Haven't posted for a bit. After doing the mid-silencer delete and replacing the intermediate pipes, I was thinking about a further refinement of the system and had been assembling parts for when I could find a free weekend to take over the garage and dig in. The over-axle pipes had to be replaced because they were starting to drip water, and I wanted to replace them with stainless steel versions, plus I assumed the resonators would sound as long gone as the mid-silencers if you gave them a shake so it was good time to tinker.
The resonators would not budge from the over-axle pipes so since I was replacing everything from there backwards, I'd just cut the over-axle pipes near the resonator and everything comes out easy peasy. Was making fast progress and looking forward to the fabrication work of putting the pieces together of the rest of my plan... until I put the right side over-axle pipe in and got the mounting pin settled into its slot. 'What the... that's not right, what did I do wrong?'
The pipe once in place was resting ON the caliber crossover pipe, which would be a disaster waiting to happen. I wasted a ridiculous amount of time trying to adjust anything I could think of to get the spacing correct. I was lying on the creeper staring up at it wondering what I had done wrong, until I had the idea to roll over to the other side and look at that pipe. Then it was more obvious, the mounting point had been welded at the wrong place and at a slightly wrong angle.
Best laid plans of mice and men and all that. I probably laid there staring up for far too long realizing that there was no way I was was getting this done in a weekend. Would the company I ordered the over-axle pipes nearly 9 months ago be at all sympathetic or responsive to the defect? How long would it take to get a replacement? Could I get this one re-welded? Should I invest in a welder and teach myself how to weld? etc. etc.
After reading @BenKenobi 's thread about his brake lines, I felt bad about feeling sorry for myself or being frustrated in comparison. @Greg in France said in that thread "Courage!" and I took that to heart. I guess we just need to roll with this kind of stuff.
I hear ya and share your pain, I think anyone that keeps one of these cars on the road sooner or later will encounter the challenge that you are facing, one of the reasons many say stick to OEM because for sure it will fit, but those options are fast being removed from the table and as you are finding sometimes 'aftermarket' just doesn't fit out of the box. Where did you obtain your 'stuff' - got my stainless exhaust (also with no centre boxes) from Simply Performance in the UK.
In your case I would remove the over axle pipe and put it against the one you removed, I will also say that when I did mine it took a bit of head scratching to make sure I got them on the correct sides. There is also a mount up inside the rear subframe that may not be obvious are you sure that is engaged ?
My car's back on the jacks at the moment so I can get a pic of my stainless overaxle install - not to gloat so don't think that please - just in case anything is obviously different, as far as I know the overaxle pipes never changed so maybe it's the hangars or rear boxes ? - if you have a pic or two they may offer some clues.
What you are experiencing is really why I would never consider the XJS as a daily, I want to be able to do things and not care about needing the car for something so I can take my time. The frustration subsides but nothing will stop you (or me) getting frustrated again and scream 'just once can I have an easly life you b***h' at the car ....
Ben
Using an XJS as a daily driver is the best way to keep it reliable! Once you have finished yours, it will be so addictively lovely, you will find you do so use it!
I can't recall, I may be under there tomorrow, if I am I will take a pic or two - I don't think it is far - I only have the back box and overpipes installed, not the centre straight pipes, but they seem pretty settled where they are.
Quick question -- when the over-axle pipe is properly installed, how far does the mounting pin go into the mounting rubber?
Because of body/cage flew when on a two post lift, about 1/3 of it, but on the ground nearly all of it, certainly well over half. You do need the insulators installed inside the rubber part on the brackets though.
After receiving the replacement for the incorrectly welded over-axle pipe, I put everything together and made sure to heed @Greg in France 's advice that the isolators were properly installed on the mounting pins. All assembled I went to lower the car, but eye'd something small on the ground under the IRS cage. One of the isolators had broken apart when reinstalling the over-axle pipe. They had looked fine when I reinstalled the pins on the pipes, but were obviously too brittle to be re-used. So another delay while I waited for four new isolators.
Finally, put it all together this weekend to test the revised exhaust that @Tibbetts had reported worked out well for him:
Before I give my impressions of the change, let me offer this caveat -- I can only report on how this works on a convertible with FOUR catalytic converters. After doing the mid-muffler delete, Tibbetts and I both found that it only made a minor difference in sound because the honeycomb structure of the converters act as pre-mufflers. If you have a coupe and use it as a Grand Tourer as it was intended, well there is a reason Jaguar made the exhaust as quiet as it is.
When I first started the car in garage, my first impression was, 'oh no, I made a mistake...' then my wife opens the door wondering what all the noise is about, and not looking too pleased. It was surprisingly louder than I expected; however, once I backed it out of the garage and outside it was more subdued. I went for a test drive while simultaneously thinking about how quickly I could swap back in the stock resonators while I had the QuickJack and tools out.
As I drove a bit, it began to grow on me and I wondered if it was just a matter of getting used to it. The more I drove, the more I liked it. As I returned to my neighborhood, a friend flagged me down and asked, "What did you to your Jag?" My heart sank a bit because I thought he was going to complain about the noise, but instead he said, "...it sounds awesome, how did you do that?" He said it reminded him of a classic Ferrari and thought that it fit the car nicely (he is a car guy who has a F-Type R and a Ferrari so obviously likes cars with a distinctive exhaust sound).
My wife and I took a long excursion for lunch yesterday and now she seems to really like it. On the way back we stopped to see my daughter, and she heard it and said, "Very nice!" So I guess it isn't as obnoxious boy racer loud as I initially feared. Since the change, I haven't turned on the stereo because I enjoy listening to the exhaust instead. With the top down, it seems to get quieter the faster you go as wind noise increases. No unpleasant drone detected at highway speeds, but again wind noise might just be drowning it out. I haven't tried with the top up and the windows closed yet, but then I rarely ever drive it with the top up.
The one thing I did differently than Tibbetts was exhaust tips. I choose to try to replicate the XJRS and Arden dual tip style. From Arden or Simply Performance they are quite spendy, which I didn't want to do on an experiment that might not be permanent. The tips were the hardest find of the whole thing. I ordered and returned a couple sets that were just too large and looked out of place on an XJS. I finally found some on Ebay that were the same proportions as the Arden tips (~2 3/8"/60mm diameter). Other than the Arden crest, the attached photo looks identical to my car.
An update since it has been several months since I made the exhaust modifications, and I have really grown to love it. There are a couple of upsides and one downside.
Upsides — I still haven’t turned the stereo on because I just enjoy listening to the sound of the car. I drive it more often and harder, looking for excuses to take it out and spots where I can rev it higher and quicker. Probably a good thing there aren’t any tunnels near by or might be a bit of nuisance.
Downside — I now really want a 5 speed conversion, which I know I have neither the time to do, nor can I justify the cost. Oh well…
- not the 'only' car to depend on, have the resource to tolerate downtime ...
