Hello all,
I looked at my first XJS the other day. The paint on every horizontal surface is quite crazed & the dash is cracked & the woodwork needs refinishing however the leather seats, door trims and roof lining were near perfect which I'd consider a god start.

The only thing that really bothers me about the car is that it has rust on both sides down low on the rear quarter panels where they meet the sills (rocker panels?) between the doors and the rear wheels and a little directly below the rear side window on one side which would probably not have perforated the metal yet.

Is this a common place for them to rust? if so would it be a case of run like hell or a relatively simple fix?

The paint issues don't worry me as that is a simple fix involving los of manual labour to remove the dead paint and all of the primer below it and the electrical gremlins preventing the engine from starting don't faze me either as my first few cars were Australian Valiants which were plagued with electrical faults.

However the rust concerns me somewhat.

Thanks Jim...

 

Rust is common issue on every car of this generation, the XJS is no different. The sills and floor pan are common areas where moisture pools and attacks the paintwork. Providing its not structural (sub frame / chassis members) rust can always be repaired - its just a question of if it is worth doing. If your handy with a torch and have so time most rust problems are a doddle but time consuming and if your not, well time is expensive for someone that it.


Quick tip, grab a small magnet and pass it over the bodywork of the car - it wont stick to filler or previously repaired areas, it will give you a true impression of state of play. Also apply light pressure (remember its not your yet) to the rust areas and see what kind of depth it has - one way or another it has to come out!


As for the paint, its a re-spray if you want it top notch -crazing is a given on Jag's of this age. If its not too bad give it a detailing routine (wash / clay / wash / cut / wash / wax / seal) and you might be pleasantly surprised with the result. Decals / pinstripes will be causalities of either process.

Good luck!

 

Look at a few more cars to get a better idea of the state it should be in.

 

I don't know if you actually felt the seats, but a cracked dash ( I've only seen one) and bad paint indicates a lot of sun damage. It is possible the seats look okay because they are very well made thick leather, but how hard were they??

my seats look good, but I've spent more than an entire bottle of leatherique getting my passenger seat to feel the way it looks.

 

Hi

If the dashbord is cracked and wood needs refinishing it is likely that the leather seats are already reupholstered or replaced. If not be carefull not to damage the leather. Excessive sun makes the leather dry and brittle. As soon as you start using the seats the leather might crack and tear. This was the case with my 88 xjs convertible. You can safe your interior from being ruined by applying rejuvinator oil or leather creme before using the seats.

 

Hi Jim,

If I were you I would be looking for a car with no RUST. Everything else is much easier and cheaper to fix. I bought a rust free car 5 years ago and spent the last 2 years cutting rust out in areas that you could not see.

If you like I live in South Western Sydney and would be more than happy to look over any car for you. Also if you want to discuss PM me your phone number and I'll give you a call.

 

Bugga I did not really feel the seats but hey have all been kept under a set of those ugly sheepskin seat covers. The car is 800km (500 Miles) away so I can't just pop in and feel the seats.

Dash cracking on any car that is 30+ is almost a given.

Sun damage to paint is very common here in Australia just less common on white paint. Sun damaged paint I would view as a good thing because it indicates that the car does not have a shiny new paint job concealing lots of uglies such as rust and/or filler. My best mates car has chalky white blotches on the metalic blue paint of his 7.5 year old car however he has never garaged that car in those years.

This one has typical Australian sun damage as well as enough rust judging by the photos to make anyone run as fast as possible away from it. At least the seller has been honest about the condition of the car which is nice:
XJS JAGUAR COUPE 79 MOD | Cars, Vans & Utes | Gumtree Australia Campbelltown Area - Campbelltown | 1039539031

The white one that I looked at also had rust spots between the tail lights and the boot rubber seal only visible with the boot open.. Unusual?

FWIW rust is a non issue where I am from (inland Australia) however IF I found one locally there is no guarantee that the car is actually a local car.

Jim...

