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I've taken to washing/detailing my car myself these days, it's the blessing & the curse as I know it's done right, but I also see every single imperfection that I'd otherwise miss lol.
Just got through doing it now, feeling all proud as I look @ her, then I hop in, chest full of warm & fuzzy machismo, the damn overhead console drops in to keep me humble lol.
Make sure you use high temperature paint specified for exhausts. Calipers get pretty hot. It is easier than you think. I use a product called POR15 High Temperature Aluminum paint, a little goes a long way with a cheap throwaway brush and adheres very well to the rough surfaces of brake calipers. However you can use just about any high temperature rated paint.
As an example, here it is on my stock and unrestored 1968 TR250.
I also painted my plastic intake manifold with it ...
Cheers! POR15 High Temp Aluminum paint on brake caliper
You guys are scaring off potential owners by treating completion of a 1,000 mile trip, without breakdowns or incident, as a major accomplishment . It is not, and should not be, a big deal. I have made numerous cross country treks in my XJR and if I had to drive 3,000 miles in the morning I would simply check the oil and tire pressure first. Now a 1970's British car would be another story.
Some years back I was considering a Porsche 928. I saw many similar posts on the Porsche forums and thought, "OMG, are these cars so unreliable that making a 1,000 mile trip" is treated like a moon launch?".
I use my XJ8's for my daily drivers and drive them anywhere. Face it, x300/308/350 series were made for driving long distances just like a high end Beemer, Caddy or Lincoln. Hopping in and driving my XJ8 anywhere is no concern to me, just like my XJ6 was also my daily driver for over 248k miles. Last year, not including all my daily driving, it was 1800 miles round trip Denver to Boise in the winter over Christmas in a full blizzard, this year it was Denver to Salt Lake, over 1400 miles round trip across desolate and windy Wyoming and across winter mountain passes, speed limits be dashed. But my cars are maintained and well known to me for issues.
I can completely understand if you buy an unknown car from a warm climate with lots of issues and drive it several thousand miles home to a winter climate in the winter, I suppose that could indeed be a daring feat and adventure regardless of what manufacturer car it is if a person is not a fixer. Done that ...
In 2009 - to the surprise of many Triumph Enthusiast naysayers betting against completion of even the first 1000 miles without a full meltdown, we took a blown up Triumph Stag, restored it to full Concours levels and drove it over 18000 miles in 110 days across North America, starting its maiden voyage in Hampton Illinois to Florida to start the trip at GrassRoots Motorsports HQ in Holly Hill Florida (Daytona Beach area), traveling on many cool roads including Tail of the Dragon - twice!, and ending up in San Luis Obispo California, then to Colorado. Total trip failures was one NAPA electric fuel pump. Across the drive, only regular routine maintenance was performed. That Charity Drive was called The Triumph Trans AmeriCAN Charity Drive, visited over 48 British Car Clubs, caravans with over 1000 British cars along the way, traveling through 31 US States and 6 Canadian provinces, 5 Canada/US border crossings. The whole adventure and benefits to PTSD charity are fully chronicled in a book "Turn Left at the Pacific". Turn Left at the Pacific! or you can buy them in the USA to save on mailing costs by contacting me, it is a great coffee table book for car lovers.
I have been stuck at the side of the road with a flat in the middle of the night, with the only light being a zippo lighter. Believe me it is not easy to change a wheel in the dead of night while holding a zippo lighter for illumination! (And I don't smoke now, so don't even carry a zippo)
Harbor Freight has some really cool LED "lanterns". Excellent design, very bright light, run on 3 AA batteries, and LED, so long life, just slide the unit up and the light comes on, slide it down and it automatically turns off. These lamps are really great, and I bought several for around the house for general use, camping, power-cuts, etc. but also placed one in the trunk of my Jag. Perfect for that time when you need hands-free light. ($6.99, minus 20% coupon and a free gift)
Has foldable handles for easy carrying, wide base for firm placement.
Bright LED light,.......... just slide the unit up and the light comes on..............these pics were taken in full sunlight.
Perfect for hands-free illumination while you change a flat, or other unexpected occurrence..
Last edited by Carnival Kid; 01-26-2019 at 07:31 PM.
Today I have removed the rear window sun visor/curtain, looked into some issues with the cables running to the bootlid, and started to replace lightbulbs in rear brake light.
Good thinking, CK! I have one of those lanterns just sitting by my desk from Christmas, figuring I'd just take it to the boat in spring, but I think this is a much better use for it.
Today I rotated the tires/wheels. 5,000 miles since I put on new Pirelli P7s. No noticeable unusual wear, but thought it was a good time to rotate. Easy to rotate the wheels and don't need to use the spare, I have two floor jacks, and you can easily jack the front left and the right rear, remove both wheels and swap them, then do the same with the front right and left rear. America's tire does this for free, but this way I get to clean the insides of the wheels.
Er, yep, jack up the front left of the car, and the right rear of the car, remove both wheels, and swap them, then do the same with the right front and left rear. Did I miss something?
I might be the one missing something, but are you not basically lifting the whole car that way, adding a lot of torsion on the body?
I guess a sedan with a roof can still handle that, but Jaguar specifically prohibits this on a XK.
I might be the one missing something, but are you not basically lifting the whole car that way, adding a lot of torsion on the body?
I guess a sedan with a roof can still handle that, but Jaguar specifically prohibits this on a XK.
Ah, yes, I have to admit that I am a little cautious about such torsion effect. I only jack sufficient to just lift the wheels, and jack the front and then rear in stages. Interestingly enough when a front is raised, and then an opposing rear, the whole rear of the car tends to lift, and the rear wheel you are not working also ends up off the ground, so basically there ends up being three wheels off the ground, and the car does not adopt as torsioned a stance as you would think. But yes, I agree, whilst the suspension can absorb certain torques and torsions, it is best (possibly essential) to ensure that the body is not overly stressed during lifting etc.
