i swore and cursed at mine and ordered

New Four Trailing Arm Rear Control Arm Bushing Set Bushings

Jaguar XJRS XJS XJ6 & XJ12 New QH Brand Rear Wheel Bearing Kit QWB137C X2

JAGUAR VANDEN PLAS JAGUAR XJ JAGUAR XJ12 JAGUAR XJS REAR WHEEL HUB ASSEMBLY

4 Piece Rear Differential Mounts for Jaguar XJ XJ6 XJS XJ12 Vanden Plas Set Kit

oh and bought 4 new tires.

Finally (after over a year of having it!) fitted the new headlining, looks much nicer now.

I started to talk to her today... She's not ready yet and summer is coming closer and closer but she shall not be driven for a while yet. I'm doing everything in peace and what takes time takes time... No rush. And I explained it to her. She seemed to agree because as I closed the door, she didn't rattle like normal :D

Couldn't find a pulley to fit the 115 amp unit that I ordered, so it was with a heavy heart that I returned it and just had the old Lucas unit rebuilt.

Use a GM alt in place of the air pump, plus the early kick down only requires the micro switched flipped to the top of the bracket next to the capstan, no wires etc that I know of, at least not on mine and others I've helped do it. Look in upper left corner of photo.

Attachment 155389

I don't recall whose it is, but I'm going off of a mod that another member posted wherein the kickdown was being driven by the fuel enrichment microswitch. There was a bit of wiring involved. There was kind of a second, follow-up mod that cut out the AC at full throttle that I'm going to track down sometime after I fix up my stereo - or at least after I remove that stupid cassette.

Today
 

Today I removed my bumper reflector light covers. HAnd scrubbed with a scothbrite pad and water. dried them off. and then compounded them with my 3600 rpm black and decker buffer. and maguiars rubbing compound.

Same treatment to the plastic covers over the Jaguar lettering on trunk.

Grill was looking like concrete gray. Removed that.. hand buffed ..and then Attempted to use the buffer while gripping the grill for dear life.

results. Reflecting polished parts anew again =]

Just noticed surface rust on all the chrome, maybe the pollen is trapping moisture?
Didn't have any polish or cleaner so I went out with a steel wool pad and some Penetrating oil and removed it all.

the flipped switch method allows the enrichment to happen just prior to the kick down. I've been told by some old timers this is preferred, if using the enrichment to kick down they would happen at the same time which I imagine would be fine.

Bosch O2 sensor... x2 for 31.01 to the door....

bosch 13032 O2 sensor....

normally 50 to 100 dollars now on close out at RockAuto on line
https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,c...,parttype,5132

choose the drop down box and you will see it for Wholesale close out for 12.49

Ignition coil failed
 

Thought I may have had a Marelli type failure as car started to run rough enough to only sound like 6 cylinders were working and idle was low.
Fortunately occurred just as we were pulling up at home so no long drive.

Went to check for sparks and found B bank coil lead was not fully seated in distributor, but even when seated, there was no improvement. B Bank failure is NOT a normal Marelli failure.

Checking further indicated no spark from B coil.
Checked resistance and primary was 0.5 Ohm, OK, secondary was 150k Ohm, no good, way high. Good thing having two banks about the same is that checking the A bank coil, the secondary was 7k Ohm, OK.

New coil ordered and installed from Parts Geek 2 days and $35 and all smooth again.

Finally got the cassette out of that AJ8700 but...

Darn car still thinks there's a tape in there so all it does is fast forward and rewind a tape that does not exist.

Guess I'm going to have to replace it, but Id rather have the thing rebuilt.

Nothing yet but I am looking forward to the warmer weather! Rusty (my XJ8) is nearly ready for his everyday life and then the Iron Lady is due again! :)

I've been relatively productive.

Found an AJ8700 in a yard not far from here and tomorrow I'll find out if it has the codes. If not, I'm tempted to buy it anyway as long as the serial number is visible. I hear there are ways to determine the code from just that.

Also conditioned the leather, this time with Lexol instead of Meguiars. The finished product isn't as "slick" as the Meguiars leaves it, and the condition of the back seat (which has always been brittle) feels a bit softer. The scent leaves something to be desired, though.

About to head back out there with a stick and poke at some things under the hood while I still have daylight.

Twilight Zone
 

Today I tackled the none working passenger window I remove the bottom of the dash to access the electric window relay panel. They say the relay is on the back. I could never get to it. I tried to remove the glove box by removing all the screws. The box would not budge. I took off the door panel. Not as bad as I thought It would be. I decided to put everything back together. I tightened a loose bolt on the door holding the electric window motor. I put it all back together. The window started working. However, now the drivers window has stopped working. Queue music. :icon_snow::icon_snow:

My windows work alright (above freezing, at least) but it's the sunroof that's giving me grief. It'll go halfway back, and then I'll hear it grinding against some grit on the track. It'll struggle, and I won't have the heart to force it back. I have no idea how to deal with that, but I've applied silicone lubricant rather liberally. Maybe that will lubricate the grit... :icon_laugh:

Today I picked up some replacement microswitches, and tried to brainstorm a setup where I could have the best of both worlds - the original kickdown switch in its original configuration, another one triggered by the fuel enrichment switch, and a switch in the car to toggle between them. Also, without a radio, I'm forced to listen to the fuel pump whine, so I think that's going to be my next task, even before radio repair/replacement.

Just to get my facts straight, the pump itself in an '88 is on the right side by the surge tank, yes? The filter is behind the spare tire?

Yes. The whine could be being caused by a blocked filter in the surge tank under the battery, which stresses the pump as it cannot get enough "feed". So it is a good idea to undo the locking ring and check that while you are in the area.

Greg

Thanks for confirming that. I noticed on the way in to work today that my pump didn't whine at all, leading me to believe that starvation mounting after a long run is the culprit, and that the pump is otherwise fine... For now.

Guess I know what else I'm doing tonight. That filter's days are numbered.

Twilight Zone Update
 

Windows are working now. The problem was not the the switch, motor or relays.
It was the sockets themselves. I guess from being handled so much they were
making poor connections or the wires were coming loose. :icon_rain:

Today I replaced the filter. The new unit was a lot lighter. Whether that's because the old unit was clogged or because of construction is unknown. Got a sprayed a bit, but the job was simple enough to do in the few minutes before the storm rolled in.

Then I threw the cover over her because there was a storm rolling in - but not before giving her a start. She stumbled up to idle like she was waking up post-party and still drunk, but she seemed to run alright.

I think the pump itself is the next thing on the list.