Good Evening Guys,
My name is Veso, I picked up a '76 XJ12c yesterday. Cam across the car locally, aways been a fan of 70's coupes so couldn't pass up the opportunity on this beautiful V12! Its gonna need quite a bit of work but I'm excited a
bout it. The owner recently purchased it from North Carolina but the mechanic he had lined up to work on it no longer could do the job so we wanted to pass on it. There seems to be very little rust, but of course I'm sure more will be discovered. The previous guy said there were only 2 other owners previously but with no documents really or books can't verify that.
We ended up taking it to our shop and the engine cranks and most lights & windows are working. Its a beautiful car, looking forward to restoring it fully! My father is a mechanic so it will be nice to learn about it from him. I'm sure I'll be frequently asking you guys for help & advice & looking forward to being part of the community!
Veso

 

Beautiful!!!

 

Hello, Veso,
Nice find. Series 2 is my favorite. Did it car have a vinyl top at one time?
Welcome to our playroom from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Thanks Elinor, yes it had a vinyl roof and the guy I bought it from asked the last seller to remove it prior to buying it to make sure there's no rust under and its good. Haven't decided yet if vinyl will go back on or not

 

Nice purchase and welcome to the group.

I had seen a XJC with a Chevy 350 in it recently from San Antonio, wasn't prepared to pay what he was asking though. These zre hard to find

 

Welcome aboard Vesco......love the coupe.

 

Looks really good.

 

Nice coupe, good luck with the resto.

 

Welcome Veso:


We have a couple or more gals around here. Their mechanical skills would put those of a lot of guys to shame!!


A very nice find. Hopefully prior owner messes to a minimum. Fixing bad "fixes" is he worst kind.


In getting a car to run, I remind myself of the basic needs of any IC engine.
Air, compression, fuel, spark, each in the right amount and at the right time.
Works even on little one bangers.... well except for one fussy B&S on a lawn vacum!!! got it running once, then.....


I'm a plumber today and tomorrow. Water heater quit heating!!! I was just there, last year??? No leaks. changed out the temperature control and voila !!!
A new one due today via Amazon and UPS.


Swap out to begin. Jaguar polish on hold as well as old tool box and contents restoration.


Carl

 

Your relationship with your dad is about to reach a whole new level.

Coupes tend to rust from the inside out. The rear quarter windows leak because of a poor design, water collects inside a lip, rust holes form and eventually water makes it's way to the void right above the trailing arm causing structural weakness. The rust spot on the rear, top of the rocker panel suggests this may have occurred in your car. It's not that hard to repair and reinforce but the rocker does have to be cut open or replaced so welding, metal working and body refinishing skills will be required.


Take off the rear quarter interior panels and have a look from the inside and that will tell part of the story. One correlation I've noticed over the years is that the rust problem is usually proportionate to how well the rear windows function. If they are slow or not working you can bet you have serious rust problems in this area, if they are fast and smooth chances are the rust is minimal. Also check the rear seat pan for softness. I have done the rocker repair/reinforce process 3 times so I speak from experience. After personally examining 12 coups here in the north east I've only come across one garage queen that wasn't rusted significantly in this area.

 

Ha, that sounds like a lot of fun! Def lots of rust, back windows don't roll down but front does so I'll start prepping mentally for that

Currently we are trying to see how bad the engine is and what all we need to do then I'm starting to strip everything off the car so it can head to a body shop, that's def not our cup of tea!
Thanks for the advice!
Veso

 

Hi Everyone, I just bought in 2020 a 1976 XJ6C. It should be on the road sometime in the summer of 2021. I'll replace the interior, switch to an electronic ignition (Pertronix, maybe), would like to switch to EFI (aftermarket), and switch to a 5 speed (suggestions, please!!), and switch from the clutch fan to electronic, and I'm prepared to upgrade the radiator is it is running how.
My pics are in my intro in the new member forum.
Chris

 

One thing to include in the cooling system revamp is to replace the thermostats while the radiator is out. Elsewhere on the forum a member went into a long expedition to analyze the chronic overheating of V12’s and discovered that the original thermostats did not close the bypass hole when fully open. This diverts full flow from the radiator and recirculates hot water through the block when starting up. Obviously, once the engine is up to temp and the thermostat is fully open, all hot coolant should be flowing into the radiator.
Jaguar never published a service bulletin, naturally, but you need to replace the existing version with ones for a late model V12 XJS. I believe the part number may not have even changed, but the author discovered the construction of the thermostat did.