The title says it all,

Although I've had Jags for 18 years now, I've never had one yet that needed any major work doing to it (guess I'm just lucky, says the man that drives a p38 Range Rover!).

Anyways, I've come to that point where I want to start 'renovating' my babies, first up is my XJ-S (The X300 only needs rear arches doing, which is a basic cut and weld job, so no issues there).

So, my 1987 XJ-S 3.6 Auto, will require the following areas to be 'looked' at.

Front wings Left and Right, both are rusted through completely on the lower edge where they join the sills, other than that the remainder of both wings appear totally solid. I need to know what I will need to do and any special precautions to remove both wings. I will be fabricating new lower panels to repair both wings. Also what thickness (in mm) are the original panels without paint.

And then the scary bit, both sills are toast and parts of the inner sills, the outer sills I will replace with new, but the inner sills I will fabricate and repair as necessary.

The rear quarter panels are a similar story (although there appears to be no rust around the rear bumper mounts!) with the forward arches being crusty, these also will be cut out and refabricated as required.

This will be a very long and slow restoration as I'm not in a position to throw money at the car (I have a Range Rover as previoulsy mentioned, that swollows enough cash.) but it must be done right, no cutting corners here. Ultimately I intend some day to strip the car to it's frame and have the whole damrned thing galvanised as it should have been in the first place. (Obvioulsy when I win the lottery, or THE Festival runs succesfully.)

All help and advice is very welcome, I am a mechanic, can wield a wrench/spanner in anger, can weld, and spray. Just want to keep the damages to a minimum.

 

Be prepared for more rust under the front guards on the top rail, this is a very common for these cars to rust.Removal of the front guards is quite straight forward. There are 2 bolts under the rear lip below the windscreen when you open the door, another 5 bolts behind the front wheel rear splash panel 3 on the A post and 2 down into the sill.Remove the front splash panel and the bumper covers. There are a number of posi screws that hold the front of the guard and the lower apron to the body. Once these are removed remove the bolts holding the top of the guard to the top rail. Then you will most likely need to pry the guard off the top rail as it will be glued on (maybe). The guard should lift up and off, just be careful of the charcoal canister LH side or washer bottle RH side as these can foul on the lower apron. I am at work and our proxie blocks a lot of stuff so I dont know if these pics will come out but you should be able to follow the link I have quite a few photos that may help. Nah it won't let me so here is the link.Pictures by warrjon - Photobucket

 

Thanks Warren, I'm fully expecting there to be a lot more rust, so I won't pass out if it turns out to be made from 90% rust and a bit of panel bond, hence I say it will take a very long time. I've no intention of rushing anything.

I must say I was quite blown away by your pics there! OMG that's what I ultimately want done with mine.

What thickness steel did you use for the fabrication work?

And can anyone else fill me in on the questions I asked.

The more knowledge I can gleen before hand will really help me move along with this.

Bear in mind I'm not working due to declining health and receive only a state minimum to live off, so special tools, fancy materials are out of the question.

And just so everyone knows, this Car will not be for sale before I pass from this planet.

 

Sorry I missed that it was 0.95mm panel steel I got from a local guy who does restos on Valiants. He lets me go through his bin for scraps.

 

FANTASTIC job Warrjon, congratulations.
Greg