Today I rotated the tires/wheels. 5,000 miles since I put on new Pirelli P7s. No noticeable unusual wear, but thought it was a good time to rotate. Easy to rotate the wheels and don't need to use the spare, I have two floor jacks, and you can easily jack the front left and the right rear, remove both wheels and swap them, then do the same with the front right and left rear. America's tire does this for free, but this way I get to clean the insides of the wheels.
I may be wrong but, I had the understanding that you should not reverse the rotation of belted tires because it can cause the belts to slip. In the past we would rotate bias tires but not radial tires. I swap the right side front with the rear tire as well as the right side every so often.
Started getting estimates for a complete re-spray, looking to have her ripe & ready for spring !
KC, you really think it needs it? Looks good in your pictures. The original Jag paint is of the highest quality finish, to match it at a really good shop would cost a fortune, and lesser places most likely would not do the car justice?
Will be very interesting to see what bids you get.
KC, you really think it needs it? Looks good in your pictures. The original Jag paint is of the highest quality finish, to match it at a really good shop would cost a fortune, and lesser places most likely would not do the car justice?
Will be very interesting to see what bids you get.
I'm going for a complete re-spray because the previous paint work doesn't match as good as I'd like & now I see the 1st signs of clear coat failure on the side panel window sills & door handle surrounds. It's already had the roof,trunk,hood repainted due to CC failure, so it's fitting the rest of the CC is failing. I disagree w/ the quality of Jaguar's finish on these, as this is my 3rd X308 & every single one had extensive CC failure.
1st Shop :Home
$5,500-6000 that entails taking the car apart w/ a 7-10 day turn around time. Wasn't super impressed w/ the owner though or word of mouth concerning his shop. Bigger shop w/ lots of overhead.
2nd Shop :https://www.carrawaycollisionfabdesign.com/
$3000-3500 w/ a 2 week turn around time, this guy has 5 star reviews all across the board & deals w/ a lot of older vehicle restorations. He doesn't advertise & I found him by talking with a guy driving an immaculate 57 Corvette whom used his services, that car's paint was flawless to my eye.
3rd Shop : $3500 Is the shop that's done the previous paintwork, he says he's giving me a good price due to my frequency of use(he's painted a few vehicles for me). He does great work but it is a very small 2 man operation & my car will likely be tied up 6 weeks, that's a major detractor.
I'm going to meet the 2nd shop guy in person tomorrow & will get a chance to see his facilities & get a better "feel" for him. Thus far he's been very impressive & is genuinely passionate when speaking about cars. My normal paint guy is a younger head & he always seems like it's a chore to paint, so that's a deterrent along w/ his turn around time.
2nd Shop/Carraway is so far my top candidate.
On a unrelated note I finally tracked down the final piece to restoring my defrost vent on e-Bay it should be here next week !
Last edited by King Charles; 02-01-2019 at 03:19 AM.
Washed exterior,deep cleaned & conditioned(Gliptone) the front seats(left a decent layer on in the sun for a few hours). Of note I'm not really fond of the Gliptone conditioner's smell.
Last edited by King Charles; 02-01-2019 at 03:46 PM.
There is a 2000 Carnival Red XJ8 at my local Pick-N-Pull so I thought I'd check it out. It's been there a month now, so it's been picked over.
Thinking of KC I did check the defrost vents, they were all there but they were so brittle that they broke at the slightest effort to remove them.
I picked up the brake reservoir cap, I don't need one, but they are $80 bucks new so for a couple of bucks I have a spare.
I also got one of the rear light lenses, mine has a really minor flaw in the reversing light section, it's hardly noticeable, in fact it's so minor it would have to be pointed out to be visible, but I notice it, and the salvage car one looked perfect. So just 3 nuts and it popped out, and after a clean up, and swapping the innards with mine, it looks like new.
As I say the car is pretty well picked over, but if anyone needs something specific I can get it for them if it is left on the car.
I have been stuck at the side of the road with a flat in the middle of the night, with the only light being a zippo lighter. Believe me it is not easy to change a wheel in the dead of night while holding a zippo lighter for illumination! (And I don't smoke now, so don't even carry a zippo)
Harbor Freight has some really cool LED "lanterns". Excellent design, very bright light, run on 3 AA batteries, and LED, so long life, just slide the unit up and the light comes on, slide it down and it automatically turns off. These lamps are really great, and I bought several for around the house for general use, camping, power-cuts, etc. but also placed one in the trunk of my Jag. Perfect for that time when you need hands-free light. ($6.99, minus 20% coupon and a free gift)
Where'd you get the 2 straps from, mine only has the one(your lantern spot), did you add those ?! Thanks.
Last edited by King Charles; 02-01-2019 at 07:28 PM.
I just remove the liners, and with a box cutter/razor knife, cut two slots in the fabric where the strap is needed. Thread the elastic through the slots and leaving plenty of overlap, staple the elastic together behind the liner with a regular office stapler. I've found that it is best to pull the elastic quite tight behind the liner before stapling, the elastic has quite a lot of stretch and is best tight when nothing is inserted in it, that way it holds things tight when you do use it.
I keep my Jaguar handbooks in the original strap, and my OBD II reader, multi-meter, and various flashlights in an extra strap, a small strap for an umbrella, another for my latest LED lantern (which I have used three times already it is really useful), and another small strap on the left side for another umbrella..
I think I have all spaces utilized now!
.
Last edited by Carnival Kid; 02-01-2019 at 07:59 PM.
01-26-2019, 12:46 PM
Painting calipers
Long Trips?
