Hello Gentlemen
I have a 1999 Jaguar Sovereign that i purchased recently. Its beutiful on first impression yet as i was cleaning the car i notice some rust aong the panel edge under the rubber strip fitted along the engine bay parrallel to the windcreeen. I lifted it up and there was more rust, the removed the plastic fitment that also runs along the base of the front windscreen.. There was rubble consisting of twigs and what not built up in the corner that obviously stopped water funneling down and rust started. The top panel was rusted through.
Underneath this panel there was a box section as seen in the photos that was filled with an expanding rubber. I think this saved the car from mor rust as the rubber displaced the water. The inside of the box xection is in god shape, yet the rust on the top panel went through completely and the rubber foam inside was soaking in water. Still it did its job and didnt allow the water to fall to the base of the box section. I highly recommend this expaning foam rubber being replaced int hese box sections.
I removed the front wind, and you can see the 2 bolts along the door hing area, there is one bolt just behind the mudguard and 2 forward near the side bumper mounting. To remove those 2 , justremove ONE of the main 2 bolt securing the bumper under the number plate on the side of the cxar you are working on and tilt the bumper forward and down a little to gain access to those 2 bolts. No need to remove the entire bumper , nor both bolts, just one will do. Also you the have bolts along the top on the bonnet/wing. There is also "sealer" applied to the that area to glue the wing to the car so use a knife to cut if free carefully.. take your time.

Now i plan to take the windscreen out as welding that close to it will surely crack it. Once thats done i will clean and cut everything out, make a panel the correct profile of that area and weld it back in with a MIG welder.
I will also put cavity wax or someting on this inner valence area before i close it all up and do the same to the other side.. but thats all later.
I will update this post as things progress with photos.
best regards
Peter

 

Great post man - but I bet it has sent a shiver of fear up the spines of some readers...me included. You are brave to take out the windshield - good luck to you sir.

 

Man, that looks scary!

MANY people park under the trees in the sunny climate, in order to keep the interior cooler. If one does so, checking the gutters, drainage, etc is a MUST. Some cars (MBZ W220 for example) will leak the water on the floor, once the drains are plugged. It just happens to be that SAM modules ARE on the floor too! You can imagine the rest.

First thing I do when I buy a used car, is to check all the drains (before I wash it). When I'm shopping for one, I always pull the carpets, and check for water intrusion (obviously I had my share of bad experiences, one particular Porsche comes to mind!).

The biggest problem with welding in this area (been there on a 1969 Mini Cooper when I lived in Europe), is that the back side of the weld can not be treated/reached. Short time later, the rust WILL come through. I am not familiar with the body structure of the X308 in this area, but on the Mini, I drilled a small hole (after the welding was done), and filled the cavity with "bitumen" (liquid kind of tar substance that hardens when it cools down). That helpped a lot. Like I said, I don't know if it can be filled (or it would just leak on the ground), but even if something needs to be siliconed in order to hold the rust proofing temporarily (until it hardens), I'm sure it can be done.

If left untreated underside, the weld WILL rust in no time.

 

Could asomeone tell me what the two hoses are in this pic? Thanks, Dave

 

- scuttle drain
- sunroof drain

matching on both sides

 

to reach the back side of the wels with paint primer i will if necessary drill a hole and spray paint it.. that hole itself will be a position that can be rwached from the openings.. it willl be good.

Peter

 

Holy snap dragons batfink!.....that looks seriously nasty for an Australian car especially.
This car has not suffered accident damage that you can ascertain?

Even with fine vents which keep out most of the crap, it's amazing how much silt and rubbish still gets in there.

I recently had to take out the base of the screen covers on my wife's '03 Peugeot 307 to clean out a blocked drain which was funelling water into the pass. footwell.
Used a long poking device and a rigged up tube affair fitted to a vacuum cleaner to suck out the rubbish rather than poke it furthewr down.

Once clear gave both drains a good blow through with compressed air and Bob's yer uncle.
For a '99 model, that car is either a grey import or has experienced a lot of heavy industrial fallout.

Good luck witht he repairs and have the screen professionally reinstalled,

 

Here is another post on scuttle rusting issue:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...53/#post390094

Jim Lombardi

 

Would I be correct in assuming that the scuttle drain would be the AC drain? Thanks for the info.
Dave

 

No Dave, the air con drains are either side of the trans tunnel.

The scuttle drains clear the water that runs down off the screen.

 

Here is a photo of a XK X100 front windshield (windscreen) scuttle panel:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/upw8j31l1x...20image%20.JPG

Jim Lombardi