Hi everyone, new member and new owner!








New dad/son project

Story:
I put an ad on facebook looking for a $400 project car for my kid to wrench on. He is starting auto tech next year and I want to give him a head start.
I get a message from a lady that she has a 74 Jag XJ and its a project. I reiterate my budget and she says we can come look at it. We pull into this beautiful house with a HUGE garage. She opens one of the 6 garage doors and there is this dust covered Jag. We walk around to the front and see no straight 6. There is a brand new, never started ZZ4 crate engine bolted to a brand new built TH350. Fully swap conversion, all the suspension done, fuel cell, etc. Its taken apart and rust work started. All the stock stuff (minus original drivetrain) goes with it.
I quickly tell her there is no way this is in my budget. We then are informed it was a 20yr project of her husband who just passed in July of 2017. She knows what the budget is and said we can have the whole thing for $600. She just wanted to sell it to someone who will finish it.
So, yeah, its in my garage right now.​​​​​​

 

I bought an XJ coup like this once and fixed it the best I could. Unless you have 5x more money than the car is worth you're in for a bumpy ride. Repairing those floor pans correctly is expensive, time consuming and requires excellent metal working skills. The front torque boxes are likely toast too , the central spine may be thin and rotted as well.

If you really want to make a great and solid car out of this then Replace the torque boxes with some more sturdy 3/16 plate. That hole front area of the car is week and needs re-enforcing.

Lot of hard lessons gonna be learned on this one and I mean that in a good way.

 

Sweet car look forward to seeing progress

 

WOW does that cabin ever look familiar!
You and Son are gonna have a Lot of father/son bonding time here!

Be aware too, there will be days (maybe Lots of them) when you will regret you ever saw this car. If you get past those days, and you can keep your son (and yourself) on track, in the end you can have a nice classic Jaguar.

Someone here says Jag stands for Just Another Grand, as in, More Money!

Welcome to our playroom from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome, indeed.


I did not see the rust stuff in the pictures. Elinor fixed the issue nicely for NIX. And, yes, I recall the spaghetti in Nix's console. pretty much fixed.


But, all those wires, some connected and many not in the engine bay. Where does one start ????


But, do not despair, you and your son can meet the challenge and do well. At times, a respite will be involved. To be reenergized and sort out issues. I used a "task List" on my ancient, then revolutionary Dell AXIM, pocket PC. Knocked them off, one by one. But, alas, although my car is road worthy and I've put miles on it, some tasks remain "undone"!!!


It is a great looking car. Well worth the money, in parts alone by far.


But, complete or even somewhat complete, a worthy goal.


And,. tons of help here. Talent unlimited from around the globe.


BRRR, it is cold out there. Billy has picked a sunny spot and is happily grazing. Good for each of us. AKA "weed whacking". He does it well.


Carl.

 

Surprisingly, the PO did alot of fab work to the engine bay, subframe, and a lot of structural reinforcement.
The car is waaaaay too far gone to restore. Doing the fab work isn't a big deal. We are going to do a restomod/Pro touring build so it doesn't have to be period correct.

 

That's a good approach...lots of areas need re-inforcing as the HP goes up, look up how FiBoy reinforced his coupe and they way Jag re-inforced the XJS. Lots of other good parts make its that quite a buy. Enjoy the journey.