Hello Jaguar aficionados, I have a little story to tell.
Once upon a time, a young punk kid found a burgundy '84 XJ6 for sale in the local AutoTrader (back when that was the main way to search for rides).He couldn't believe that a JAGUAR would be for sale for only $1000. He never dreamed of owning such a car at the young age of 17. The car was perfect, and the owner even talked himself down to only $850! The young man drove the car all though the remainder of High School and had many great adventures. He even dated his future wife in the Jag. The two struggled as many young married couples do and when their beloved Delilah blew a head gasket just as they were about to move, he was forced to trade it for a '67 VW Baja that at least ran. She cried and couldn't bare to even watch the car leave. Over the next 10.5 years and throughout the next 25+ cars, the couple often spoke of trying to relocate their favorite car. Finally after speaking to a close friend who recently became a police officer, he may or may not have been able to find the VIN and found that about a year after trading it, Delilah had ended up at the local junk yard in the small town they had lived in. Nine years in an Arizona junk yard was a long shot at best but the man called to ask so he could at least sleep knowing he had exhausted all possibilities. The answer "Nope, no Jags here" came quickly, and his heart sank. But then the man on the other end of the phone said,"Wait, you know I do think we have one back there". The VIN was given to verify, and after an initial mix up, it was finally verified that it was indeed the one that got away. To be continued...

Now for the questions:
The car looks pretty complete, but the engine and transmission are long gone. After owning one stock SIII and one V8 swapped SIII, I can say that the V8 is much more fun to drive, but I love the XK engine and the history it has. So I'm thinking of doing a Quarterbreed as they call it and running a 4.2L XK coupled to a 700R4. Hopefully the transmission gearing and O/D can really wake up the old cat. Any other suggestions? I found an engine that supposedly runs great, but I want to at least rebuild the head and maybe try and squeeze out a little more HP. Any one have any suggestions on flow tricks for the head?

Also, the body is straight and rust free, at least it was. But the clear coat is now peeling badly. Does anyone know if the clear could be sanded down and have the original paint touched up as needed and a new clear coat applied?
Thanks for sitting through my incredibly long post. I love the story of this car, and can't wait to get her back.

 

Great story, I look forward to reading the next chapter.
Good luck.

 

I've been told that Jaguar painted cars with a very thick coat of paint and that in many cases you can sand the top coat down and then polish it.

 

Neat story. But, the car went to the junk yard because of an engine with a blown head gasket. Did the yard sell the engine? Did a buyer get a busted engine to replace his busted engine? Jinxed????


JohnsCars sells the quarter breed kit. although John discourages it's use with the 2.88 rear ratio others find it just fine. It sounds just fine to me.


Clear coated cars. I have had two.


1. A bronze 79 Chrysler Cordoba. Typical of it's time, a luxury car "on the cheap".
it's clear coat burned away in the hot California sun. but, a polish and wax brought back a brilliant finish. It looked really good. One day, out on errands, I spotted it's
twin in parking lot. Luckily a space alongside was empty. I could not resist. I parked there. I waited a few minutes, and a couple about my age came to it. they did a "double take". We had a laugh!!!


Side bar: It's Ricardo Montalba Corinthian "leather" bucket seats were by far the most comfortable that have ever supported my backside!!!


2. 88 Thunderbird. A Budget Car resale. I got a great deal in early 89. Maroon in color. Reddish velour interior. Spritely 5.0 V8. Cooold air. Loved driving that car on business trips. When I added Mustang sourced wider rims and better tires, it looked, handled and rode even better.


But, the California sun and red just didn't work. Burnt clear coat. Unlike the Cordoba, the base did not respond to polish and wax.


Indeed, it seems that nowadays, the color base coat is flat and that the shine is in the clear.


And the patina craze supports that. Older cars and trucks with faded and rusty metal are buffed and sprayed with a clear coat. Shiny rust, anyone???


Carl

 

These are the pictures the the junk yard text me. Not great quality, but I knew right away it was her.




Sitting in the junk yard for the last 9 years, just waiting to be rescued<br/>





The rear door faded differently because my father and I repainted it when it was hit. Good memories. <br/>





Interior. Not as bad as I had expected.

 

What a neat story!!
I was thinking as I was looking at the pics, that doesn't look like any car I've ever seen that's been sitting in a yard in the weather for 9 years!! Good Job!
(';')

 

You HAVE to get her back. After the near-miracle of finding her again after all this time it would offend the ghost of Sir William not to.

In my experience the hardest thing to fix is rust. Since she still seems to have very little of that I would think this would be a very doable restoration. Of course it'd be cheaper to buy a nice complete car, but it'd also be cheaper to buy a used Kia. I think we can assume that rational thought has no place here, or none of us would have Jaguars.

