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This car is Number 3 of the limited edition 100 Series III cars that were made for Canada and has been in storage since pre-Covid.
Deciding it was long past due, it was off for a visit yesterday with a new battery and some crossed fingers. After a minor glitch freeing up a seized trunk lock (which is where the battery was moved to for this year) but which provided some time to clean the windows, it was out with the old and in with new.
The puddle lights came on with the doors open which was the first good sign as did the fuel pump with the key turned to the on position. After doing that another three times to prime the rails, it was time to turn it all the way to start. She rumbled back to life faster than I anticipated with a short rough idle quickly smoothed out and settled in at about 800 rpm.
After leaving the Camry in her place, it was time to take her home where the first task was a hose to take off the worst off the dust.
It was then time for a proper wash which was easy and quick enough to remind me of how compact these cars are despite their appearance. It was also nice to see how the chat bar and wax that was done before she was out away held up.
It was also time to introduce her to her stablemate who is a replacement for her sister car Number 24 which was written off last January after 15 years as our daily driver. Our experience so far with the XJR is in the X308 sub-forum for those who might be interested. The XJR is just shy of 100,000 km (62,500 miles) and Number 3 is just shy of 160,000 km (100,000 miles).
Last edited by GGG; Apr 1, 2023 at 08:43 AM.
Reason: Thread title changed at OP's request
We finally got further than the driveway this morning… she was looking a little dusty so I decided to pull her out of the garage to fix that.
She hadn’t been started for a month and a half but fired up right away and settled in to a smooth idle, initially at 600 rpm but then moved up to 800 rpm in short order. The voltmeter took a couple of minutes to wake up and then settled in at 13 and oil pressure seemed just fine. The bulb warning light is the left high beam that I can’t quite get seated right.
It didn’t take long to wash and dry and the Meguiar’s still beads nicely so I thought I would reward her - and me - with a short weekend drive to nowhere and back. She is due for some shop time as she’s been too idle for too long so I wanted to make sure there was a current list of things to sort.
First off the garage fire extinguisher went in the driver’s side back seat and then we were off to compile the list:
1. There is a small oil leak on the garage floor from the rear of the engine.
2. The a/c has gone from ice cold to cool but she hasn’t been charged for four years so that’s not surprising given how little she’s been used for the past four years.
3. The power steering is smoother from lock to lock than the last time she was out.
4. The cruise control no longer works.
Driving impressions:
1. She is still as lovely to drive as she is to look at and she is still incredibly comfortable given her dimensions. There’s no extra room but there’s nothing missing either.
2. She still turns heads even though her paint colour isn’t as flashy as her stable mate. It is however, incredibly deep and almost flawless.
3. She isn’t as lively as the XJR - which is to be expected - but she is a little more reserved than I expected and the transmission doesn’t seem to want to kick down when asked. Shop time, tuning and some adjustments should sort both of those, possibly assisted with swapping over some of the AJ6 upgrades from Number 24 along with Number 24’s radio.
4. She is still incredibly smooth and lithe on the road although she wasn’t pushed coming out of hibernation although she did see a bit of 100 kph on the freeway section of the return trip.
I would imagine moving back and forth from the XJR to the VDP might be a little bit like being in love with both your wife and a mistress (even though I have no experience whatsoever in that regard). They’re not the same but they’re both keepers.
I've not driven my Series 3 for a few weeks since taking her to a Primary school summer fair for the kids to climb all over. Their affections seemed to be split equally between the Jag and the Austin-Healy Sprite parked next to her but so long as they get the bug for proper old cars with Internal Combustion Engines, I don't care.
Your post has given me the kick to go out and give the old girl a proper ride out, Ken. Thanks for the motivation!
A random collection of old Brits with one obvious exception which I promptly fell in love with.
I've been informed that the part I need will be off by Monday. Let's hope!
Regards”
The part in question is a pulley from a local car being parted out so we’re not paying UPS to ship steel from California.
It’s been a couple of months of “this leading to this leading to this leading to this” but hopefully this will be it for now. She’d pretty much been in storage since pre-Covid so some of this was expected.
Hopefully she’ll be done in enough time for the XJR to take her turn and get picked up before the snow flies. I was going to put off swapping the XJR’s Pentas and snow tires until after but I think I’ll do it first as that will hopefully buy a week or two we might not otherwise have.
The part in question was delivered and wrong - it was a pulley for a later 6.0 litre V12 and not the 5.3 litre. The shop located one California that arrived last week and I picked her up yesterday (exchanging the ‘01 XJR for her).
She will be retired shortly for the winter so a couple of small things were postponed till the spring. I don’t have the bill yet nor a full list of what was done as we’ll settle accounts for both cars at the same time and I will share for those interested. She has been laid up for the better part of 4 years so it wasn’t a short list but in my head I will divide it by 4 to arrive at an “annual cost” that won’t look so bad.
Her first stop was an exhaust shop to replace a reducer on the right bank as she was starting to sound a bit throaty. Then it was time to see if she would be a bit more relaxed after some exercise - she wasn’t as responsive as she should be - and to burn off the rest of the old fuel.
Next up on arriving home was an exterior wash. Having been inside, the Meguiars is still holding up quite nicely. The interior needs a good clean as well but that is scheduled for later this afternoon.
In the meantime, between yesterday and today we put on about 160 km, approximately 1/3 in town and 2/3 on local highways and she is already happier!
She can also still hold her own with the XJR when it comes to being the prettiest car in the lot.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; Nov 28, 2023 at 08:48 PM.
regardless of whether you celebrate christmas, chanukah, kwanzaa, the winter solstice, new years or festivus, anything else or nothing at all in particular, i would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a healthy, happy and prosperous 2024.
No pictures this afternoon - which is a bit out of character for me - but after too long of a break I took the VDP for a ride this afternoon.
She hasn’t been back to the shop since last fall so there’s a couple of minor nagging items still on the to-do list but the only one of any accord is fitting a new A/C belt and topping up the system. As a result it was a bit warm with the 27C/80F -outside temperature but still a lovely ride.
She started right away - albeit a bit slow on the uptake - and wasn’t too happy at the set idle until she was warmed up but after that she was quite happy. Probably just letting me know she wasn’t very happy with the XJR getting out when she doesn’t as she idled quite happily in the driveway when we got back as if to say thank you.
45 or so minutes in town (50-70 kph) and then 30 or so on the Ring Road (100-120 kph). She ran a touch warmer than usual (100C vs 92C) but I’ll attribute that to the warm weather.
The XJR has a supple firm ride that I find easy to live with so it’s easy to forget what a wonderfully comfortable ride the Series III cars deliver, noting that some of that is the difference between the VDP’s 15” Pepperpots and the XJR’s 18” Asteroids.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; Aug 13, 2024 at 05:19 PM.
Pleased they both woke up. A Blond singing sweetly after shaking her head and a big mamma rapper awake and roaring. Come on you must love them both, but, really! Can't wrap my head around an Audi Ford look alike. Just my opinion.
KLC's 1992 Series III Ownership Thread
