As stated in my earlier posts, I purchased my 1985 XJS totally disassembled. I got the car from in an estate sale as a rolling chassis and a room full of parts. The PO had disassembled the car for a repaint 4 or 5 years ago and passed away 3 years ago.
I knew it was going to be a challenge and so it is.
So far, I have been able to sort out the interior of the car.
With no headliner board available, I purchased a sheet of 1/4 inch closed cell poly foam and made a headliner, covered it with headliner material and glued it directly to the roof of the car. If I get a good headliner board in the future, I will replace it.

headliner
After fighting glass leaks, I resolved those with the help of Greg and was able to get the interior carpet and seats prepped, redyed and installed in the car.


The door panels are not installed as yet because I have to find a substitute for the glass run channel for the doors.
Presently, I am working in the trunk area and have a few questions regarding the carpet layout.
1. How does this panel get installed? I have tried both ways and on the driver (left) side the panel is hitting the fuel filler hose.
On the passenger side it is hitting the fuel lines.


installed one way

installed the other way(does not look right)
Can someone enlighten me as to the orientation of the panels? The trunk lights are also installed on these panels.
I have them temporarily installed with screws that are too long to prevent water from entering the trunk area.
2. I do not have the trim panel that covers the fuel tank nor do I know what it looks like and how it is attached.
I am planning on making a board to install there but I need some sort of image as to what it looks like.
Can someone post a pic of the area without the spare tire as a visual for me?



Do not reprimand me for using the wrong battery. It is just being used to check out the electrical system on the car.

 

Hello Again

Hopefully you can see the orientation from the below photos

Right hand side

Left hand side with the bracket out

Left hand side with the bracket in

In regards to the cover to hide the fuel tank - cannot help on that one - I have placed a home made carpet section to hide it

Cheers
Steve

 

On the coupe there is no panel in front of the tank, just a piece of carpet. The spare wheel is secured by a rod with a threaded end and a hand-wheel type "bolt". You should see the slot the end goes into in the body just below the tank.

 

Thank you Steve. You, as always have been extremely helpful. Those pics will allow me solve that problem. If no one posts a pic of the trim panel for the gas tank, I will figure out a way to make one. I am going to take a picture of the fuel tank area today and will post it to verify that the fuel delivery system was installed properly.
Thanks again.

 

Greg, Thank you for the photo. I was posting a reply to Steve when you posted your reply.
What holds the carpet in place?
Is the carpet padded?
I do have some other pieces of carpet. I will see if any of those will fit that area.
I just want to get that out of the way before I begin the other projects on the car.
Just seeing it looking complete will be a great accomplishment for me, since it is a puzzle without a picture.

 

The carpet is glued at the top, just ordinary carpet, and also hooks round the top of the tank securing struts.
The battery has a plastic battery box over it that is secured at the bottom, as shown in my photo. It is important to ensure the battery posts cannot short on anything, so in my view a cover is a safety essential; I always shudder when I see uncovered batteries in cars that are being used regularly.

 

LOL. Hopefully, one day I will be able to drive my car. Even though I don't now, I at least want it to look complete. I am looking at options for my seized engine.
I am going to do everything else on the car so when the opportunity for an engine comes by, that will be the only thing I would have to do. I will post a picture of the trunk area when I am done with it.
I still have to find a spare tire and rim for the car. I have 3 extra rims and tires for my XJ40. I don't know if I can use one of them as a spare. I will have to check the fitment.
The outer diameter of the 245/45/ZR17 and the 205/65/15 is approximately 25 inches, so if the XJ40 rim fits on the 85 XJS I will use it as a spare. More on that later.

 

On the late cars, the gas tank carpet cover has a strip of vinyl sewn the the top edge. The vinyl is glued to the trunk guttter ring, and the trunk seal goes right over it. Looks pretty clean that way and won’t shift around.

 

To clarify the tire sizes mentioned in Post #7, my car is sitting on 17 inch Momo rims and the tire size is 245/45/ZR17

 

This is how I did my fuel tank cover. Heavy duty velcro glued to the car. Corresponding velcro also glued to the carpet. Been 5 months - hasn't fallen down yet

The velcro holding my side carpet on the outer guards - one side is glued to the insulation - the other side is sewn in place.

Very much not original - but is good enough for me

Hinge holes are the same - just the camera angle shows them different. centre hole did not need to be as big - but that was our starting point

I have placed a strut to stop the boot lid falling on my head. The car has been parked on ramps for a long time,and I have a wing on the back, which meant that when I climbed in the boot to do stuff - I kept on getting a head ache.

The hose you see in the 2nd photo is the drain hole from the fuel filler cap. On yours there should also be a drain hole just near the boot sealing rubber. These 2 hoses join together in a Y shaped. I deleted my boot drain when I did the rust repairs

Cheers
Steve

 

Steve
I do like that battery box.

 

Thanks Greg

My original tray was rusted pretty well, the original covers were long gone, which made the boot look unsightly. I have the fuel pump bolted on a 45 degree angle to the checker plate. I removed the big pre-filter, which allowed me minimum rubber hoses in the boot. Still smells fresh.

As part of my 12 month maintenance plan - I will replace that filter inside the surge tank to compensate the lack of pre-filter. Made this a bit easier by putting a valve between the main and surge tank, which also removed some rubber hose length. Now i just have to deal with 1 litre of fuel instead of 90 when the time comes

Cheers
Steve

 

I will post a pic of the fuel hoses in the trunk later today. I do not know if it is the original configuration or whether the PO configured it this way.
Seems to me that there are too many hoses protruding from the fuel tank that will prevent the carpet from sitting flat against the tank as shown in the pictures posted by Bez and Greg.
The dog leg panels that are attached to the wing on the left side hits the fuel filler hose and on the right side hits the multitude of hoses there.
Since I have to force the panels against the hoses, one alternative is to trim the panels so they will not touch the hoses or rearrange the hoses on the right side and trim the left side since the filler hose is in a fixed position.

 

Hello Sanchez

Believe it or not - it looks like your fuel system in the boot looks like the original design. The big pre-filter settles behind the spare tire (out of mind out of sight). Not sure how the original carpet looks like behind the spare tire).

The LH dog leg that hits the filer cap rubber is a bit of a mystery, mine is original here and I have clearance, so that is a bit of a head scratch.
The RH side - you are most likely clashing with the venting system of the fuel tank. Two vent lines going up above the wheel arch to the vapour seperator - or what I call the octopus looking thing, A slightly bigger diameter hose returns to the tank (which is the lower tank port).
The idea is vapour and liquid expand during the heat of day and go to the octopus where the 2 are separated, liquid returns to the tank, and the gas is directed to the vapour canister found at the front left hand guard.

I removed 2 out of the 3 vent lines - and installed a 2 way vent valve - mounted as high as I could. The vent valve also has a roll over protection built into it. It has simplified that area of the boot, while also minimised rubber hoses required again..

The other hose you see near the RH hinge is another boot drain which I deleted during the rust repairs.



Hope it helps

Cheers
Steve

 

I think I have resolved the issue of the carpet. I also got most of the interior done. I am waiting on a generic glass run channel and after installation I will install the door panels.

trunk carpet. Will take a better picture later

interior

 

looking good!