Buddy and Christine. (A tale of two XJ12Cs)
 

The Back Story : I got contacted by a forum member who had been watching our XJ12C restoration thread. He had two XJ12Cs (Yes, two). His original plan was to restore the cars, but as happens frequently, time, work, family, etc get in the way and he had came to the conclusion that these cars were never going to get the attention they needed to bring either one of them back to life. The proposition was simple. Come and take both of the cars, and the extra panels and parts he had amassed over the years so he could have his garage, his driveway and some of his garden back. There was also the inevitable wife happiness improvement factor that I'm sure we all understand.

My first thought was "I already have a nice XJ12C that is nearing completion and I don't have space for any other cars" (I don't know how I get away with the four I already have). However, after mulling it over for a few days and also seeking council from fellow forum members @smgdata and @Rhett, it seemed that paying a visit to at least see what we were dealing with was in order. The cars were about one hours drive away from us.

Myself and @smgdata went to see the cars. The description we had been given was accurate. What we saw were two XJ12Cs. Neither car was close to running. One had the original V12 drive train. Everything there, nothing missing mechanically. Even some good signs like a relocated OPUS ignition box and a 4 wire FI trigger board. The shell, however, was rotten. Daylight was visible through the rear quarter panels. The floors were shot, around the windows was shot, etc, etc. Due to its completeness, this car seemed like a good candidate for a parts car. The other car had a V8 conversion, which must have been really good because someone had taken the trouble to steal the upper part of the engine! (the carbs and inlet manifold were missing from the top of what appears to be a 350 SBC). This car had been stored inside and was solid underneath. Not perfect. I have yet to see a perfect "survivor" XJ Coupe. But the small areas that need fixing would be well within our limited welding and patching capabilities. Despite having one of the front fenders, hood and lower valence missing, having been removed due to a low speed shunt, it was clear this car could be saved. Neither car had anything like a presentable interior, but there were a lot of parts there, plus there would be the potential to re-use the front seat leather recently taken from my XJ12C.

Interesting things :

The V8 car has a steel sunroof. Our understanding is that no Coupes came from the factory with this option, but it was common for dealers to retrofit them. @smgdatas previous XJ6C had exactly the same roof. This is our current understanding but if anyone has more info we would be glad to receive it.

The V8 car has a great looking rear cage that has obviously been worked on in the not too distant past. It also has a great looking custom exhaust system.

The V8 car has a transmission that may be a T400, which could be very useful somewhere down the road.

Both cars may be 75 cars, which would mean no SMOG requirements in CA. Further DMV investigation would be required to finalize this.

The decision :

After a lot of thinking, we came up with the following plan. @smgdata secured the use of some land where we could safely store the cars. We invested in a sturdy "tent"/"hut" that could house one of the cars with enough room for us to work around it. This hut was floored, secured and has power and lights. We have had to "re-engineer" this a few times due to the unseasonable high winds and rain we've been getting, but this is the best chance we have of a place where one of the cars can remain dry.

We rented a car trailer and borrowed a friends truck for the day and spent nearly 10 hours driving back and forth from where the cars were to our new base, transporting them one at a time. At the end of the day we were exhausted, sore and stressed, but also excited at the start of this new adventure.

The plan :

We hope we can make one usable XJ12C from the two partial cars we have. This would be @smgdatas car. The plan is to get the V12 running in the car it is in right now. If that goes well we will pull the engine and trans and put it into the car with the solid shell. We would then strip the rusty shell of all useful parts and say goodbye to that, with the knowledge that parts of it are still alive in other cars. We are going to try and be as frugal as possible. Only replacing what we need to. I didn't really keep to any budget with my car and spent a lot on modifications, but for the beginning we will "just" try to get one usable car. It doesn't have to be pretty (and in all likelihood it won't be)

Can we do it :

Here is the logic of "Yes"

1. We got my car started after 25 years of non use. Every sign is that it's not suffered at all from the long slumber. We know this era of V12 very well now.

