to check for loose mountings. You are probably going to want to obtain a set of 4 radiator mounting rubbers and two upper and two lower condenser mounts very soon and make that simple replacement. Lower condenser mounts wither and blow away and it is not long thereafter until you've worn a hole in the condenser and all the magic gas leaks out.

 

Thanks guys. I just got my car back from a friendly mechanic who i'd asked to have a look for anything which looked like it would need replacing. Apart from some surface rust, and a few wearing hoses, he said everything was fine.

I already replace fluids regularly, so, fingers crossed, she should be running for a long time to come

Yeah, my condenser is almost completly shot. the heat exchager is falling apart, and the system is very ineffective.

 

Hi, detXJ.
I too am a noob too the Jaguar community.Having acquired my first XJ6, I can't get over the race car attitude vs. the luxury of this car.
In the first couple of months of ownership, my wife drove it to Las Vegas and back -about 3200 miles.
We've had to buy 2 tires, an alternator and a belt.
There are a minute number of lesser problems but I intend to take care of those at little cost.
The one thing we will do, is replace the factory radio because the liquid crystal display is gone...as most of them do over time.
It's the little things that make the big picture show.
Good luck with yours.