Week 5 of XJS ownership has been dedicated to clearing out the rust from the panel underneath the brake booster (and down the side of the driver’s side engine bay “wall”).

Here are the pictures.

After removing the master cylinder and booster, this is what I was greeted with:


Soaked some shop towels with evaporust and let sit overnight:





You can see how the scotchbrite worked the next day (which I first got wet with evaporust before each pass):




Some more corrosion underneath the engine bay wall:


After cleaning with the scotchbrite; not perfect but much better:


After cleaning with scotchbrite (note what may look like rust here was smooth to the touch; I suspect a mix of old primer and petina):


Your reward:


Wait no, this is your reward:




I used Rust Bullet Automotive paint, supposed to the best there is for rust prevention ( ).

I just used a paint brush and will be applying 3 coats in total.

 

Nice job, and very lucky that the rust was not a great deal worse. I am a Rust Bullet fan, great stuff.

 

Great job, never heard of this stuff.
I'm going to see if its available in my land..

 

MrAndersonGCC,

Great work, Well done!

Paul

PS I know it might not be your priority right now, but you absolutely must change that torn steering rack gaiter!

 

Mr GC
is that a carburettor on top of the engine? And in spite of the decals, is it a non-Jaguar V8?

 

Oh I know and that is coming soon, but the car is getting a different set of front springs that will lower the front - at which point the driver's side exhaust downpipe will literally be running into the inner tie rod - so when I have my mechanic do the springs, I'm going to have him re-route that downpipe to give more clearance. Then I'll go in later and take care of that boot.

 

Hi Greg, yes - it's a John's Car conversion done way back in 1997 (assuming the install was done the same year that the order sheet was filled out in the back of the conversion booklet I found in the trunk).

It's a pretty anemic Chevy 350 (1980 wasn't a good year for power). The plan right now is to get everything in good order, do some paint work, and then debate between doing a T56 transmission swap or throwing a new 350 crate engine (or 383) in there. The nice thing about this setup is that a new 350 or 383 engine would install exactly the same way as the one in there now.

 

When you lower the car, be sure to reset the camber to factory spec (0.2 to 0.4° negative). Lowdering significantly will greatly increase the negative camber, to nearmy 1°. This in turn makes the car corner like a track car; but ruins the tyres in no time flat!

 

Good to know, thanks.

Questions about the current job: considering replacing or rebuilding my master cylinder while I have it out of the car:

1) Is there a generic rebuild kit I can use? The XJS-specific ones I found were $80+. Also, is a rebuild or replacement really necessary in the absence of braking issues? The car's braking felt fine to me.

2) I'm definitely going to flush out all the old brake fluid. This is a non-ABS 1983, so I assume I can bleed the rear inboard brakes and front brakes the same as I would any other car? All the brake bleeding threads I've read where people run into difficulties or have to take some crazy approach were all on ABS cars.I think I read something about turning the ignition on to bleed the brakes, which I've never had to do on any other car...hoping that's just for ABS vehicles.

 

Rebuild or new M/C is 100% essential. The seals will be soft and the first time you REALLY need the brakes, particularly in a warm engine bay they will fail. You have been warned. The same goes for the calipers and the flexibles.
Bleeding procedure 100% standard: back then front.

 

Thanks and duly noted - just ordered this one: https://www.welshent.com/Jaguar-Brak...it-P11193.aspx

What about rear brake bleeding procedure? Normal process on a non-ABS car?

 

Normal procedure.

 

Thanks. Greg, an off-topic question for you that I don't think warrants a thread of its own. I tried searching for this but I'm not even sure what it's called so I didn't find my answer.

What is the black round metal thing behind the fuses? There's one behind the driver's side fuses and the passenger side fuses:


Both of mine have a little corrosion around the base, just wondering what this thing is so I can determine course of action.

Thanks Greg

 

One is the timer for the start up ignition advance vacum system. It does somethong or other nto the V12's systems system of vac valves.
It is called a Pektron unit. Can you post a photo of the other one please? If the V12 is no mponger there you can ignore it.