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Pretty sure the MKX/420G leapers were even smaller than the one on your VDP
So upon a further check yesterday I found the leaper to be fitted with some kind of thick double sided rubber or something.
So whatever the rest of the condition of the car, that leaper can be junked ... so I bought her .
Kidding of course, the car is in a more than reasonable condition.
Being a 4.2L, it is without many of the troubles of our generation, including solid valve gear, and the rather bulletproof 6 speed ZF.
And to my big surprise, it drove super comfortable, VDP level with softer seats, in spite of the CATS Suspension and 19" rims with rather low-profile tires.
As you know, I am totally in love with my Vanden Plas, but this one can be a real contender if she is ready.
Tomorrow, I'm going to drain the oil, cut the filter open to check for metal in the oil. Worried about a spun bearing. 2003 xjr. Is this a good place to lift it up from?
In a word "No". That piece is a thin cross section, nowhere near enough strength to lift the car, I'd suggest coming out a little and get the jack on the hole that bolts the subframe to the chassis, far more substantial. I wish you good luck!
so its pretty self-explanatory post what you did to your X308 today
a found a new leak while its completely broken and am tempted to sell it and get an s type or 380sel
but if it can get fixed for a reasonable amount I will keep it in my fleet
Didn't really do anything, so much as discovered more issues. Hadn't had a chance to replace the sway link that I can hear rattling, but I've also been able to diagnose bad shock bushings, which wouldn't matter as much anyway since the replaced-under-warranty KYBs are junk again. That makes just under a year of life out of them, and about 20k miles. To be fair, I only used warranty replacements because I could, and to buy myself a little more time before Bilsteins. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since I only got about 23k out of the first pair too. So this round, I'll order new B's with new upper mounts and just do them at the same time. I also determined my low-speed wobble from the left rear. I know the pivot pin bearings aren't 100% perfect (I replaced them but not perfectly precise due to lack of time and such at the time), but thought perhaps the wheel bearing itself had finally died. I ordered a complete assembly to swap out which will be here Wednesday. Turns out though, not needed yet. Did you know that tires are supposed to be a) round in diameter, and squared off from inside to out? Turns out that I'm bigger around on the inside of the tire versus the outside. Must've popped a belt or something. I have a spare of those tires already, so off to the store in the early AM to have them swap it on and see if that fixes at least that much. I know I'm just trying to bandaid this thing until I can replace it in a couple months but man...
Interviewed prospective guys to clean up & reconfigure my lair of many unfinished projects,dojo,etc. back into a proper garage, so as I can move the X308 indoors. I must say one of the guys' looked bewildered when he walked onto grappling mats & seeing bloody hand prints on the walls out there lol. It's actually a decently size garage, just it hasn't been utilized as such in many a moon.
In a word "No". That piece is a thin cross section, nowhere near enough strength to lift the car, I'd suggest coming out a little and get the jack on the hole that bolts the subframe to the chassis, far more substantial. I wish you good luck!
I always jack the front end up by that area, it's a pretty burly bit of subframe crossmember and I don't worry about bending it. I always put a piece of wood between the jack and crossmember though. Much rather do that than lift by one corner at a time and twist the chassis, even if that's not really an issue on the x308's. Also on the front, there's no subframe to mounting hole to put a jack under, there's donut bushings on the back of the front subframe which sit vertical, definitely no good as a jack point.
If that's referring to the rear subframe, which does have those points, then I'd agree - don't jack by the sheet metal there, you could use those frame points, or put the jack directly under the diff mounting bolts (with a piece of wood between).
Anyway,
I finally washed my car. Sat inside and felt water on the passenger seat, the front two corners of the sunroof were wet, with the pass side dripping wet. Hopefully it's just a clogged drain, and that will clean easily, as well as solving the occasional front/rear window fogging I've noticed recently.
Redding CA does get hot in the summer, very hot, but it does get rain in the winter, sometimes lots of rain. This week it has done nothing but rain.
I happened to notice while at the local grocery store that they had some of those expanding umbrellas on a sales rack. We have several of these umbrellas at the house, and in our cars, and I even made a strap to hold one of them in the trunk of my VDP.
But these umbrellas on the sales rack at the grocery store caught my eye because they had burled walnut handles, with a chrome accent. Well,. what with all that fancy burled walnut inside the car, I figured I couldn't have just a plain old umbrella in the trunk, so I bought one.
They are a "Clicks" brand, and have a burled walnut handle, well, I think it's burled walnut, it may just be a solid wood handle, well, I think it's a solid wood handle, well, it looks like solid wood, Anyway, I think it looks good in the trunk of my VDP instead of the common old plain handled one!
I used a pint of ONE SHOT brand paint for outdoor sign painting to do my Corvette calipers. I used a small throw away brush about 3 inches in width. That's been about 4 months ago. Very hi gloss and is made to withstand heat and weather. Found at most any commercial paint store that services sign painters or body shops. The pint did 4 calipers and a friends 4 as well and I still have 60% left.
I used a tin of brush-on Dupli-color Caliper Paint when I did my Corvette calipers. Not sure if caliper paint has a higher temp rating that engine paint?
It's a messy, fiddly job doing them hanging by the brake lines on the car, but if you are swapping calipers you can paint off the car and fit and bleed them later.
I was surprised how many coats it took to cover, at least three as I remember and maybe five.
I too, have a Jag and a Corvette!! One to drive leisurely to LA and back and one to have fun with on on ramps. The Model T has a 327 Corvette and an automatic to reminisce about my youth! No smog equipment no ABS no computers!
I went to check on my Vanden Plas, which I parked up for a while at an other place.
Where she was totally alone last Sunday morning, now she got some interesting company.
Always amazed how many special cars are parked up in undergrounds here, hardy to be seen on the road.
Swapped out both inner tie rods because there was a slight wobble on the front right when driving and also when jacked up. What's most noticeable to me, after merely aligning it by string before I get to the garage, is the lack of crashing when going over bumps. Front end feels far better after changing these. Quite surprised.
Old inner tie rod Pipe grips to loosen the tie rod Old ones out, new ones going New steel bands for the boot Tie rods practically installed String method for a rough alignment
Last edited by chris-jag; Jan 13, 2019 at 01:17 PM.
What fun...Removed the driver's left rear hub carrier assembly, due to the pivot bearings being worn and wobbling the wheel. No major issues removing, and then the main bearing disintegrated upon removal. Probably a good thing that I'm replacing the whole thing. Or so I thought - until I realized after putting the new one in place that... I ordered the wrong side. I ordered another Passenger side, instead of the correct, so obviously that won't work. Can't exactly put the caliper back on... Very annoyed at myself, so I've ordered the CORRECT side but now I have to wait a week until I can put the car back together. This is not my year...
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