Oh Boy Howdy that looks familiar!!
(';')

 

Wilfred, this is such a huge project, and it keeps getting bigger. I feel like I need to come over and help! I wouldn't blame you if you found another ser 1 body and just regrouped. I truly hope it all comes out well.

I started up my '86 yesterday and let it warm up for a drive only to find a few minutes later two huge puddles of fuel, front and back, on the (closed) shop floor! I was afraid to raise the shop door or anything else that could cause a spark. All the fuel system components were renewed three years ago $!. It broke a starter nose and sat for about 4 months... All it takes to screw up a fuel system again! They need to be driven every day. Time to sell this one though...
Pay special attention to the fuel changeover valves and evap system, I've seen many xj's burned to the ground from this.

 

Um, Why would you start your car in the shop with the doors closed??
(';')

 

Yea, I know... I walked by and thought I'd just twist the key and fire her off for a minute. Then walked to the workbench, where some ADD kicked in, and in a minute the smell of raw fuel startled me. And it's a big shop so a minute with the door closed wouldn't be too bad 'til I got the door opened.

 

Haha, thanks but to me it doesn't feel like the project is getting bigger and bigger. In fact, in my opinion it's all going very smooth.

remember, when I will be finisched welding, I am certain there is no more rust.

An it runs great. LAst week I turned key, and it fired right up! So it's just cosmetics.

bought a towbar yesterday as I plan to use it a lot and I think all those horsepowers are well capable of towing!

 

Torque is most important for towing. So if you want to tow, get a V12!

cheers

 

I am working on that. But I think the v12 is gonna come in another car.

 

Jag, hopefully?

 

So, thats been a really long time. I quit working on the jag, because I bought my first hous. Which was a ruin, and resulted in 4 years of building. While also having 2 kids at the time and starting my own business. With all that sorted, I really wanted to continue working on the jag. It sat there, as I left it 4-5 years ago. As shown in my previous post in this thread. Although I had moved it to my own workshop, as the house came with a huge workshop! I put a lift in it. And now the time has come...! Get the jag back on the road againn. As I left it years ago, I had welded all the bad spots and completely rewired it. Now what I neede to do, was paint it ant put it back together:

I painted the thing, with a roller, but honestly the result is really good. Especially when considering it's only a few degrees above freezing in the shed, and Paint doesn't flow that good when cold.

This is how it looked during painting:




Then I give it a treatment with Mike Sanders Fett. According to the internet, this is the best stuff to preserve hollow spaces, such as doors, sills and chassis.
you need to heat it up, than spray it everywhere.





Than I started putting the thing back together.

Mounted the windows:


fitted the headlights:


put some carpet inside:



cleaning seats


put rear seats back in, AND mounted 3 point seatbelts in the rear, for the kids. 3 belts in total


and started putting everything bak in, inside..



Keep on going this week, and get it on the road for the first time in 5 years!!!

 

nearly done. Only doorhandels and doorpanels left.

also made a nieuw piece of dashboard, as I didn't want any gauges anymore. only a big screen with speed and navigation in on.




When temperatures get above 0, I will make the first testdrive. I don't want to break down and freeze me *** of... :-)

 

Made the first drive in 5 years!!!




However, I noticed the brakes were poor. To say the least... Turns out the front breaks were locked solid. I even hat to drill a hole in the cilinders, and thread these hole to then turn the cilinders out with a bolt. Oh, and the brake fluid in the calipers was more like a paste. More solid than liquid...

But whet all new seals and new cilinders, the brakes are fine again! Next drive to come shortly






Cilinders were very rotten...



But it all fresh now. And already back under the car and bled.

 

well, to put it like this: my son hit the dash with his nose two times at breaking :-)







I drove it to work this morning. The tires seem to be unbalanced. The are worn, to start with. But some of them have been flat for years, and a flat spot is noticable. I have new ones already, so I think it's good to get these mounted.

Other than that... it feels like any first drive in years. A bit nervous but fun! in a week or two, the first longer drive will come, a 200km family roundtrip. With the wife and 2 kids, so if it breaks down, that will most likely be the time.

 

Visited some friends with easter. Took about 450 kilometer to get there and back. Made some pictures cause they live in a nice area.

I am so happy with the jag!

 

Fraser, I have a 4.2 with inter-bore cracks. I am in Chester. You are welcome to come and take as many photographs as you wish. 01244 677946.

 

That language thing again.

In USA speak we think a tow bar is a device to tow another vehicle. Teh connector between towing car and the towed car. Known also as flat tow.

Your tow bar to USA folks is a trailer hitch. My Jeep has one. Also serves as protection of the plastic gas tank against rupture in a collision.

 

Good to see you finished the project Wilfred.

 

Well finished... Even when the car has been around for over 50 years, it's still not finished....

:-)

next thing will be bushings/rubbers in the front. these need to be replaced as there are some knocking noises on bumpy roads.

 

Hello, Wilfred,
Congratulations on all your hard work. Yours was the first thread I saw when I first registered here.

I'm just now redoing front rubbers and bushes after having done it in 2015/2016. They were Junk and failed in 3 years.
If you don't want to have clunking again in a few years, get Genuine Metastatic lower wishbone bushings from Dave Manners in UK.
(';')

 

Thanks, I am closele following your thread on this! So I was aware of your troubles of having to redo them again after 5 years.

 

Who knew... that an old Jag can be so reliable that there's nothing to tell except that I have driven my Jaguar on a daily basis for nearly half a year now. And sometimes it has to work:



But God I love this thing. It is just soo much fun to drive. This winter, I should really take her off the road for a week or two and give it some new springs, shocks and a rubber here and there. I think the car deserves it, and it's been decades literally since the last proper maintenance on these parts.

That 4.0 liter roar though, it is simply addictive!