Its not exactly a Summers day down here in the UK and in fact it would be fair to say, its absolutely Freezing and with Snow now on the way the worst is yet to come

Although just a couple of days ago, it felt just like 'Spring' so what better time could there possibly be to go for a drive in the XJS except I couldn't do that, as She wasn't Taxed!

And so the only other option which I knew I would enjoy was to go for a 'mooch' round the Scrap Yard and though they very seldom have got any Cars, they have almost everything that 'Scrap Yard Junkies' like myself can think of

This Site covers acres and they have got all sorts of things they never knew they had and so I see it as my duty to try and route it out and knew before we got there that today would not be an exception

And while I didn't really know what I was looking for, I knew that I would know it when I found it, where after we had trudged around in all the dirt and mud, the very thing I wanted sat there and just glittered like a diamond in the rough

The very thing I wanted, which was a 'Workshop Heater' and although it was beaten up and half falling to bits, once I had repaired it and if I could fire it up, then I could work on 'Cherry' or '50 Shades' my Grey XJS even in the depths of a Cold Winter

So just after I had placed a 'Fiver' in the palm of 'Scrapyard Owners' hot and sticky hand, that little Workshop Heater was now mine and so once I'd chucked it in the 'Merc' we then headed home




It does look a bit of a mess but I think I can fix it!

The only problem being that at the moment there is a piece missing, which is a short piece to chimney that should have Air Intake holes that are needed to keep the Flame burning



As you can see the old one was a bit shattered so I had to make a New one

Nothing complicated, just a 6inch piece of Tube in which I drilled some holes



Marking out the Holes on tape, so I'd know where to drill



Drilling the Holes on my Drill Press



That's it job done holes drilled!

Except of course it wasn't quite that easy, as I had to Weld it on and then take everything apart, so that I could re-plumb all the pipes, as well as one or two other mods like re-siting the Tank with the adjustable float to control the Fuel input



In order to make the Heater fit, I decided to move the Float Tank from the back of the Workshop Heater onto the side, which was a total PIA as the original fittings were 12mm and to make matters worse the Fuel Inlet Pipe had a very unusual thread!

Once I had finally managed to sort that conundrum out, then the next job on the list was to Weld on the part I'd made with the Air intake holes



Unfortunately I hadn't discovered the Art of Levitation! underneath that Lid is a 'Big Magnet' which comes in really useful for this kind of job and was originally one that was on a Magnetic Parts dish



Holding the Chimney in place for Welding using that Big Magnet



Just need to give her some Heatproof Paint and then we are ready to see if she works and hopefully keep the Garage nice and warm for working on my XJS in Winter

To be Continued............

Having rebuilt the Workshop Heater, a mate of mine who owns a Farm suggested we should Test it out in one of his steel outbuildings just in case it went bang

Which turned out to be a good idea as that's what nearly happened! as the Float controlling the flow of Fuel got stuck in the open position and as a result the Heater, had started over-fuelling




Back in the day when this Heater was made, probably over 60 years ago, the Float Tank which controlled the flow of fuel to the Heater, was in all probability considered 'State of the Art'

The only problem being that at sometime during our Test the Float got hung up in the Float Tank, which then caused the Heater to start over-fuelling



The Float kept jamming up against this fitting, which then caused the Heater to start over-fuelling

Because of the way it was designed there wasn't an awful lot I could do to fix it and so it was back to the drawing board, where I decided to do away with the Float Tank all together

In its place I fitted a needle valve, which not only solved the problem but also gave precise control of the fuel going in, as well as the output of the Heater



In place of the Float Tank, I fitted a needle valve which not only solved the over-fuelling problem but also gave precise control of the output of the heat

Testing the Workshop Heater In My Mates Farm Outbuilding

Outside it was Cold enough to Freeze a Bucket of Water but inside my mates Outbuilding, the Temperature quickly rose to a very Hot and Balmy 80F

Which means that I can do more work on my XJS during Winter in a nice warm Workshop for a change

'Nurse The Screams!'

Back in the game after Flu

And Yes! it really was like one of those Scenes from a 'Carry On' Film, as when one gets knocked down with the Flue this is a real opportunity for the G.F. to show her devotion by waiting on you hand and foot as well as catering to your every whim

Well that's the theory anyway, except what actually happened was that after donning her Nurses Outfit which last saw the light of day at a Halloween Party that we went to last year, with a hemline that was so short that it could raise the dead

She entered said Patients Bedroom with all the trepidation of some crazy Scientist entering a 'Bio Hazard Area' where apart from the Nurses Outfit which was always a pleasure to see

All meals and refreshments and glasses of JD were first loaded on a Trolley and then pushed towards me with a Broomstick, which was actually quite hilarious and would have been a lot more fun if only I had felt well enough to enjoy it

Where to make things worse if they could get worse, this was extremely frustrating as we were now in the middle of one of the mildest Winters in the UK for some time and now with Spring around the corner

The only thing that I now wanted to do apart from converting my Isolation Ward back in to our bedroom! was to go and get working on my XJS and get her out of Winter Mothballs and prepped up for the first drive out of this year

Involving checking everything over to try and insure that both myself and my XJS were now back in the game and all tweaked up and ready for a 'Shake down' cruise, even if only a trip to the garage to fill up with 5 Star!

