Retro fitting a mesh grill/upgrading your OEM grille
 

Hi guys

I was in another thread and found out some guys have upgraded the OEM grille to a mesh grille.

I reckon they look real classy :icon_drool: and thinking of getting one myself.

Did Jaguar ever make these for the XJS or are they just made by other companies?

What's involved in fitting one on? Just two screws?

I have a link here thanks to Flint Ironstag

Jaguar XJS Mesh Griller Insert Overlay Set 1976-1993 models - Mina Gallery Inc

This company looks like they deliver to Australia, AND they still have the V12 badge in the middle :icon_mrgreen:

Any body know if companies in Australia make them as well?

I also wanted to know if this in any way affect your air intake...for better or worse?

Please share your grille pics and thoughts..

Paul. This is an upgrade I will do someday. I think the existing grill lacks style. This grill delivers it in spades. A nice upgrade.
Looking at the pics it looks like its two shells that cover your existing black grill. I believe that the V12 emblem and grill surround are kept.
I wonder if the kit includes piece under the bumper?

Email them for installation instructions. Heh - sometimes it's so enjoyable to talk shop with the folks here, that the obvious solution gets overlooked! Guilty of it myself :D

Again, someone with a red XJS made theirs with mesh from a hardware store - looks legit but I don't remember who it is (sorry!)... hopefully they will post.

Yeah i was wondering about under the bumper too. Forgot as Im at work and 1000's miles from my car to go look.

I would probably have to do both top and bottom else it would look out of place I think.

Good idea Flint I might email them and ask. Im pretty sure the main grille is just two screws from memory

So who has some pics of upgraded grilles?

Paul,

Made my own, $ tight arse that I am, plus, I simply did not like the look of what I found way back then.

Attachment 111131

Only problem is you MUST have the BIG leaper to make it a REAL Jag. No leaper, no mesh, simple.

Found a mob here that sold "Woven wire" by the metre, and had Stainless to boot, so i got 1.5 metres. Did the XJ-S, daughters XJ40, and my X300 (which was behind the "standard" grille) to stop teh bug invasion of the radiator.

Time is needed, and Bandaids by the box, and an imagination, plus the obvious Necta.

XJ-S took about 2 hours, as it is a mongrel "double curve" grille, and plastic which needs care.

That's it! I could never work out why I loved your car's look Grant, but did not like either mesh on it's own, nor the Leaper on its own.

Greg

Maaaaaate.

Its because its RED, and its MINE, and the LEAPER makes it, told ya so Paul.

Time for a drink. Work tomorrow, and those weekend customers with broken cars, oh my, retirement is looking better every day, trust me.

Yeah its a bit pricey (re:link i posted) but delivered cost just over $200 AUD to my door. I think it is for the main grille only and not the bottom (still gotta email them)

Grant does this affect air flow? Possibly better maybe as the mesh vs vents wouldn't allow as much bugs etc in as much yeah?

Can't remember but I didn't think mine had the grill underneath the bumper. Grant did you have to cut the bumper to do this or was there already a grille? (Was the bottom bumper grill standard on all earlier XJS?)

Mate I reckon your red devil looks great.....but Ill keep that leaper for when i one day own a Mark 7 or similar he he he :)

Have a close look at this pic Paul, you have the lower grill.
And the Leaper
Attachment 111132

ha ha ha tells you how observant I am :icon_redface: Cheers Clarke.

So it is just black plastic to blend in with the bumper eh? Maybe I can do it in two stages....

I did read somewhere somebody was upgrading their XJS and had to cut a hole out in the bumper. Maybe it was for an earlier model or did they always have that bottom one I wonder?

To my defence i am on the other side of the continent to my car ATM :icon_boat:

mmm....well just emailed the company to see if they include both. Looks like an easy retro fit if its ready to go

I think I can justify to the Mrs that I NEED this part for my car lol :icon_mrgreen:

Airflow, no idea, never ever gave it any thought. The XJ-S has plenty of air IN, its the exit air that causes the biggest issues.

There is a lower grille af sorts, as Clarke said, and I removed the horizontal bars, and maintained the outer rim, and the vertical stays, and simply screwed the mesh into place.

NO cutting of anything in regard to the bumper bar.

The only thing missing is the centre plastic section of the flimsy rubbish that covers the bonnet hinges. Mine was all buckled and cracked in the middle, and the $ Jaguar wanted for one was stupid, so I cut it out, and maintained the end bits to cover the hinge pins.

The snap shows what words cannot, and that panel is simple aluminium sheet from the hardware store, and I painted it Black after that snap was taken. It slides in under the rubber facing, and a dob of RTV on the underside holds it in place.

Attachment 111133

Attachment 111134

This 2nd snap is what a pedestrian sees just before the smack on the head.

Paul
See page 88 of the Practical classics book you just bought! Special slot for rad clean airflow improvement, fitted by the guy. Believe me, it transforms the cooling performance, particularly the cooling down time after a traffic hot stop. This is because there is a "clean airflow hitting the rad stack" problem with the XJS. If there are cooling problems (and I am not saying the OEM setup is deficient as it stands) it is not a rad efficiency or size problem. It is a clean airflow interference problem caused by the huge bumper going right across the middle of the rad stack. Anyone who does not believe this has only to unbolt the front bumper and go for a blast. Also well worth moving the horns to each side (they are right in the way of what clean air does get into the rad though the lower grille with the standard setup) and the secondary coil (if you are Lucas and have the dual coil setup).

Mesh rather than the OEM in itself will have no effect on the cooling. The lower grille is black steel below the bumper and airflow through it is not a problem OEM, but if you do use mesh for the top grille changing the lower one to mesh makes it match better, as Grant's pic proves.

Attachment 154842

The silver cooler in the above pic is an extra (non OEM) autobox cooler, as recommended by the WoOz, not yet connected in this pic.

My hard experience tell me that it is impossible to justify XJS expenditure to the management on the basis of need; more success on the basis of doing something she does want done (washing up, spare room painting, the in laws to stay, etc etc) and then asking for a spot of indulgence on those grounds...

Agreed. If I could find a firm to put some really decent louvres into my bonnet, and could afford it; I would start saving !

Greg

Wow Greg I was just reading p.88 today. Ironic. He put in an extra radiator in series didnt he?

My cooling issues are fine now, im just interested in the bling.

Grant does your top grille have black AND silver paint?

I know on the website they were offering both colours.

Grant you mentioned Jaguar were asking big bucks. So they actually made mesh grilles to retro fit after the XJS came out? I didnt think to look up jag spares as I thought it was just an un official after market thing. Do Jagdaim sell these?

I think black mesh would look cool for the bottom.

Guys thanks for the input as always.

Jaguar never offered mesh as an option etc for the XJ-S to the best of my knowledge.

My plastic top grille surround is painted Black, as the chrome was peeled off by me. The horizontal blades were all broken, road kill (birds) at 180kph, and the $600 at that time led to the mesh. The mesh is simply Stainless Bright Finish. The original centre upright was retained.

The lower is the same mesh.

The big bucks I was referring to is that thin plastic strip under the top grille. They wanted $350??? for it, HAHA, in your dreams.

The autobox ATF goes through the rad ATF cooler part, and then through the extra cooler, and then back to the autobox. Grant told me that eliminating the rad part is a good plan (that is, just routing the ATF through the extra cooler in the photo). This takes an extra cooling load out of the water rad system, which has got to be a good idea. I'll get round to it eventually...

Greg

Goose has that external cooler.

Hi Grant

What sort of 'Fasteners' did you use to bolt the Stainless Mesh to the Original Grill?

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...b5e29b759f.jpg

All custom made. A million times better in every sense, albeit some work.



My take, that XJS advertised mesh grille (B&W picture, I won't say names) does not look very classy. As I said before, I had reasons why I really wanted a mesh grille, yet I opted not the easy way and I designed, constructed and installed an upper and a lower mesh grille made out of the heavier mesh used by Jaguar on the later R cars and others.

My Kitty has earned the right to an impressive and suggesting mesh grille, along with the green/red/chrome R. We (that's my Kitty and I) think that 130HP over and above the factory 219HP gives us "license" to enjoy it.
Cheers,

You want me to remember 1995, that will be interesting.

From that same memory.

I went to the hardware store, and found some small 90deg brackets with a hole in each face, and they were stainless. Shower cubicle area I think??, so I grabbed a dozen.

Then kept wandering and found some suitable sized "Socket Cap" setscrews, and nyloc nuts, again stainless.

I ended up by cutting the mesh to what I wanted, and that was JUST smaller than the opening, and then used the said brackets and capscrews and secured the brackets to the plastic outer surround, from the backside, and then attached the mesh to the other "face" of the brackets. This was the HUGE time consuming bit, as I first tried rolling the outer edge of a larger cut mesh so it sort of "clipped over" the backside of the surround, NBG. The mesh I got was too heavy a gauge for that.

There was no plan as such, the grille was a mess as I stated, and I had TIME on my side, so just did it on the fly mostly. Some of the early cuts were just plain weird, and then I sort of fell over the final theme.

The lower was just cut and screwed to the vertical braces of the old dumb excuse for a grille. It has a few gaps if you ever get that close, but the Beast will bite ya, trust me, and the angle of that grille makes the small flaws undetectable.

If something more returns from the "fuzz", I will update this post.