So here are a few driveway pics of the new girl. Only 61k miles when we picked her up!

 

Here's the build list for our 23 yr old daily driver :

Plugs
Cleaned throttle body
Master cylinder
Driver's side A/C Blower
Trouble shot, gave up and removed the fuse for the seat belt warning for now
Cleaned the driver's side door switch
Trouble shot the horns, Dead, installed Autozone 130db horns.

08/22/10 - Update
New coil
New Dist Cap
New Dist Rotor

08/28/10 - Update
New Alt installed!

08/29/10 - Update
Installed Kingsborne wire set - Noticible improvement in idle

09/04/10 - Update
Center AC Vent issue ended up being the vacuum line to the blower I replaced came unplugged.
I had time to quickly hit it with the polisher and a bit of wax today. The wife ran of with it as soon as I was finished so I didn't get any pics.

10/14/10 - Update
This one has bee a few weeks in the making
Front End Rebuild
Upper Ball Joints
Lower Ball Joints
Tie Rod Ends
New gaiter/boot on the right tie rod
Upper Control Arm Bushings
Sway Bar End Bushings
Rebuilt both Hubs with new Bearings
New Rotors and Pads
Front Shocks
Bled brakes

11/20/10
Installed DrivenMan Starter
Heading for a new "T" to replace the one I broke in the vacuum line by the starter.....

12/18/10
Replaced Heater Valve

01/22/11
Installed 190 Deg Thermostat and Gaskets

04/03/11
Installed new door switch
Installed new washer fluid bottle and pump, but must have cracked the nipple as it promptly shot off when I ran it for the first time
Installed new speedometer transducer - fixed speedometer

Short List....
Diff Fluid Change
Coolant Flush
Fuel Filter
Remaining Bushings
Rear Shocks
Seat Belt Warning Circuit

 

Hey, that's a nice one !

Cheers
DD

 

A very good looking example indeed. Lucky you;-)

 

Effing beautiful! My favourite of all Jaguars (besides the XK140)! Love those wire wheels.

 

Thanks all!

Hopefully I'll get the polisher out this weekend and really shine her up.

Last weekend my mother in law was up in her 01 XK8 conv. We really looked like an import lot with the Rover, Disco, Mini, and 2 Jags.

 

Lovely car. The S3 is one of my favorites.

 

Jag Man status achieved!

That alt was every bit as hard as everyone said it was. I removed the hoses, but didn't plan on taking off the sway bar. With a little persuasion the old one came down and out, but I could not get the new one in the same way. I decided to use the jack to flex the sway bar to give me the needed clearance. Went in like a charm.

 

Very sweet ride! Congratulations.

Robert

 

Look what was waiting for me when I got back from vacation!



Looks like I missed the sway bar clamp bushings......

Can't wait to start getting everything bolted on .

Any tips or things to watch out for?

 

Now I see the tiddly little outer headlamps you poor Americans had to put up with on the Series 3 ! It does spoil the look a bit. We had 7" outers in the UK, and 5" inners.

However your car looks so magnificent, I don't think I really notice too much !!

 

If I had the 7" I could convert them to the Hella Vision Plus lenses that I am running in my 88 Range Rover. That would be nice.

 

Yeah I agree! The 7's would look so much better and the conversion (although expensive) is on my to do list. Another thing I am going to do soon is pull in the front and rear bumpers so they match the reveal on the sides. My cousin did that to his XJS and it looks much better that way.

In fact, he has a thread going over on the XJS part of this forum that posts some pics on the look of the "pulled in" bumpers. I think it is titled 5mph bumpers or something like that. Really makes a big difference in the look. Once he shows me how to do it, I will post pics and the steps to complete on this part of the forum.

 

very nice!

 

I fell in love with those a long time ago but never owned one. Although I have an XK8 yours may be my alltime favorite. Excellent looking car.

 

Thanks!

Haven't been able to put much time into it as I had planned so far. Right now I've got the driver's side hub off and rebuilt. I've replaced the Tie Rod End, Upper and Lower Ball Joints, Upper Control Arm Bushings, the Sway bar bushings and the Shock. I've got new rotors and pads to go on as soon as I can get back at it. Then I'll do the same to the passenger side. She should be riding really nice after that.

 

Many updates to the build list in Post #2.

I got to take her for a spin for the first time in about 3 weeks last night after getting her back together. There was a definate smoothing of the ride and the steering felt a good bit tighter after the front end work. I also don't miss the wobble of the warped rotor on the passenger side when stopping.

 

Installed a Driven Man starter today. Not too bad if you have smaller hands. It's definately a bit quicker than the old Lucas starter and probably 1/2 the weight.

 

Very nice!!

 

I was Just featured in a local newspaper story with all of our Jags. The reporter was smitten with the MK 10 and loved the XJ-S but I told him several times that my Series III sedans were the ones I would kill for, the ones I love, the ones I NEVER get tired of looking at...very much like my lovely wife in fact...but I digress.

Kalahari; That is one of the nicer Series lll VDP's I have seen of late.
The front seats piping is even in good shape.
You can save them from bending more too.
The seats are leather on top and vynil on the sides and lower front.
The leather shrinks and the vynil doesn't, that is what gives you the kinks in the piping along the front. If you feed the leather you can keep your seats forever in excellent condition just as they are.
I wouldn't be too bothered about the 7" outer headlites, sure they look better but who but geeks like us would notice? Besides Hella makes a great 5" kit (which I have) and they work very well.
You are right the switch is expensive last I heard it was up to $700 for a complete set of buckets and Lites with everything you need to make the switch.
I am very pleased for you and a huge congratulations here.
Thats a nice, very nice car.


JustV12