I bought a 1984 XJS HE, black/biscuit at a DEA auction in 1993.

I'd always wanted an XJ-S since seeing Gary Ewing drive one on "Dallas" in the early '80's.

Well, as most owners stories go, I wound up "marrying" the car. Three engines and two transmissions later, it runs better than ever.

Currently it has a freshly built 1986 V12 in it; runs cool, runs hard, this one is a rocket.

Over the years, this car has been in storage for extended periods, beginning in 2001 when I switched over to driving a pickup truck owing to a fast boat addiction that was progressive and incurable.

However, my son, now 14, prompted me to get the Jag out and give it some TLC over his Christmas break. The result: Fixed lots of little things and getting ready to fix some big things. Following that, we plan a full exterior/interior restoration.

The interior is in pretty sad shape, the exterior has the cracked/crazed lacquer, so will need repainting.

Thanks to Doug Dwyer's help, I got the kickdown working properly and the car is a blast to drive.

Just thought I'd introduce myself to you guys. Thanks for having what appears to be a great forum.

Lou

 

Hi Lou

Glad to see another XJS V12 actually running a V12.

I agree when they are on song they can't be beaten for sense of occasion, it's just a challenge keeping them singing.

I also bought a project XJS ('92 V12 Conv) which had a pretty scrappy interior in it when I got it, but with some leather mend it and a "fake" woodgrain kit, its starting to come together now. The total for colour matched leather mend it and the wood grain kit was <300USD, which was probably less than the cost of a couple of pieces of genuine wood. There's some pictures in my albums of "before" and "after" so if there's any parts you want to know more about, either post back or PM me.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...hp?albumid=309

Welcome to the forums

 

Thanks so much Sarc, what a beautiful restoration..put in perspective by your "before" pictures!

Yes, I would like to receive as much info as possible on economical restoration products available for these cars. Please PM me or post here if possible.

We've decided we need some "before" photos as well, so will break out the camera and get to the task.

I'm going to begin another post now entitled, "flaps and landing gear".

All the best,

Lou

 

Here's what I have done so far....

Leather restored and colour matched.

http://www.leathermagic.com/Pages/dlxlthrrepkit.htm

You can cut a small 1" square piece of leather from underneath one of your seats and send it to them for colour matching. In truth I redid my entire interior, so I can't really comment on how well it would have matched

Wood kit fitted. (My original wood was beyond repair... typical for a Florida then CA convertible car)

http://www.godspeednet.com/servlet/t...S--Dash/Detail

There were A LOT of tricks to get this to fit properly and look half decent...... if you decide to get one I'll type them up :-)

Custom car mats....

http://www.qualitycarmats.com/

I chose the "Plush" grade, and had them embroidered with "V12" (They won't do a brand name, ie Jaguar, but I guess they would probably do XJS) The floors in the XJS are a very strange shape and when I tried to fit off the shelf mats I couldn't find a set that looked ok.

Remote Central Locking (The most useful 40 bucks I've ever spent)

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=22274

New underhood sound/heatshield

http://www.jcwhitney.com and search for "Heat/Sound Insulation" It's a roll of material for 34.99USD

 

Not to hijack but I'm going to anyways the sound deadner how wide is the roll and roughly how long is it?

 

width = 4ft
length options are 6ft, 24ft, 48ft

The 6ft length is more than enough for an XJS