Ok so i noticed on my 93 xjs when i bought it that there was grey sticky smeary goop at the bottom of my door cards. I kinda figured at some point one of the previous owners tried to "fix" something and went uber nuts with some adhesive. Flash forward to now and ive seen pretty much the exact same crap on at least three other xjs's! Was this a dealer fix?

 

I suspect it is rustproofing.

 

Wipe it off

 

Now that's what I'm calling decent British workmanship. It's called "Blu Tack" and I assume previous owner used it to mound door cards with clips ripped off due to incorrect disassembly.It is also possible that it was made by factory in Coventry - as most of the cars are having "rework job card" in their traceability records... Nice screw added below the light confirms my theory. Expect tap valves installed in your cylinder heads, paper strips in the bottom end bearings and exhaust held with duct tape...

 

Could be worse. Could be Australian workmanship:

 

I'm not familiar with XJS, but many, many, cars have installed at the factory a plastic vapor barrier between the metal door and the door card/door panel which is adhered to the metal door shell with grey butyl putty or butyl tape. Blu Tack is one brand name. I suspect that's what it is, but I've never seen the stuff run like that. Can't imagine the factory being that sloppy with it. Maybe it got too hot or has decomposed with age?

 

Above is correct … I have the same on my car. I believe its to do with the heat here in the US. The UK rarely gets this hot lol

 

I did find out that it was a factory thing nore on facelift models. Basically over the years it looses its structure basically, especially in the heat, and starts to run/ooze. So there ya go! Smh

 

Now this is interesting. My 1992 passenger door card has this exact goop, and, like you, I figured it was some crude attempt at repair by a previous owner. When it gets noticeable I just remove it.
Not sure if it's the same Blu-Tack you use to hang posters, but it's nice to know it's not a sign of shoddy repair work. Just shoddy factory work....

 

Not rust proofing, It is a factory installed material that is sometimes referred to as dumdum.
It's universally used to apply the vapor seal on doors.
On my 94s I think the material was black.
It's very hard to remove unless you use brake clean.

 

Brake Cleaner would likely take the paint off. I would use a plastic scraper to carefully get as much off as possible mechanically, then try an adhesive remover like Goof Off to remove the remaining sticky residue. It usually does not damage urethane auto paint (I've gotten some stubborn bumper stickers and double-sided trim tape), but I don't know what kind of paint you're dealing with here. I would always try an inconspicuous spot first.

 

Break clean has not been a problem for me on my xjs's
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Goof off will desolve most paint but lift off hardly ever messes up paint
If you can get a piece of plexiglass to break unevenly you will have an edge as sharp as glass.
It's brittle and won't stay sharp indefinitely but it does a great job of scooping away the dissolved adhesive.

 

That grey goop was gone by 1995, but I’ve got two 92’s with it! Oozed so bad it’s now stuck to the sill plate.

 

I've got it oozing out on my 1996. I'm going to try and remove it with WD40.