I think I have read elsewhere on this forum that the 80's series 3's used some sort of plastic paint that tended to crack and can't be painted over without being stripped to bare metal. Is this true? Not to discourage you, but you might as well do it right and then not have to worry about it for years.

Good luck, and we eagerly await the next installment!

-mB

 

Great story. Good luck with getting her back.

25 other cars in 10.5 years? That's quite a rate. Glad to hear it's the XJ6 you're compelled to recover.

My understanding of the paint is that Jaguar used a single stage thermoplastic on the XJ6, until 1986 or 1987. At that point they started using a base and clearcoat. The thermoplastic paint is generally panned as a poor product, although I've seen some great looking pre 1986 cars with good paint.

 

A nice juicy resto job coming up! Hope you go for it...

Like most Jag engines the 4.2 XK has a lot in reserve and that quarterbreed conversion will most definitely wake her up.

 

Well I certainly wouldn't want to offend anyone's ghost, I need all the good luck I can get. Sounds like the paint might be a bigger issue than I thought. But one way or another it'll get taken care of. My first big issue is figuring out the best way to get her from eastern Arizona to northern California. Getting the time off work to go down and rescue her may take some time. As for the 25 cars, I was estimating. I'm not sure exactly how many have come and gone since Delilah, but she was one of our first and I'm now on number 29, a 1965 Corvair Corsa that my beautiful wife got me for my 29th birthday. She's going to have to go though to make room for the Jag.

 

One of topic question, what type of wood is the dash? I see most are a nice dark burl wood, but mine is more of a blonde kind of wood. I like the darker wood better personally, and will eventually change it when I refinish the dash.

 

As I understand it, all these cars came with dark burl, its the sun that causes fading to the light color.

If you search this forum, you will find plenty of folks have heated or sanded the plastic coating off, re stained it and refinished,

 

Corvair Corsa, huh!!! A coupler of decades ago, I bought a very rough 65. Originaly 3 speed Monza. But, PO installed a Corsa engine and dash board!! Windshield and back glass leaks. Rotten smelly carpet. Three speed trans still n place. heads on backwards??? Turbo inoperative. Side draft Carter carb badly worn everywhere!!! Weird wheels and tires?? It did run fairly well??? but, far from right!


Why? A weakness for the underdog.


I swapped in a four speed. Added brass bushings to the sloppy shift rod. Pulled the heads. Son did a first class valve job on them. Added headers, installed backwards.
Son's pal built a transition to the turbo. Splurged on a Webber DHOE 45 and Super Trap muffler. Oh, and a rebuilt turbo. Got it to run like stink thil the cam went flat.....


Sold... Destiny, who knows.


Carl

 

I am sort of a glutton for punishment in some areas I suppose. I enjoy owning unusual cars. I hate to see another one just like mine in the parking lot. The corvair has huge potential with a little work. It's a 4- carb 140, sounds like you had the 180 since out was turbocharged. I'm going to miss her, but this is worth it.

 

Before I came into this picture husband had a Corvaire (only a couple pictures of it remain) into the back seat of which he crammed a Chevy 327. He had a radiator in front with 2 inch copper water pipes where the passenger seat should/would have been, going back to the engine.

He said it was a failure however, because the engine was insufficiently insulated and HOT air blew on the driver's neck from a seam in the dog house.

He sold it to his friend, who lent it to his GF, who left the fuel pump on, so when it finally started the next time it exploded in a ball of flames with the fuel pump still running. Said friend barely escaped out the window (doors bolted shut) with only 2nd degree burns on his back.
(';')

 

Wow!!!


Doors bolted shut for racing!!! Exactly why electric fuel pumped cars need a safety feature. Inertia switch or oil pressure controlled or something!!!


We also had a 65 with a 327 for a time. Tattered and torn and tired. Over heating a major issue.


It went up in smoke. But, only an engine on the way to Valhalla. Sold to a guy who was impressed n that it was able to crawl on to hos trailer. Actually sounding fairly good. Still cold. On warm up, here, comes the smoke.


Yeah, the turbo's are 180. Mine with better porting, exhausat and carb might have reached 200. In alight weight car, interesting.


Carl

 

Yeah, he's learned a thing or two since that episode.

Friend had shut off the key, but in his panic he forgot the fuel pump was on a switch right off a hot wire; any time switch was on, so was the pump, in this instance it was feeding the fire.

Electric fuel pumps are now wired through the ignition.
(';')

 

Does anyone know if SII doors will fit on a SIII by any chance?

 

On second thought, I don't want to hijack my own thread. I'll make a new one about the doors.