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Took me 25 yrs to find my dream car but last year she finally showed herself. Been sitting in a shop for the last 7 years next to a 67 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. The previous owner had passed away and his wife and daughter were moving to Florida so needed to sell some things. Saw the pics online and had to drive almost 4 hrs just to make sure the pics were real, they didn’t do her justice! Absolutely gorgeous! Not a single spot of rust, no dings dents or scratches in the original paint. Interior looked like it was sitting in a showroom floor, not a single scratch in the leather seats. Took me 3 months (work and funds to buy her) to go pick her up. Taken me working (when I could) during the winter and spring and half the summer to get her up and running. Bad gas, stuck fuel sender, replaced spark plugs, plug wires, fuel injector rebuild, oil change, air filters, transmission fluid and filter change, rebuilt the rearend (including new brake rotors, calipers, pads, and handbrake pads), new springs all around (2 front, 4rear), new led headlights with angel eyes, new 18” wheels (2014 Camaro wheels blasted and powder coated with 235 45 18 tires on 1 1/4” spacers), flushed the radiator engine and heater and got new coolant in, and just got new front rollbar bushings in today.
Now for the questions. Has anyone used any modern flex brake hose to replace some of the older brake lines/hoses? Good idea or not worth it? Anyone lifted their car an inch and if so using what? (18’s fit but hitting bumps, potholes, or cornering hard causes them to rub slightly on the inside wheel well lip and don’t want to “roll or flare” them). Stiffening up the suspense from stock. What shocks/struts/coils would keep it from leaning so much and possibly lift it 1/2-1”? (Currently using original shocks but new factory springs). Anyone have issues with oil pressure showing on gauge normal but slowly dropping at crushing speed (no change in engine or anything else, gauge just slowly goes almost to the bottom). If I give her so gas she goes back up a bit but won’t go back to “normal” unless I stomp on it. Anyone replaced the instrument lights? At max brightness they are quite dim.
Anyway, hello to you all and thank you in advance for any answers or advice. By the way, bringing her home, had her on the trailer and stopped to put a few gallons of fresh gas in the tank. Older guy catches my wife the next day and asked how much for the jag. She knows this is my baby so she told him that’s one car that’ll never be for sale as long as he’s breathing. First time having the targa panels and back half off 2014 Camaro wheels blasted and powder coating done Did all the measurements. New 18” wheels with smaller tires are exact same dimensions as original 15” wheel and tire only slightly wider (215 to 235) Gotten so many compliments from kids to 80 yr olds. Wasn’t sure about the color but it quickly grew on me. Original paint. Arctic Blue paint with Isis Blue leather interior.
Congratulations. That is the "cabriolet" model which was a factory stopgap to give some roofless options before a full convertible was offered. A very good car with good rigidity, thanks to the hoop over the top. Yours looks lovely. You asked:
Now for the questions. Has anyone used any modern flex brake hose to replace some of the older brake lines/hoses? Good idea or not worth it? Yes, everyone does, as new flexibles are an ESSENTIAL for safety Anyone lifted their car an inch and if so using what? (18’s fit but hitting bumps, potholes, or cornering hard causes them to rub slightly on the inside wheel well lip and don’t want to “roll or flare” them). Your new tyres are too big! 16 inch rims and 225/60 16 tyres will be better. Raising the car spoils the handling and ruins the alignment; but if you must do it, use the factory packing rings under the springs (a spring-off job to do it) and then realign the camber, castor and toe. Stiffening up the suspense from stock. What shocks/struts/coils would keep it from leaning so much and possibly lift it 1/2-1”? (Currently using original shocks but new factory springs). GAZ adjustable shocks will do this very well, no need to change the factory springs; but will not raise the car. This can only be done by altering the spring seats, as mentioned above, but not recommended. Anyone have issues with oil pressure showing on gauge normal but slowly dropping at crushing speed (no change in engine or anything else, gauge just slowly goes almost to the bottom).If I give her so gas she goes back up a bit but won’t go back to “normal” unless I stomp on it.100% normal Jaguar V12 oil pressure behaviour, all is well.
Anyone replaced the instrument lights? At max brightness they are quite dim. Lots of threads on this, the instrument panel has to come out and be taken apart, the bulbs have green covers over them, and these are best removed and the main illumination bulbs replaced; 5 watt push fits are the easiest option (the originals are 2 watt push fits) and LED ones are available but trickier to fit.
Thanks for the info! I was worried about the newer flex lines not holding as much pressure as the original ones. The 18’s are actually almost perfect, the only one that rubs slightly is the rear drivers side. When I did the springs I noticed there were 2 (what looked like) Teflon or plastic rings in the seats on the front. Buddy of mine also pointed out that the bushings for the rear shocks were pushed to the top/bottom and needed replaced but I can’t find just the bushings anywhere. The gaz rears will run me about $560 so that’s gonna be a minute.