2. We had to do a lot of stuff to my car so we know how to do it again.

3. I am relatively competent on interiors and can carpet, wrap, reupholster, trim, dye to a reasonable standard.

4. We know we will not be alone in this endeavor and will be leveraging these forums for help as we go.

5. We have a perfect, working model car to compare to (mine) so we know what things are supposed to look like. Even simple parts swapping would be possible to aide troubleshooting.

Timeline :

It's not going to be fast. We don't know how working "outdoors" is going to be. We have to watch the budget. There will be stops and starts, bursts and quiet periods, but it is hoped we have a car on the road within one year.

What the h*ll are you two doing ! :

These cars are becoming so rare we just couldn't see these cars going to waste. We are so pleased with the way our first XJ12C came out that we want to get another one going. Financially we are at a very low exposure. This will be our biggest project yet by a factor of about 100, but we will take what we already know and no doubt learn a lot more along the way. Having set up a new basecamp it could be an opportunity for us to work together on another project after this.

Buddy and Christine

For those who like corny '80s "B" movies, and Stephen King novels, you will know who we are talking about. Christine is the car that will come back from the dead (The V8 car). Buddy (Repperton) (The V12 parts car) will be the car that is consumed by Christine. We named the cars partly for fun but also because it was getting confusing as they are both essentially silver XJ12Cs, which makes a total of 3 (including mine)

This is Buddy.....

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...14792e9959.jpg

And this is Christine......

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...74be71383d.jpg

Are we crazy? probably, but as someone once told me "Life is not a dress rehearsal", so why not.

It begins.

Working in a tent? Well why not? Best of luck. I just decided to rent a public storage unit so I could clean out my garage enough to get my car in there to work on it. I needed to move my XJS project forward. I've spent too much time dreaming and not enough working. I look forward to updates.

Best of luck guys........I'll be following every step.

Hi Sarc,

Good luck, more people like you need to keep these fabulous Coupes on the road.

FYI, if you are working on Christine on your own and Bad To The Bone pops up on the radio which isn't actually wired in as far as you know........

Just don't be in the drivers seat or at the drive in!! :-)

Looking forward to sporadic updates.

Cheers,

Nigel

Well done, and good luck.

Oh, yeah. I'll sure watch and get a vicarious kick out of it.


My son and his SO have a place in the sierra's. He has far too much stuff for a "mere" generously sized double garage to house.


So, he acquired two "squad tents", kinda like those seen in "Mash" but more lilely of Vietnam vintage.


Gravel floor. Wood uprights and trusses. Not as a work shop, but to store critters.


I'll bet the intake and carb off the V8 were after market and of greater value than a mere iron one, two or four barrel.


Does your work plan include getting the V12 to run in situ, so as
to assess it's condition? I'll avoid negativity....


Carl
<

@Jag-o-nomic

I hear you. Great movie!

@JagCad

Yes, and it runs...........



Progress....... We got the V12 in Buddy started (albeit on starter fluid as we have leaking fuel lines, stuck injectors and a fried FI loom) This brief burst of life was enough for us to know that we had a working plan and we can proceed to work on the V12 and get it ready for removal.

@smgdata found out that Christine is a '75 car, so no smog. This means we can strip the smog stuff off the V12 before and during the transplant.

We started in on the "V" over the last few days. @smgdata had sourced an HE fuel rail for my car, but I wanted to keep it stock, so I painstakingly rebuilt the 25 hose/5 metal line stock system. He will fit the HE rail to his car so that will be an interesting change. Air rails are coming out, as is the smog pump and EGR system. We started to inspect and massage the fuel injectors back to life. The FI loom was removed completely and a new one is half way built (left hand bank is done in the following picture). The other loom that runs through the "V" (kick down, oil pressure, resistor pack, A/C Comp) is also a mess, having had some kind of trauma before as it has been spliced and hacked in multiple places. This loom will be replaced also.

Distributor looks great. 4 wire FI trigger board present and working. Vacuum and mechanical advance all working (none of which was true for my car). OPUS still "Opusing" in its revised location on the radiator top mount.

A/C system is shot so we will remove it for now.

This is where we were at the end of yesterday.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...34070f4feb.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...ebbc673c14.jpg

One of us is getting old and forgetful, so one has to write things in books......

