The new '93 XJR-S (#72) arrived this morning. It's in mch better condition than I expected. A few minor door dings that the dent repair should should be able to straighten out. Removed rear trunk carpets ... no rust anywhere. (reconnected battery vent tube). New calipers, rotor, pads, AC blowers etc.
Cruise doesn't seem to be working ... suggestions where I should look first?
RH remote mirror switch worked for a few seconds. Then went dead. Sounds like a fuse.
The car has 49k miles with only one thousand in the last six years.
On the highway, it seems to want to drift quite a bit at 65 mph. I'm guessing the shocks need a rebuild ... thoughts? Would the rear end need an alignment after the subframe was dropped to replace the brakes? Tires have good tread although I need to check their date codes for age ... no signs of any cracking. The car did run with strong oil pressure (pegged to the right on acceleration) and the temp gage stayed left of center.
God, is that engine intinidating.

 

Front wheel bearing ... lifted the car and found some movement on the passenger side wheel. Not a lot but on the list to replace.

 

So where are the pictures of the beast?

Sounds like a great low miles car.

 

Coming soon. I've been stripping out carpets and insulation to check for dampness and rust. Zero rust anywhere so far. Seems to have original JaguarSport mufflers etc. Although I can't understand why, when they dropped the rear to replace the rotors, calipers, and pads, they couldn't at least have powerwashed everything. I guess that wasn't on the time allotment for the job.

 

Yes hurry up with the camera

 

So the carpets are all out. And the tar and foam soundproofing has been stripped away. And the passenger front seat. And the rear. And the rear trim. And the center console. Well, might as well replace that old headliner while I have everything out. Then the radio and Cd player. Spare, Jack, misc ... up to about 300#. New K&Ns. Suddently the car is a lot more fun to drive. I'm not sure whether it's the lost weight or the sound but I'm seriously thinking that this should be next year's track car ... loose two mufflers and two cats ....

 

God damn don't I know that term

May as well replace the carpet while I have rear end out replacing the shocks oh and totally rebuilding the rear end

Where are the photos??

 

These are from the Ebay ad last month...before disassembly.

I keep telling myself ... it all can be reassembled ... maybe.

 

Cruise control...... First thing to do is make sure the solenoids in the throttle bellows are not siezed, then seal the bellows end plates with silicone sealer, a tiny leak here is enough to stop the system working.

 

Warrjon,

OK. Here's the plan.

Here in the states, Porsche sold a stripped down version of the 964 (1991-1992 911)called the RS America. No rear seats. No sunroof. No AC. No Radio. No sound proofing. Light weight carpet. Cool plain door panels with just a door pull. Only options were the radio, LSD, sunroof only.

How about an RS version of the XJR-S? Lose the radio, AC, heavy carpeting and sound proofing. A pair of Recaro seats with manual rails. Re-cover the door skins without electric seat controls, speakers. Fab a shelf in the rear like the RS (968 cabriolet had a similar arrangement). Lightweight carpet. Stock appearance.

 

Where are you in Ohio? I'd love to take a look at this beauty! BTW, I am in Columbus.

 

Porsche sold a light weight RS version here in Aus, seems the more they stripped out the more they charged for it.

A lightened version of the XJS would be a killer. Have you seen the striped out XJS Top Gear did a few years ago. Totally stripped out and with NOS it beat all of the then current supercars including the twin turbo Porsche.

 

I'm in Yellow Springs - just up the road. I'm around most of the time so feel free to stop by.

 

@Robin

Beautiful car. Glad you are doing various preventive items to it, but personally I think it would be a real shame to alter the car from its factory spec and try and turn it into an "RS". You have a very rare car in what appears to be excellent condition.

The Top Gear NOS car was a wreck they bought for 250 UK pounds (about 400USD). I know the chaps that fitted the NOS to it, and they were a bit sheepish about whether it "really" won the drag race or not. Simple power to weight figures plus the standard 3 speed box on the XJS says it shouldn't have won.....

I think it would be a great idea to buy a messy XJS and strip it out and play with it... and keep your gorgeous XJR-S for weekend cruising and polishing (PLEASE!)

 

Thanks for your thoughts on the car. Not to worry ... my first rule is not to do anything that couldn't be undone by the next owner... old carpeting, insulation, and soundproofing needed to be replaced. Air injection system, AC, electric seats, rear seats can always be reinstalled.

 

Air injection system is useless on these. As far as I know if works only few thousand miles since new and then clogs up. Mine was removed and ports plugged years ago. First I kept empty air pump, to run AC belt over it, but now that AC is out, I only have 2 belts on the pulley and it feels good