This technically wasn't done today but it was done last Sunday.
Some of you may have seen my posts about me crashing my XJR a few weeks ago. Since then I've been trying to get it running and back on the road.

Anyways, here is a before and after of the cross member, which is the hardest part of the job. All that's left now is welding it into place and then putting in the replacement parts to make sure it runs correctly. Hopefully be running in about 2 weeks.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...dbd2ded86c.jpg

Rinsed all of the pollen off the car so it is black again and not greenish yellow, until tomorrow anyway.

Been a rainy and surprisingly cold weekend here, so not much of anything that required being outside was accomplished.....

But I took my cupholder apart and tried another black from SEM (GM Black, Classic Coat SEM# 17093) to try to match the "Warm Charcoal" of the armrest with the cupholder cover that I picked up last year that was originally some off-white color.

I also sprayed the XJR all leather steering wheel which I plan to replace my wood wheel with. It was already black, but had some scratches.

None of the off the shelf leather colors from SEM were an exact match, and I've been trying several, but this GM black seemed to be close after some testing on an old armrest I had. I'll know for sure once the cupholder cover and steering wheel are installed the car side-by-side the rest of the interior trim and viewed in all shades of sunlight.

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Finished my second rebuild of my console armrest. The original SEM vinyl paint I had used on the 2003 cup holder cover was too black and glossy. I think that was their "Landau Black" but I don't recall now. I replaced that with the same "GM Black" I used above for the steering wheel, which seems to be a much better match to the OEM black armrest cover.

I also found a nice mostly un-cracked under tray for the armrest as well, and I repaired the one crack and reinforced all the holes with some strips of plastic an epoxy so hopefully this one will last longer than the originals which all seem to crack around the screw holes.

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Tackled the rear shocks on my xj6 yesterday via the dropping of the A-frame method. Was fun.

Good job, I personally know that is a bear of a job. Took me basically two days, although the second side went quite a bit quicker.

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I got my 3.2 Daimler back today from the mechanic.
It has had a new aluminium custom radiator made, as it was a less-expensive option than importing a new genuine one from UK.
The plastic pipe where the radiator hose attaches, broke. There are no new plastic tanks available, and a secondhand radiator may well do the same thing very quickly, also being 20 year old plastic.

Now the 3.2 is back, the XJR has finally gone in to have new ICV and TPS fitted, which I hope will cure the stalling at idle..

I had forgotten how much I prefer the 18" asteroids on the 3.2 over the 17" Sport wheels on the XJR.
I think I will swap the original chromed Asteroids back on to the Daimler, and put the Asteroids on the XJR.

Renewed the left, dipped-beam bulb and the right, rear side-marker bulb.

Today I failed an MOT :(

I am impressed at the quality of the new aluminium radiator on the 3.2, and I am considering doing some 'preventive maintenance' and getting one done for the XJR - it is cheaper than a blown head gasket or worse, and all the grief that entails, should the plastic components of the radiator fail.
I trust metal way more than 1990s plastic under heat and pressure.

Did you just take a salvage radiator to a radiator shop for them to use as a model? Curious how they knew what to build so it would bolt right in.

Also, about what did it cost?

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Today I washed both the XJR and XJ6 with my foam cannon. Also conditioned the leather with Surf City Garage Leather Rejuvenator


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...7e5c3aa84e.jpg


Notice the XJ8 bumper... as a temporary until I get my original x300 painted


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...84e95245c4.jpg

Al,
I haven't had the bill yet.
The estimate was about NZD $1100, but I will let you know, once invoice arrives.
they had the old radiator, and used the bottom bracket/chassis part of mt old one, and added a new aluminium core and tanks with all pipes in the right positions.

Stuff like that is quite expensive in NZ - we are a relatively high-wage economy but low volume (only 4.5 million of us). Having said that, our really old car restoration industry is highly regarded, and Americans and Europeans ship all sorts of stuff here because of the quality and lower costs - I'm talking vntage Bugattis, top-end USA cars , Bentleys etc.

Whats a foam Cannon?
I think I want one

NL,
It's pretty much a fancy soap dispenser but with extreme suds and foam. It helps the soap stay on the car for a few minutes to help carry the dirt from the top to the bottom. If it doesn't help anymore than a regular hand wash with a wash mit then it makes up for it by making your car all white before washing the soap off. Which is shown in the pictures.

What is a speed limit? :icon_headbang:

Today: waiting for the mail guy delivering the new air filter.

What is a speed limit? (Living in Germany) :icon_headbang:

Today: waiting for the mail guy delivering the new air filter.

Nothing much special other than changing the oil. Check the water pump and believe it is getting on time to replace it. Concerned about hose behind intake manifold needing replacement. Not looking forward to pulling back intake manifold to get to it. Any suggestions also suggestions on water pump source.

Well the MOT is now sorted. The rear handbrake drums needed some attention. Had to cough up for a re-test, which was pretty annoying.

Today I went to Motofest in Coventry and parked in between an Esprit V8 and a Triumph 2000. The XJR13 was parked down the road, along with most of the rest of the JDHT collection.

Been reinforcing the radio/clock/AC bracket
 

We are soooooo lucky to not have to go through the MOT scrutiny here that is elsewhere :icon_bricks:


Here's what I've been doing for a few weeks. While I'm saving up some money to send off the radio to get rebuilt, I had the clock rebuilt, and I picked up a used radio/clock/AC bracket/bezel that had all six mounting tabs intact (well one was cracked) and reinforced all the tabs with epoxy, steel and some brass.

It doesn't look very pretty, but none of this is seen once the console is back together. After trying to find just one of these brackets/bezels that hasn't cracked, and deciding to a new one that would likely just crack again was way too expensive, I decided to reinforce this one in high hopes it will hold up better than original. It seems that all of these break over time as the ABS alone just isn't strong enough to hold up the stress and vibration over time with the weight of the radio and other modules it supports. It seems like a design oversight.

So I backed each tab with some "JB Weld" and thin steel from the "hobby" drawer at my local hardware store, filled all the voids with "JB Weld", then epoxied some thin brass at the union on the front where the tabs often break off. Then some brass washer are epoxied in the screw sockets. The "core" of the tabs are still the fragile ABS of course, but now they are at least reinforced at some key weak spots and essentially an ABS/steel/brass laminate.

What can't be seen in the photos very clearly is that the steel backing strips actually pierce beyond the edge of the bezel and into the void that exists between the inner structure and the edge where the tab begins. I then filled that void with "JB Weld", so the metal strip reinforces the whole tab past the mere edge where these tabs often break. If I hadn't extended these strips through into the body, it may have made the tab break off even more easily since all the stress would have been concentrated at that point where the tab met the body of the bezel. I'm hoping this will help add some strength. Time will tell of course.

....if this doesn't work, maybe I'll just have to get someone to CNC one out of aluminum or 3D print it with more strength! :D





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