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...fda2070085.jpg

The other, full of youth, claims that he can remember how to reassemble anything, as long as he was the one that took it off. Time will tell :-)

I'll be watching too.
(';')

Great project, best of luck. I'm sure the note books will prove invaluable, they would be essential for me!

I'm ridiculously excited about this project.

My car also has a steel sunroof, but the Previous (second) Owner had it installed. He said no Series 2 Xj6s came from the factory with sunroofs.

Also, I have a printed copy of the ROM published by BL, and a CD for Series 2 cars from Jaguar Heritage, neither of which makes any mention to sunroofs.
(';')

We'll take some pictures and at least document it as we rebuild the car. It doesn't look like other aftermarket roofs I've seen where you just cut a hole in the roof and fit a glass panel. This is sliding steel and it looks very well made.....

Christine

I was reading to husband about this new project, and the names of the cars, and his eyes lit up with recognition of the name Christine.

Nothing would do but he found the movie on Crackle!

I now have a more complete understanding why these cars were given their respective names! Not only that, I'm thinkin' Many classic Jaguars could reasonably be named Christine!

Thanks, to Sarc and Nigel for an evening's Great entertainment!
(';')

Written notes:


Oh, yeah. I've done that, but, not in a neat note book
like those. I do keep track of my bank account using
a similar one. Verified on line. But, as on line has crashed,
sure feels better to have it in pen and ink.


I've a ton of Jag lore. Unfortunately, not even close
to organized. But, at least safely in binders.


In other stuff, I've a bunch of scribble notes.
Working on getting them in crib sheet form!!


SMOG.


The cutoff date will be moved forward. A CA
assembly bill or Senate bill. I forgot which
was passed. 83 is the new number. Trouble is
not for a year or more???




Gotta look up Christine. Daughter
got me in to Netflix. I wonder if it
is there? She loves it. I have
never wanted for places to look, so
....


Running V12, huge advantage...
You guys and Doug are on similar paths...


Got rained out yesterday? Or did you!!!


Ugh, gotta get my Jeep through DMV and
SMOG, double pain...


Carl

Look forward to this thread!

The glaring disparity with Christine is that she fixed herself. Not a chance with Jaguars!!
Maybe I need to get an evil spirit to inhabit mine, where's Ghostbusters when you need them?

A thought, one I'm sure you had, would it be worth, considering the rarity of these XJCs, to minimise the amount you strip out of Buddy and sell him on to someone else willing or mad enough to take on a major restoration? Especially if the SMOG laws are such a pain.

I hate the thought of one of these rare beauties going to the great scrapyard in the sky.

Added thought on the sun roof.


You suppose a PO grafted one in. From a later car. My 83 is so
equipped. Works nicely, knock on head!!!


And, I believe a company named "WEBASCO" or similar made
a steel unit for custom installation.


Forgot which TV nutty mechanic show I saw. Guy worked real hard in
laying out the cut. Installing the rails and slider. And then when done,
it was backwards!!! I might have been tempted to leave it be. But, probably would not be installing one in then first place.


Carl

I neglected to mention, so is mine. However, the PO was pretty emphatic, "DON'T OPEN THE SUNROOF!" so I never have. I don't particularly like them anyway.
(';')

Glad you enjoyed it. It is good in a corny "B" movie kind of way.

That would be great...... I could then take all the SMOG stuff off my '76!


Doug is "slightly" ahead at this point, but I have read that thread multiple times as a lot of it (ie EFI wiring) will be very relevant for us.

Hut 2.0 stayed nice and dry. (Don't ask what happened to Hut 1.0)

All we need to do is get the odometer to run backwards, then she will fix herself :-)

Yes, the thought has definitely crossed our minds a few times. I think we are still doing the right thing currently because if you were ever going to get that shell back on the road, you would have to completely strip it, then sand blast it, and, assuming you still had something left, start welding 3000lbs of metal back into it.

It's unlikely we would have to get rid of the shell for any particular reason, so we don't have to rush into making any decisions about its fate yet.

With a Coupe, with all the windows down, you definitely do not need a sunroof for sure. I already have a convertible, so if I want a sunburned head, I can take that out :-)

SMOG

Sadly sb 1239 died before it was approved.
Hopefully they try it again next year.