X4 sensors. This thing is like a container ship when it comes to manoeuvring in tight spaces.

Dash display. I’ve disconnected the piezo as it’s on all the time and it would drive all on board nuts!

 

Think you're gonna be fine, I just put my revolvers on Saturday evening and had out first 3-4" snowfall Sunday. Car was great, but its definitely a rwd powerful car, easy to give it too much gas. Thinking of detuning the pedal position sensor so its a bit less touchy.

 

Got the center console redone. Leather with red stitching, like stock. Supersprint x pipe and deleted the 2 rear resonators. Wow, the stock resonators are heavy. Changed the piece that attaches to bottom of the front bumper. Oh, and added led's for the trunk. Tomorrow, upper front shock mount bushings.

 

No more clunks and rides a bit smoother

Included the first two pics because I was a bit confused at first. You'll need a 8mm hex socket and a 17mm wrench to get the shock nut off. The shock mount bolts are 10mm.

 

We have here in the Netherlands an annual, mandatory, inspection called APK, similar to UK MOT. My Jaguar passed its last one some months ago with flying colours. But the mechanic did warn me the rubber boots on the steering knuckles were marginal.A hole/tear in these boots is an immediate fail. With all the associated hassle. knuckles were marginal. They are not allowed to have any tears in them. Mine had started to defoliate to the point having a lot of cracks in them, but no holes yet. So I decided to replace them, a fairly straight forward.

I keep track of all the maintenance and jobs on all of my four (classic) cars on this thread on an Indian car forum.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post5421297

Jeroen

 

Hello Jeroen, this is my chance to thank you for your detailed presentation of all your work, especially on the XJR (although I love and drive Alfa Romeos also). I have follwed your postings on this indian car forum already for a long time, as many of your work on your beautiful XJR had or even has to be done on my XJRs also.

Please give my an info, whenever you (and your wife) come to Germany/Cologne and need assistance (including a quick coffee break etc.).

 

My goodness what a beautiful XJR! And thanks for posting your garage and the work you do! Truly a class act.

 

I just wanted to post that I appreciate seeing all these beautiful car pictures! XJ 308 cars are really about the most beautiful and best driving cars ever.... I love mine and enjoy it whenever I go anywhere. I glides over the road and just responds instantly to the throttle....
My wife drive the nicer of the two 2000 VDPs and feels the same....

 

Excited to hear the results of those exhaust mods in a video, hopefully soon? Also good to know that the x-pipe does involve welding to install.

 

Having recently seen a MSN article on "The Most Beautiful Cars" I was not surprised to find the
Jaguar XK-E as the top choice. I was a little surprised that the X308 was not in the list as personally,
it would have been No. 2 behind the XK-E on my list.

 

Ah, don't worry about MSN - they're trotting out the E-Type when we all know it's a style icon, not a hard task picking something that sits at the top of the elevator in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Enzo Ferrari said it best, "A poem in steel" as he described seeing the E for the first time in Vienna, luckily Norman Dewis got it there in time, I would have loved to co pilot him on that run....
Sticking with Italian opinions on Jaguar....
Auto Car Italia called it right by naming the X308 the most Beautiful Saloon of the 20th century, and also acknowledged Jaguar started that particular sector of car as all the other manufacturers scrabbled to make 'sports saloons' of unitary construction. Three Oh Eight having a very long engineering development line, like the Porsche 911.

Now - sadly - the mighty "XJ" moniker is no longer going to be produced, the muted all electric XJ is canned at the last minute with no plans to make another XJ in the future. Happily, us 308 owners have the best of the line, absolute classics.

 

You don't need to weld.....if you buy the rest of their kit. Yes I'll have a vid up during the week. Cold start, revs and a pull.

 

I listed mine for sale in the marketplace. Take a look if you are interested in a 2002 XJR SC for a project or donor car. I just finished up some repair work. It looks rough but purrs like a kitten.

 

The bitter cold has eased up some, so I took the 308 out today for some exercise. I was surprised to discover a lack of heat from the vents inside the car. I don't remember this car having a weak heater, but I haven't driven it in the dead of winter since I've owned it. It's always been inside for one repair project or another. I'm glad my X358 daily driver has the heated steering wheel, since I'm getting spoiled by the creature comforts. I guess I'll start searching the threads for weak heater output, because it is clearly not normal. Weirdly, long after the car was up to normal operating temperature, the windshield started to fog on the inside and the vents began to offer warm air. Not super warm, but undeniably warm.

 

I replaced the two front speakers today with some Pioneer ones. Big difference.

Potentially identified a broken actuator in the front passenger door (the main reason I opened the door. I thought I’d replace the speakers whilst I’m at it.)

Need to fix the driver side mirror as the whole unit feels loose.

 

Try running the cabin heat settings up to max on the temperature setting. The blend valve located under the expansion tank gets sticky if it is not exercised fully. Then go for a drive.
Also watch how long it takes the engine to heat up, your thermostat my need replacing as they fail open.

 

Wot, you don't like some cheese with your whine?

I was very happy with how easy the swap to new bushes on the front actually is, and the cost of the bushing with the plate was very reasonable. I recall when I did the job on my 2001 the front pair through URO was like $50 for the pair and the rears were replaceable bushing sets. Even the rears were not too bad considering I have a 4-post lift.

But now I need to find the knocks on all four corners which I suspect might be the rose joint bearings that tend to go eggshaped, or could just be the suspension bushes that go out on a 131k mile 23 year old XJ8.

 

As a general rule, I have noticed that the suspension is a never-ending saga. Replacing one
component seems to add stress to its fellows, with the exception of shocks, of course.

 

Replaced the Uro shock mounts which, after minimal use, looked fine but were clunking over bumps. Went with a set from Meyle, all seems quiet now.

Removed the brake light switch and re-soldered all the joints on the circuit board. 10 minutes work versus a $200+ replacement part.

While I was at it, changed the oil. After all these years, discovered that the $7 Ford filter is identical to the Jaguar part, only white instead of black.

 

Took advantage of some nice weather and gave the car a good scrubbing. Looks black here, but she's British Racing Green.