I decided that a set of TWR bumpers were in order when my baby was finished. But being in Australia these are few and far between, so when I came across a company selling new ones from an ex Jaguar Australia mold I thought ok lets go ahead.

Little did I know what I got myself in for, the mold was obviously completely stuffed as the bars went nowhere near even fitting on the car. Now I had 2 options take them back and ask for my money back and keep looking or fix them. Unfortunately I decided to fix them.

Not even close to fitting, and the rear was worse. I didn't take a pic of the rear unfortunately.




It just would not go on.



New top made for the bar



Fiberglassed in place



Custom mounts made



Mounts made from aluminum. Notice the aluminum stay between the guard and the inner engine wall, this provides strength, as I have removed all of the lower metal panels, saving 15kg.



New fiberglass bumper trim made (the white one)



Trim fixed to the front bumper this was filled and sanded for a smooth finish.



Front bumper finally finished and on the car. 18 months later.

 

The rear bumper was far worse than the front. I had to cut into about 7 pieces and re-assemble it on the car.

I Didn't like the rear fog light holes next to the exhaust tips so I decided to remodel the bar using expanding foam to shape new exhaust outlets, then fiberglass over that and remove the foam once the glass was cured.

 

Looks great Warren. You do good work.
My '89 donor car came with what was left of a Lister body kit. The look of that was just too squared off, and chuncky for my taste, but, I quite like the look of your individually tailored TWR kit.

 

Its not difficult to modify fiberglass, just time consuming. I also made the bit that returns around the wheel arch removable on the rear bar so it goes on and off without scratching the paint.

 

Looks awesome. Is it supposed to resemble the TWR Racing XJS?

 

I've had an eye on your blog for a while Warren, good to see some serious progress.
I suspect somebody has simply tidied up the inside surfaces of a front and rear and then used them as moulds. The size difference looks about right
I have an 89 XJR-S on rotisserie at the moment but thankfully all the fibreglass components fit like a glove, just a couple of curb scuffs to fix up.

 

The size difference was not that bad, I cut them with an angle grinder so gaps are due to cuts. The problem was the bar was twisted and some of the gaps are not even.

 

jagzilla, do you still havr that lister kit?

 

Calvin,

Like I said, it's just what's left of a Lister kit. The previous owner wrecked the car, which destroyed the front. The rest is in pretty bad shape. The only piece that was not damaged is the side skirt on the passenger side.

Driver side of rear skirt


Close up of corner of rear skirt


Portion of rear skirt inside the wheel well


Driver side skirt


Close up of leading edge of driver side skirt


Cracks emitting from the square hole cut in the rear skirt, which accomodates the tow bar receiver.

 

Scott that is all easily fixed.

The piece missing on the side skirt can be filled with expanding foam shaped and glassed over.

Mending broken bits you grin a wide V in both sides clamp the 2 bits together (I used scrap plywood) and then glass them back together. Another trick is to take a small mold of a part of the bar and then use this to reform another part.

I do agree the TWR kit looks good, and TWR did a lot of wind tunnel testing with it to reduce drag and improve airflow to the cooling system.

 

WOW! Makes me wish I had kept my XJS! Always wanted those bumpers.

 

I was always a fan of the lister kit, if you're willing to part with it, just name your price!

 

Thanks for the repair advice Warren but, I doubt I'll fix it, because, I don't really like the look of the Lister kit. I'll be going with a retro look for JagZilla anyways, by eliminating the black rubber on the stock bumpers, and using the chrome bumper blades as the basis for all-metal bumpers, similar to those on the E-Type.

 

I know this thread is old but can anyone tell me what rubber is used for the side skirts and rear bumper?

 

Basically a slight variation of a "U" section rubber strip on side skirt and more of a true "U" on the rear bumper, at least on my XJRS which l am confident is original fitment.

 

Do you have any pics?

 

Best l can do at the moment is pic of rear bumper U rubber. This has a section width of about 12mm for reference. The side skirt extrusion is very similar to the other image but not exact. Not possible at the moment to photograph actual installation.

 

Any idea where that can be found?

 

Not sure where you are but l imagine if you google "rubber extrusions" it will lead you to supplier in your location. The "U" moulding is very common, not so the other but sure you will find something.