Thanks for the info! I was worried about the newer flex lines not holding as much pressure as the original ones. The 18’s are actually almost perfect, the only one that rubs slightly is the rear drivers side. When I did the springs I noticed there were 2 (what looked like) Teflon or plastic rings in the seats on the front. Buddy of mine also pointed out that the bushings for the rear shocks were pushed to the top/bottom and needed replaced but I can’t find just the bushings anywhere. The gaz rears will run me about $560 so that’s gonna be a minute.
The bushings come with the shocks, I have not seen them sold separately. But if you buy some aftermarket ones, they might be able to be pressed into the shock eye.
Also, i forgot to mention, on the lower dash trim above of the driver's shins, there is a rheostat for the dash lights, this might not be adjusted to full brightness.
Congrats on the purchase! And it has the Cabriolet hard top which is becoming super-rare, so look after it!
As your tyre-fouling is on the rear, Gaz adjustable platform shocks do enable you to raise the ride height but, as mentioned, you really don't want to do that. I definitely wouldn't have gone bigger than 16" rims but, hey, it's your choice.
The one thing you do want to do is remove the dreadful stick-on or riveted chrome wheel arch additions. They look awful (imho) and will cause corrosion of the wheel arch underneath.
I was thinking that about the chrome wheel arches myself. They are riveted on with a plastic seal on the outside but nothing on the inside. A little worried about removing them and seeing what I may find lol. And no mine did not come with the rear anti roll bar but was thinking about getting one. Most of the work I’ve done was from watch all the very helpful vids on “Living with a Classic”. Sooo much help and information in those. As far as the 18’s go, it looks higher and a bit different but as I said, I went with a smaller tire for the bigger wheel so that it came out to the same dimensions, location, and back spacing as the stock 15” starfish. The only difference is the wheel spacer I used because the front hubs are wider in the center than the center bore of the wheels. It’s something different than just throwing on other model jag wheels or bmw wheels from that timeframe. By the way, the lug pattern and center bore for the xjs is 5 x 120.65 and 73.4 cb. The lug pattern for the newer Camaro and Corvette is 5 x 120. So if you add spacers (I wouldn’t go with more than 1 1/4” unless you go with other 16” wheels to avoid modifying the wheel wells), make sure you put stock bolt pattern for the original lug pattern and 120 for new lug studs on the spacers.
Hey welcome! Nice to see another XJSC on the board. Love the color. 1988.
Thats a nice looking C! Since you have one, have you replaced the headliner? Drove mine twice and it started coming down and the foam padding underneath turned to dust. Everywhere I’ve tried to find a replacement, even if they say they have it on their site, don’t carry it anymore.
Thats a nice looking C! Since you have one, have you replaced the headliner? Drove mine twice and it started coming down and the foam padding underneath turned to dust. Everywhere I’ve tried to find a replacement, even if they say they have it on their site, don’t carry it anymore.
do you mean on the targa tops? Those headliners were replaced in the 90s. They still stick but are very stained now. I assumed you could just get the correct color foam headliner, some spray adhesive and stick it in. The headliner on the hardtop window is currently falling too. I have some mechanical things ahead of it.
I would remove the stainless steel wheel arch trim . Remove the screws and touch up the hoes with POR15. In the long run they will promote rust beneath them. I have done so on all my XJ-S.
I was thinking that about the chrome wheel arches myself. They are riveted on with a plastic seal on the outside but nothing on the inside. A little worried about removing them and seeing what I may find lol. And no mine did not come with the rear anti roll bar but was thinking about getting one. Most of the work I’ve done was from watch all the very helpful vids on “Living with a Classic”. Sooo much help and information in those. As far as the 18’s go, it looks higher and a bit different but as I said, I went with a smaller tire for the bigger wheel so that it came out to the same dimensions, location, and back spacing as the stock 15” starfish. The only difference is the wheel spacer I used because the front hubs are wider in the center than the center bore of the wheels. It’s something different than just throwing on other model jag wheels or bmw wheels from that timeframe. By the way, the lug pattern and center bore for the xjs is 5 x 120.65 and 73.4 cb. The lug pattern for the newer Camaro and Corvette is 5 x 120. So if you add spacers (I wouldn’t go with more than 1 1/4” unless you go with other 16” wheels to avoid modifying the wheel wells), make sure you put stock bolt pattern for the original lug pattern and 120 for new lug studs on the spacers.
adding rear anti roll bar will increase front under steer you can counter that by going to a larger diameter front bar. Ok
New here so a hello and a few questions
