Ill start off by telling you a little about the luv of my life 'my Jaag'
Its a low milage clean car but over the last few years it's been the subject of some bad luck ! Fifrst was the fence blew down and the full 4 sections landed on top of my car on the upside it came out rather unhurt !? For the size of 4 full sections of fence getting blown with very high wind the only damage was a couple of small dings on the bonnet although the fence sat right over the car !!
Then a couple of months ago when AGAIN we had severe ice n snow I decided not to risk getting involved in an accident as it was really thick ice with snow on top,anyway after it started to thaw out a little 3 days later I went out only to find someone slid into the rear arch of the driver side !!


And last but by no means least two little kids around 4 n 6years old decides to use my car as a climbing frame/bouncy castle/slide !! which left the roof totally caved in and really badly scratched all over


So im not only telling this story for the sake of it im telling it because if it wasn't for very decent people {some of you will know 1 or 2} being kind enough to help get my car back to the way its looking today otherwise it would have been broke for spares.
The council told me the fence had been reported previously and would pay for any damage caused and low n behold I received a hand delivered letter through my door the next day saying it was an act of god so I never got anything from them !!
The back arch was sorted temporarily {till such times as I can afford a full fix} by a guy recommended by Dougy from Prestige jaguar and the roof 'luckily' popped into place by a couple of my uncle friend in their garage.


And the car has just got better and better {pics will follow} due to the kindness of JimC64 as every time I see Jim my car gets something done just to make it look that bit nicer one of which was my alloys that weren't bad until Jim got me a deal I just couldn't turn down for the price and the results were outstanding,it wasn't till they were refurbished I realized just how bad they really were !
And if that's not enough a girl driving past me on a country lane decided to smash my mirror as I was over as far as possible and she sped past and after me yelling STOP {maybe a little more than that,but I didn't know if it was a man or woman driving} but she wasn't for stopping,only when I ran after the car yelling stop she said 'oh can we not involve the insurance in this as it happens to me all the time' YES im not making this up.

Again it was always going to be 50/50 with the insurance plus Prestige jaguar's Dougy sourced a cheap one to replace it so I text the girl and told her and that was another one to my list of outgoings for other peoples carelessness/recklessness !


I will edit this post and tell you all the little {and big} things we have done to my car,for example the last thing he said was 'how clean is the inside' to which I replied 'its clean jim as Its never been smoked in' so he suggested we try a small bit of leather cleaner and after seeing the difference I of course went for it and the results were outstanding to say the least considering it 16years old {and I thought it was clean} so a massive THANK YOU to Jim for the amount of hard work and great suggestions that have brought my old car to look as nice as it does

 

Hey Rab, so this is the "My XJ8" thread at last, nice one!
I've moved it from the UK section the X308 section for better results, everyone is more likely to see and be interested in your progress here.

I know you've had so much bad luck recently with your car, most of which you've outlined but a few other dings n dents mysteriously appearing, such a shame.


I know a lot of what you've done to the car, the clay barring and polishing, the refurbished alloys and painted hubs n calipers, then adding new wheel centre caps and chrome bolt covers, new licence plates, then the recent interior leather clean and more........

The engine bay is unbelievably clean and she goes well, not too many issues, just a sweet running car, so good in so many ways.
I know there's a few other things in the offing that we spoke about recently, which will help to lift the car and make her look a little meaner too, no doubt updates soon on this and as above, pics to follow??

Happy to help where n when I can as you are with my detailing efforts on my car too, always good to catch up.
Looking forward to the next instalment with more pics......

 

So many upgrades and add ons and more today, can't believe there's no write up or pics attached??
Looking good, really nice upgrade!

 

Looking much nicer after a wash n polish


Well Jim,I am sticking to my story lol
No seriously I done all the before and afters with all the pics telling a little of the good and bad and I must have forgot to save?????????
Anyway im back n loaded with photobucket :}
Ill show a couple as the ones above have no pics and im not spending another 2hrs for them NOT to appear lol
So here is how she stands today :}
Thanks again Jim


Rab

 

I luv the way they shaped this bonnet,must have took a lot of work to get it to look this way !!




Ill leave it on this next one as these black crosses instead of pictures are putting me off from sitting n adding more.

 

Before




After :}
What a difference !!




Nice one Jim for seeing past my 'clean' car lol




Never thought they were dirty !!




WOW.Thanks again Jim for all you time/effort/materials and hard graft !! Much appreciated buddy.




Have to get another shot of these in,luvn it :}




I had went in to Prestige Jaguar to see about a judder when braking hard from motorway speeds AND there was this noise that was happening every now n then {enough to annoy me,very minimum sound and very seldom,but I HAD to know} so after Dougy took her out for a short drive he popped it on the ramp and hey presto he found this.I must admit I still found it hard to see it with a light shining on it but he picked it out and that's another job well done/well two in fact.Thanks Dougy n Ian.




Cant get over how much they change my car :}




Looking great even if I do say so myself.


Oh and the latest !!

 

Some nice pics Rab, thanks for sharing, the car's really coming along nicely with all the work you've put in.
Struggling to follow the story, but then I know most of it I guess.

Alloys refurbished
hubs and calipers cleaned and repainted
New wheel centres
New chrome wheel bolt covers
New licence plates front and rear
New exhaust tail pipe trims ( lovin them and now look the way it should've from new )
The interior looks gorgeous, the leather cleaner and conditioner really brought it up so well. As you say another few applications oft he conditioner will really help to make them nice n supple.

Below attached are pics of
licence plate before and after
Door mirror damage
Alloy wheels, centre caps etc after refurb


Kudos to you Rab

 

Thanks for both the compliments and all your help Jim.
Your a true gentleman and my car would never be at the level its at if you hadn't been involved.


PS-I have an invoice for all those great choices you picked lol


No seriously I really appreciate all you've done to help me out.


Regards




Rab

 

Rab, what a lovely example - they do go better after a comprehensive detail

It's forum members like JimC64 that make this place the best Jaguar Forum a top guy and it wouldn't be half what it is without him.

 

Looks great, great comeback from all the bad luck.

Broke my heart and couldn't believe the luck when the kids jumped all over the car. I've told that story many times recently about how inconceivable that was, and that it all came out so perfectly afterwards. I too would have thought was a total loss.

Have to add that your photos give me a new appreciation for Kingfisher Blue. It wasn't one of my favorite Jaguar colors, but yours looks great.


.

 

Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing.