Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at getting into a S3 XJ6 and wondered whether you could help me out by telling me what issues you see in these photos. I'd be very grateful for your input and suggestions for repair difficulty (including that rusty part around the front windshield).

It's got 56,000 miles and is being sold safetied.

Thanks very much everyone!!

 

hi,
what year is it?

overall it looks dry and that is good, the surface rust underneath is typical and looks like everything is original and somewhat "preserved".

1) the horns (claxon) are oriented the wrong way, they should face towards the front, maybe the owner thought that they might swallow rainwater if facing forward, so he turned them towards the rear. Bad idea or maybe a smart idea.

2) the rusty Splash guard is removable, just blast and repaint it, consider it a normal maintenance item.

3) the rust around the windshield is typical for these cars, front and rear, so you have to deal with it like everybody else. Removal of the windshield is neccessary to do a permanent repair, but otherwise you can just clean the area with a drill-mounted brass brush, use some filler, prime it and touch it up until you decide to bite the bullet and remove the glass, replacing all the rubber seals and filling the area with liquid rubber. The dash pad also needs to be removed and the front of the headliner needs to be protected during this work.

if the price is good, the underside looks good and original too.

 

Thank you, Jose.

It's a 1987 for $3500. The seat leather needs re-dyeing but otherwise the interior is very good.

In this photo it looks to me like something is missing ??

 

I believe that is missing another bracket that mounts to the exhaust pipe

 

hooter is correct, it is missing half of a bracket and a clamp that connects the tailpipe to the transmission, used for sideways and front-to-rear movement support of the "Y" pipe.

you can get an entire used assembly from a salvage car. Not expensive.

the price is about average for these cars.

How is the Headliner? Does the sunroof work? do any of the two tanks leak? can you switch from tank to tank? does the a/c system work?

deduct $550.00 from the price, for any of the above that need work.

 

Thanks folks! Yes everything inside is good except the A/C not being cold. Headliner excellent. Really this is a relatively low-mileage XJ with sun damage--clearcoat breaking down on the roof and faded leather though the carpets are good.

 

The underneath looks in exceptionally good condition, no doubt because it has never seen road salt. However the downside of it living in a sunny place is the topside will suffer from the sun, hence your comment about crazing paint. As a very late Series 3, it should have been painted in Clear-over-Base, not the dreadful TPA, but this can be checked out. Re-finishing a TPA car means the paint must all come off, it won't take other types. Best to wait until you are going to repair the rust damage at the lower screen corners. I repaired mine and it is shocking how much damage there is once the screen is out. The main problem is that the screen apertures were never designed for glue-in windscreens so the drainage is very poor.

So it looks to me as if bodywork (paint & interior) is your main work task, rather than mechanical, but check it all out anway, as it is likely there will be a few jobs needing doing. These cars don't have hugely expensive suspension parts like the modern cars, everything is designed to be replaced because when it was developed, the bushes and ball-joints didn't last long so replacement was fairly routine.

 

Fraser, thanks for the heads-up on the paint. I had no idea. I have now looked into the TPA vs Clear Over Base and this car is the latter in Talisman Silver.

 

Good, no TPA, so breathe a big sigh of relief !

However even if it is COB, the crazing needs careful examination as it may not flat down enough to take a fresh paint surface, (i.e. the crazing goes down to the metal). I expect the crazing is only on the horizontal panels that are most exposed to the sun and UV light. Is this the case ?

 

Yes, just the roof for some reason. Clear on bonnet and boot is intact.

 

That's because the roof is so much closer to the sun. LOL
(';')

 

I wish my Series 1 looked that good under the bonnet and underneath,mine needs a lot of work to come up to that. Then again, I only paid $2000 for mine.

 

I've seen the pics. You car is bloomin' beautiful. Whatever you're doing, keep going.