I didn't say the words I was thinking, but nonetheless, I was PO`ed when my car barely made it home Friday, followed by what I found.

I put it up on Jacks, only to find what I am showing in Pictures. What awaited me was a COMPLETELY RUSTED OUT REAR SUBFRAME!
Come on! I don't care what environment we live in, this was NOT KOOL at all. I never had a vehicle that did this. Usually on a car this age (2001 Jaguar XJR), you expect the Body to hold up. I live in a suburb of Chicago, and our Winters have been pretty mild. Are you telling me that Jags are only Southern Summer only vehicles? Really. A complete Buzz Kill, especially since I have grown quite fond of my Jag. How do you maintain something like this? You don't. The FACTORY should have at least tried to rust proof this car. What a disappointment.

Trying to decide if I should try the repair or ditch this as a loss. I was able to get a Flexible Coupling replacement, since this one was toast. The UPPER Subframe assemble has also sustained damage due to this to this Failure mode. Come on Jaguar.

I have owned many cars. This was the worst failure of this type for this age.

 

Yankee killer salt...I'd try to find a wreck and scavenge of it here... https://www.copart.com/ ....or a site like this... Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market ...they will find you a part from yards around the country and get back with you with offers. Have you checked The Marketplace at the top of the page. There are members who have wrecked vehicles or blown motors they are parting out.
That's a nice looking car, would be a shame to scrap it...(so you know how I voted).

 

Personally, I wouldn't say the blame lays on Jaguar, but the Previous Owner(s) and whatever they did to it. I can speak to the upper, but the lower plate is easily replaced. Also, there's a difference between the body, and the undercarriage. It looks like the body was taken care of fine, for it's age.

I'll also add that if it's something you purchased in that condition, there's a tiny bit of self-blame to be had for not having looked it over thoroughly to start with. Does it suck? yes. Is it repairable? Probably. But it is going to depend on the rest of the car and what you feel about it.

 

Salt maybe, but it looks more like it's been sat on long grass for a long time.

Just buy another rear axle, drop the old, in with the new, can be done in a day with how to's on the forum.

Of interest is the 'rust' post I took a number of rust points to check on the X308 and the rear 'A frame' on one of mine was very rusty also, but not to that extent.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...onsider-59153/

 

I appreciate the feedback.
Just a little background info. I have owned for the last 6 1/2 years. This was a daily driver, so I have put about 80k on fhe dial myself. This car has never sat up aince then . I have pampered it, doing much of the minor repairs myself. Heck, it just passed emissions!
I'm kinda tee'd on this one, as you can tell.

 

Something tells me, that I will be buying more than an A subframe though. We'll see. Thanks for the thoughts.
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The body and engine look great. I had to vote yes. Too many of these beautiful cars are being knocked out. If no luck with the above mentioned sites, perhaps ebay.

 

Gotta go maybe, leaning towards yes for the repair. Dropping the rear subframe is pretty easy, getting it back in takes a helper or a very stable jack. I was able to R/I in my driveway, took a bit more than a day but most of the time spent was fighting the diff output bearings, not R/I.

If the body is good, and the drivetrain is in good condition, and so on, it's worth searching for a replacement. Maybe just get the whole assembly from a junkyard, and put that in. Or cherry pick the better parts between your and the replacement rear subframe and combine them. Disassembling the subframe gets a bit more involved than R/I, but not by much, though the rust could increase that time.

 

This guy holds these on a pedestal because they are Jags, they would rather scrap them then be realistic on price.

1989 Jaguar XJ6 | eBay

He was trying to Frankenstein the two together and have one working VDP but gave up. Wants $500 and $750. WowZers!

 

That guy's an idiot I had interactions with him previously.

 

I don't think I would because I could never leave anything just good 'nuff. I just got through replacing a frame under a vintage Corvette. It started with identifying a rust-related brake safety issue, but taking the car apart led to discovery after discovery and finally deciding to pull the body and just do a full restoration. Never would I have imagined how much rust could be hiding in a fiberglass car. I expect your subframe may be just the tip of the iceberg but I guess can't hurt to drop it and see how much farther it goes.

But it must be the de-icing agents and winter driving that accelerated the rust. My 308 spent its first ten years in Louisiana where it rains quite a lot and is very humid all the time. Its underside is virtually spotless.

 

Any X308 rear axle will fit, either NA or S/C - The diff is the same on all 4Lt cars. The only thing that will need salvaging from your rear subframe is the torsion bar kit which can then be refitted to the new axle.
Fast71SS is parting a car, his axle would fit for instance....shipped on a pallet?
A quick drain and refill of diff fluid (EP90 grade) maybe a new breather tube. Also a bit of grease. Your shocks and springs look great, so reuse them particularly if it's a CATS equipped car. A few new bushes and it'll be as good as new, this work for me at least wouldn't put me off the car.

What I don't understand is how localized the rust is on the A frame, usually with salt in winter it manages to spray everywhere so it looks like this underneath.

 

That's bad looking but given that the body it's attached to is good; I'd consider myself lucky if I were you! Rebuild the rear suspension and replace all the rubber bits while you have this off. Do a bunch of preventative maintenance while installing the new crap!

 

If you're really worried, while everything's apart you could get the new frame painted/powder coated before putting it back together

 

Thanks for the advice. I agree, I will definitely do some maintenance while in there.

 

It does seem odd that the rear subframe is rusted so badly but other suspension and undercarriage components are not. Have you had any problems with the battery overcharging or overheating that might cause excessive acidic vapors to be discharged through the drain tube, and is the tube properly located so the vapors exit below the subframe?

Whether you replace the entire IRS or just the subframe components, the job is not nearly as difficult as you might think. Rent a transmission jack or buy an inexpensive one at Harbor Freight as I did.

Here are some photos showing the job on an XJ40, which is very similar to an X300 and X308. Sorry the large photos aren't currently working, but you can see the thumbnails and descriptions:

IRS/Differential Removal & Installation Part 1 of 4
IRS/Differential Removal & Installation Part 2 of 4
IRS/Differential Removal & Installation Part 3 of 4
IRS/Differential Removal & Installation Part 4 of 4

Cheers,

Don