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I have been poking around on here for a week or two and I figured I’d create an account and introduce myself.
Recently I was perusing on craigslist looking for a new hole to dump my paychecks into, and came across an ad for an 87’ XJ6. The gentleman wanted 500$ for it, and I wasn’t expecting much of anything as interior, engine, or underbody. Being that the car had been kept here in Washington state its entire life, and the post stated the car had been sitting for 12 years, I half figured I was wasting my time going to look at it. Well that afternoon I had it on a trailer and on its way back to my garage. Mild surface rust around window seals, a dent on the fender and side runner, and all original parts, even if I couldn’t get it running or moving I could still do an LS1 swap, strip it, and drag it. Sunday I got the car home, Tuesday after work we had it running and idling on its own. Currently we are in the process of getting the last few fluids swapped, new brakes/rotors and the rest is cosmetic (No oil leaks, which shocked me). I felt pretty lucky with the find, the idle is a bit lumpy but the grounds still haven’t been scrubbed, and the vacuum hoses are being replaced this week (3/27/17) hopefully i'll find time this week and set up some good lighting and begin documenting the rest of the revival process (I wouldn’t wanted to have filmed the radiator flush anyways, it was a disastrous mess) Here are some pictures thus far of the Onca and a link to a short video of her cranking and running:
Nice score!
I've not long ago bought an 84 sovereign and it's also in great nick.
Just sorted out my vacuum issues, doing a headlight mod this afternoon and I'm going to look at the column controls later.
Mine is blue with pin stripes.
I'll be following this thread.
One thing I learned really early is to pay very close attention to the wiring above the water rail. Some of mine, due to age, had cracked and some shielding was missing on the wires going to the negative pole on the coil resulting in a short and a new coil. I've replaced the wire temporarily and am waiting on identical color match wires to arrive then I'll remake the efi harness and replace the+ and - wires to the coil.
1. I'd not sweat the lumpy idle. It seems that these cars are prone to that. Why seems a mystery. But, as long as it doesn't stall in inopportune places, live with it.
2. That dent just might respond to gentle counter force. A "push" from under with a smooth object, as in "chunk of wood".
3. The pro dent doctors probably have more sophisticated tools to pull it or push it out, sans paint damage !! For $'s of course.
Well doing a full break job was a nightmare for the front end. A lot of stumbling points and self discovery. A strong note: do not let your heavy 4 piston calipers air dry at face level, they will always win when it comes to your face. Lucky me didn't need stitches.
Did a full bleed, new rotors, redid the hubs, new bearings, coated everything in new paint, rebuilt the Pistons with new software, and new fuel filter.
New NGK plugs as well. Was super excited to get her back on the ground, got everything put back on and lined up. She fired up with some coaxing, this is where more confusion set in. Managed to get her up the driveway and down the road, but as soon as I got about half a mile down the road, the engine started backfiring at random, no power, and would not rev when put in park, just studder and idle real low until stalling. I pressurized the fuel pump , turned the key and cranked up. Made it back to my garage, and as soon as I'm in the garage the engine freely idles and will rev to redline with zero issue. This was a confidence booster, so I backed up the driveway, went back down to where I was previously, this story directly repeats itself. Made it back to the garage, would redline and rev freely without studdering. I'm guess the injectors need cleaning, unless anyone else has a clue based on my poor description =P it's 2330 so I'm calling it a night for now.
ohh I see, Jaguar used to paint certain cylinder heads Gold, they look wonderful.
i have been trying to find what they look like brand new off the showroom floor for color choices of auxiliary components. So any recommendations I'm absolutely all ears.
Nice score!
I've not long ago bought an 84 sovereign and it's also in great nick.
Just sorted out my vacuum issues, doing a headlight mod this afternoon and I'm going to look at the column controls later.
Mine is blue with pin stripes.
I'll be following this thread.
One thing I learned really early is to pay very close attention to the wiring above the water rail. Some of mine, due to age, had cracked and some shielding was missing on the wires going to the negative pole on the coil resulting in a short and a new coil. I've replaced the wire temporarily and am waiting on identical color match wires to arrive then I'll remake the efi harness and replace the+ and - wires to the coil.
looking at what is mentioned here I have a feeling I may need to run some shielding and check the wires a bit more thoroughly myself. It seems like someone else spliced in new wires at some point and it's a bit messy.
The xj6 cylinder head was not painted - it was left in its raw state. Cam covers satin black with silver raised ribs. Auxiliary components (brake booster etc) were in satin black, small parts (fuel rail, master brake cylinder, etc) cadmium plated (silver/gold hue). The oil filler cap was black.
in the Series 3 XJ models, everything was black that was going to be painted haha!
the cylinder head, bare aluminum, the block, black. Oil pan, bare aluminum. The valve covers, black, except for the inner valleys of the ribs which are bare, actually I just looked at mine, and it is the opposite, the inner valleys are black.
all aluminum parts, bare, all steel parts, black. Transmission, bare, rear cage, black.
front suspension, black, exhaust system, bare stainless steel. Manifolds, black. Heat shield over manifolds, bare. Black and Bare, Black and Bare. Radiator, black. Water pump, bare or black.
but you can paint anything, any color you want, forget the critics. If I ever have to remove my engine block, it comes back YELLOW haha! I want to be able to see where it leaks. And besides, black attracts heat!
Also I want to adapt a thin chain for the oil filler Cap, which I painted Gunmetal Grey. Easy to lose those caps, being (you guessed it) Black. A chain bolted somewhere so if I forget to refit it, it will not get lost.
Well we got her to driving, didn't last all that long though. Super smooth and so quiet on the inside, the handling though was weird! I'm use to my BRZ, which has a turbo and coilovers, so the handling on the XJ made me almost uneasy, like driving a big sofa. Well about 10 miles into driving around the neighborhood, getting greedy with the fact it's running, and SPLOOSH we looked like a comet gliding down the road. Had a massive oil seal bust, and fun was over. Slowly made it back home coasting most of the way.
Well I have all the gaskets, seals, and tools to pull the engine and rebuild it. I'm a bit apprehensive since the only engine I have rebuilt was a Pontiac 400 for my Firebird. I'm optimistic that it's not going to be too strange or different in design. The oil leak ruptured from underneath the headers close to the firewall.
As to engine bay and engine colors, might take a look art what tankers do. The worst fear, short of a direct hit by an AP round is fire. Leaking oil and grease in he bay promote that. So, they get painted "white". Plenty of "cheap" labor and time to keep them clean and white.
When these guys came back to civilian life, many got into or resumed the car nut
phase. I knew one guy that chopped up a somewhat ratty but decent 32 Ford Cabrolet. Cheap off a car lot's back row at the time. Off with the top, chopped the windshield posts. Channeled the body down over the frame rails. Swapped out the original but tired V8. A fresh and much warmed up Mercury V8. White in the engine bay. Engine block white. And the sans upholstery cabin in white. Exterior, oh yeah, classic grey primer. Some day...
03-27-2017, 01:39 PM
1987 Jaguar XJ6
