Hi Everyone, i am delighted to be here. looking forward to meeting new friends (This sounds like my old tinder profile already lol)

I recently picked up a 1990 XJS in bad shape but when i started her she sounded fantastic. also its been off the road for a long time from what i was told, so to hear the straight six going
i knew she wanted to live again.
I am guessing when ye see the photos i will be told i should have walked away and maybe i should

underneath looks in good condition.
I am going to use this page to be accountable

My dad who is recently retired and is crying out for something to pass the time to eager to get his welder back out. when he was younger after he finished school
he done his time with a panel beater so i am hoping he remembers some of his time there

thank you

P.J.

Doesn't look bad from this angel

and the rust becomes real



Sounds Beautiful

 

The best place for a restoration thread is XJS forum. It will attract interest and advice from XJS owning members around the World.

Let me know if you want it moved.

Graham

 

Thank you Graham
I would love it moved. thank you..
I will try and get it right from now on..
I am going to spend the day going through the forum and learning how the forum works.

thank you so much for your help.

p.j.

 

Welcome! You and your Dad will never be bored again! Obviously there is much welding to be done, and once that is done, you will find the mechanical work much more straightforward. Ebay.co.uk is a treasure trove of bits, and just about all mechanical and body parts are available, new or second hand, and reasonably inexpensively. Buying a repair panel (that is, a decent panel cut out of a car being broken for parts) is by far the best way to tackle the wheelarch rot; while stitching in repair pieces into the smaller holes is quite doable.
Tackling one specific area at a time is also a good plan and stripping out that area only, rather than stripping out the entire body; as unless you are already familiar with the cars, it is all too easy to forget what goes back where!
Once you have a plan of action do post it, as everyone will be really happy to help. Good luck to you both.

 

What a great colour! You're much braver than I for undertaking a project with so much rust, but then again maybe we're just spoiled here in California with our lack of rusty cars :-). Looking forward to following this project. Good luck!

 

Looks like the same colour as my car. I will reading with interest and wish you all the best on the transformation Sir Your Dad know's his retirement is over right..... ;-)

 

I guess here in South Carolina we a bit spoiled as well. I can't imagine starting on that "project". I would want to look for another body all together, lol.

 

How much time and money and pain do you intend to dump into this? I bought a car identical to this, in red and totally rust free virtually no scratches in the paint. 4 years later it has easily cost me 20k in parts/labour and I still have a paint job to do...mind you I did go overboard with racing spec suspension, lots of extras spare no expense sort of thing.

Having gone down the road of replacing everything right down to the rubber door seals I can imagine a neglected car like this will be much of the same plus all your bodywork. Every bit of rubber, some wiring harnesses, bodywork, paint, interior reconditioning, maybe the wood is cracked the leather torn etc... it wouldn't hurt to look into the possibility of buying a 'nice' XJS of similar year and disassembling that one was a parts mule, it still has alot of good parts.

 

Guys thanks so much.

Some great advice and some reality checks.

Thanks so much.

I guess besides me always Loving the xjs and wanting one
My Dad who worked all his life and now is living out in the country with too much time on his hands keeps asking me when am i bringing the car up to him.
He is really not coping with retirement and desperate to do something..

An example... he recently bought a ride on lawnmower.... the man has no Lawn
He bought it just to do it up and get his welder Going LOL.

 

Hello Snapper
Some things are worth more than money. The thought of the time spent between you and your father in this restoration task is priceless. You also have the opportunity to make your XJS exactly how you want it to be, while allowing your father to stay young at heart. I was once told that all rust is repairable – it just takes time. I have just started restoring mine, while the rust was not as bad as yours – it certainly has its challenges. The boot area was by far the worst, hidden by the rear spoiler, but I knew it was there and I was not surprised. New sheet metal rolled, installed, and then painted. Now looks better than brand new



Enjoy the journey, you will arrive at the destination

Cheers
Steve

 

Wow Steve.

Thank you for the Photos.

That is some Job

Very Motivational.

P.J.

 

Welcome to the forum! Y'all will certainly get some quality time in on this project - keep the photos coming!

 

Hello Snapper. I'm guessing that you are a photographer. Good to see another follower in the fold. I'll be keeping a close eye on your thread. Welcome to the family.

 

 

 

Nice score on a XJS, Plus one, on finding something for "Dad" to do, as I give anything to have mine back (lost him in 1990). Sounds like this XJS is the perfect car for his talents. So as far as I can tell, you did exactly the right thing! Ask away any problems you run into, as a couple have said, There's a good bunch of people, and lots of knowledge here. Welcome

Jack

 

Really nice colour. Looks like a fair bit of work ahead!

Enjoy! These are fantastic cars.

 

I have exactly the same car 3.6l XJS in blue and almost as rusty as yours initially, you'll find all the info in a rather lengthy forum here:

https://www.xj40.com/viewtopic.php?f...8e1a914ac29a6a

This starts from when I bought it, through me learning how to weld to a pretty solid shell now. It's still parked and unfinished as I had/have other Jags to take care too but what's most important its not leaking and its dry inside
If you ever get serious about actually restoring your blue rust bucket I suggest you strip it first and work on a shell only, then put it all back together. If you have space that's half success.
It all can be done on the cheap too, I haven't spent more than £1000 on mine and I have a ton of spares and panels, new wings, new rear arches, doors, boot and many other panels.
eBay is your friend for some odd panels like rear deck. If you get stuck this guy here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dodford59...1&_ipg=&_from=
will fabricate anything for you
SNG Barrat will have panels that you wont be able to find and that you will want to buy, eg front toeboards. Familiarize yourself with Jaguar Classic Parts, some parts are still available and are surprisingly cheap.
Generally, if I had to do it again from scratch, one thing I would do differently is to buy some(not all) ready panels instead of fabricating them. I've spent multiple days fixing things that would take me hours at most to replace and still at very low cost.
Of course if you take it to a garage to 'fix things' costs go up exponentially and sky is the limit
Good luck!

 

@Crackerbuzz I am scared and excited LOL

 

@katar83 Thank you so so muck. I am on the case now.. Going to bookmark. this is great help.

Thank you.