Hello!
This is my very first post on this forum, thanks for letting me in 😀


I was wondering if I could bother you with some questions regarding a 1986 XJ12 I purchased about a year and a half ago (?).

I bought the car, here in Spain, as a non-starter. The engine hadn’t been turned since 2003.
Well, I fixed that pretty quick and then went on to repair the whole fuel system. Injectors, tanks etc etc.
Then I did the same with the ignition and much, much more.

I have a few more issues that needs attention. First of all, the transmission will only engage 2. gear and reverse. All the obvious reasons has been attended to.
Any inputs here?


The thing is that I’m ambivalent as to if I should proceed or not with the car.
It desperately needs a full paint job.
In this regard I would love to replace the original chrome/rubber bumpers with a set from the Series 2-model.
Does anyone have any input there? Is it doable?


I need to decide what to do within a week or two due to a moving process.
Should I keep (and pour more money in it) or just sell for whatever I can get...(?)
Any idea what the value of this car is?

LHD XJ12.
British Racing Green (non-metallic)
Beige leather
Sunroof

 

Welcome aboard Henrik. When time permits please place a post in the New Members Section.

 

That is a beautiful car. The reflection on the bonnet and boot indicate the paint is nice; is the roof the problem? How is the rust situation?

 

Hello from Detroit. And welcome to this forum. My gut feel is to take the car with you. You seem to have above average mechanical ability, you are not afraid of a challenge and you are probably very resourceful. You've done a tremendous amount of work already so don't give up. You probably will not get much of a price on the car. Take it with you, let it simmer a few months while you source a used trans that you can swap out if you determine that needs to happen. The outside cosmetics look pretty good from the pictures, well at least good enough to wait while you finish the mechanicals. Maybe the paint just needs a good cleaning and polishing. Hope my two cents help. Ren

 

Looks pretty good in the pics. How's the interior?

A Series III V12 is a desirable model. Perhaps not from return-on-investment perspective but, still, they're nice cars. If it isn't rusty I'd say it's worth keeping and repairing. A premium grade respray is gonna be expensive, though. Many thousands of dollars.

Cheers
DD

 

Hello, Henrik,
What a Very nice example you have!
I agree with those above: You'll never get your money out of it if you sell, and you run the very real risk of kicking yourself in the morning, as it were.

Decisions made under the pressure of moving very often lead to serious regret later.
I can tell you how I know that.

Welcome to our little corner of the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Thank you for your thoughts 😀

The paint oooks OK on the pictures, I’ll give you that 😅
But, in reality the car was subject to a repaint at least 15 years ago and it’s bad... The clearcoat is peeling of several places and the groundwork is sloppy. The sides of the car «bounces» up and down everywhere (typical for repainted Spanish vehicles). It HAS to be repainted - no question!

Any thoughts on the issue regarding the bumpers?
Anyone who has replaced them with Series 2 aftermarkwt items?

 

I have never liked Series 3 bumpers, I think they look Cheap.
But I would question if Series 2 bumpers would fit, as the Series 3 is bigger in so many other places. If you can pull it off, I think it would be a Huge improvement.
(';')

 

Once it's running well, no other car ever made matches a series 3 V12. It's sublime tranquility at surprisingly high velocity and worth all the effort it takes to make it work.

 

Kicking. As i did circa 1962. We were transfered }promoted" to Phoenix, AZ. We bought a house Another one. As i lay my head down to sleep, i asked myself, "oh what have done.the mortgage is 100 bucks per month"!!!!

A year later. Another transfer "promotion". Sold house. Lost equity.... Took time to recover and buy again...

Carl