Where the desire to go out in that Car was now so overwhelming, that it was almost worse than having the Flu as well as being Tortured by the sight of the G.F. in look but do not touch mode in that very seductive Uniform

And though I've owned a lot of Cars from 'mild to fairly wild' The XJS in my view is not so much a Car but much more of what you would call an addiction, where you have to have 'Your Fix' no matter what!

Where the Price of Petrol, at over £6 per gallon and the Stratospheric Mileage of 17.5 mpg Plus the cost of Road Tax, Insurance and M.O.T. just pales into insignificance when compared to the kind of pleasure that buys

From even just one day trip in one of the finest Mainstream Sports Cars Jaguar ever produced, where it actually feels like a Privilege, just to be able to sit behind the Wheel

And well worth all the Skinned Knuckles as well as the 'Blood Sweat and Tears' together with numerous glasses of JD that you often have to go through, before you even get to turn the key!

As lets face it the XJS is certainly not considered to be one of the easiest Cars that you can work on, though as a rider to that I would say that even on a very bad day when everything is going wrong it is certainly the most fun

Then when you eventually get on the road, that is the moment at least for me that the Paranoia kicks in, as with one eye on the Temperature Gauge that can turn you into a quivering wreck if She starts overheating

You wonder if this is a journey from which you will never return, as in the event that the brakes might fail in the way they have on all of mine, then things could go 'pear shaped' very quickly!

Which is always something that plays on my mind, as the last time that this happened it very nearly spun me off the road and even though I fixed it and the brakes now feel assured it never pays to say never, that it won't happen again

Where just like my own G.F. who has a crazy 'Cookie' sense of humour, it always pays to expect the unexpected and so it will always pay to have a fairly good idea of how to fix your XJS whenever She goes wrong

Which Thanks to the Forum and a Special Mention to 'Greg in France' and 'Grant The Wizard of Oz' I know a little bit more now than when I first started

As in terms of a learning curve, as far as Cars are concerned you either need to learn real quick or else be prepared to part with a 'Shedload of Cash' or a 'Shop' could empty your Wallet, every bit as fast as you can blink

Though looking on the plus side, there's a certain satisfaction that comes from lifting up the Bonnet/Hood, at the request of a Stranger and then watching the Blood as it drains from their face when the get to see what lies beneath!

Not those neat plastic covers that you might find on a Merc which cover up an Engine that you almost never need to touch as what you have in an XJS (V12) looks more like a Chemistry Set that was put together by Doctor Frankenstein

Consisting of a mass of complicated looking silver pipes and wiring that could have been created by the Jig Saw builder from Hell, except of course for those who know, that has to be one of the reasons that we love her as much as we do

As many of those who do know including many of us, would attest to the fact that the mighty V12 is one of the Finest Engines that Jaguar ever produced and as a V12 owner I would gladly second that

And even to this very day, still find myself saying, things like Wow! and Double Wow! each time I lift the Bonnet/Hood and gaze at what's inside!

So silky smooth it feels like riding on a Magic Carpet but if you dare to unleash the Beast, then you could Scare yourself so much your legs could turn to Jelly

Its one Iconic Powerhouse in an Iconic Car and as for me I cannot wait to go down my Garage and Fill the Tank with Petrol even if that costs me at least £100 which with luck might give me enough for just a Weekends worth of 'Tripping'

As Smooth as Silk the Engine of the XJS V12 Coin Balance Test Video on my car 'Cherry Blossom'



Beauty and the Beast! Jaguars Fabulous XJS V12 Engine

Due to the unusually Gorgeous Weather this time of year, we decided to take '50 Shades' my Grey XJS (aka) 'The Diva' out for a bit of a road trip, to one of my favourite places which is an Auction

To not only give her a 'shake down run' as She has been in 'mothballs' for the Winter but also to have a look around to see what was for sale, which was just about everything that you could think of

Including a 3 ton Low Profile Jack and some electric Workshop Winches and lots of other useful bits and pieces and so I've got to go back on Monday to pick it all up with the Merc and will probably need to take a Trailer with me

But since I had my 'Dash Cam' I did a bit of a Video to record the event, with a fairly nice piece of music that really needs to be played with the sound turned well up

The Weather was Amazing for this time of the year, so we went for a Trip to Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk to have a look around the 'UFO' Exibition

Where there was alleged to have been a sighting of a 'UFO' in December 1980 that made Headlines round the World and although we didn't see one ourselves, we spoke to a group of people who reckon they certainly did

Though just as we got to the entrance our Dash Cam stopped recording just as we were about to drive in from the road, maybe just a coincidence but all the same it did feel very Spooky!

This is one of our favourite drives in the Summer, so next time we are out that way I'll try and get some Photos of the Exibition

As for the Dash Cam, the date is wrong because its a bit of a PIA to reset it every time as if its not plugged in the USB socket the battery goes flat