 

mine was going there when I got it 20 years ago.
when I got round to it I cleaned it all and welded the whole
seam up and sprayed the bottom half a with an easy, local repair, colour

 

around the USA jaguars of the 70s are 99% rust buckets, many are just given away, at no charge!

how do i know;my XJS was given me to remove from storage area,so they could rent the storage space, 2 1/2 yrs of rust repairs, everything below the door centers was rusted thru! $30,000. later is what you see, NO rust, and well rust proofed

pic of my beautiful 1975 XJC coupe V12 ,manual trans ,knock off wires, was rusted beyond my age ability, to get into a 3-5yr restore,not gonna happen, at again no cost other than get it out of backyard.

because the 75 was a RARE car i sold it for a good profit!, to Hawaii guy. who has plenty on money and time!

 

Stay away unless you can do all the work yourself. The rear quarters are rusted out and there is most likely more rust in the under carriage. You will spend 20K at least to restore it. I know I have just been through it and I did all the work myself and I still spent at around 30K. My body work alone cost me 5K in materials and then 1K for the spray gear, and took 1.5 years to get it right.

There is a Red 77 manual for sale in NSW on the NSW Club website for 20K, this would be a good buy.

As I said in my last post I am more than happy to help you find a good car, I live 15min from Campbelltown.

 

Yes that blue one is parts only I reckon.

The one in Melbourne that I looked at was a lot less rusty than that blue one but not knowing a great deal about these things I don't know whether a bit of rust bubbling on the front of the rear quarters is a simple fix like it is on an E series Falcon dog leg or a major job like a bit of bubbling is on the scuttle of a HQ-WB Holden.

Jim...

 

Usually a bit of bubble turns out to be a major rust fix. Rust in the front guards is easy fix. These cars tend to rust in the lower sections, around the radius arm mounts and lower rear quarters. Radius arm mount repair is a major job. Other areas for rust are the corners of the front and rear screens and in the buttress towards the taillights, this usually starts in the channel. From what I have seen cars in Australia tend to rust differently to cars in the UK and USA, probably due to the fact we do not have much snow or salted roads.

It really depends on what you want, if you are looking for a project then something with a little rust is ok as you will stripping the car anyway. If you want something to get in and drive I would be looking at cars between 20k-30k and negotiate (they usually spend a long time on the market), you would spend this easily resorting something. I poured at least 20k ++ (total cost of my car would be somewhere between 30 - 40k including 7k purchase) into mine and I would be lucky to get 20k.

 

Thanks for the advice.

I was once a motor mechanic so mechanical issues are not much concern to me.

Electrical issues I can usually nut out if I spend a reasonable amount of time on them.

Interior work I would probably have to pay for some and do things such as removal/replacement myself. I could probably do a good job on the wood refurbishment.

Body rust is another issue. I could cut rust out without fear or damage but replacement metal done to a good standard I'd probably have to pay for on externally visible panels.

Structural rust I could do to a good standard as it involves thicker metal than body panels.

A project car is all that I could afford at the moment. Divorce causes me to have a mortgage and almost crippling CSA payments.

I see a 350 powered XJ-S on the market for $7.5K in Vic but it looks suspiciously like one that was on the market in QLD for about the same $$ a few months back (including QLD mod plate) which makes me wonder whether someone bought it and found insurmountable problems with the car.

I'm possibly going to upset purists here and say that I'd probably consider one that has been re powered with a Ford, Chrysler or Holden V8 if the conversion were done to a very high standard but I'm not a fan of the SBC at all.

 

If you buy a project car be prepared to.

Interiors are usually stuffed. New headlining and seat covers.
Repair wood.
Rebuild both front and rear suspension.
Repair AC most are not working.
Repair rust and repaint.
Find and repair electrical gremlins caused by other peoples tampering.

I am not trying to put you off just being realistic. I spent nearly 3 years rebuilding my XJS.

warrjon's Library | Photobucket

 

I found a very good series on where the XJS rust and why.
www.justxjs.com I believe they are located in Australia.

Good luck

 

That is a good read indeed. Very much par for the course on UK driven cars.

I found one in Melbourne which is a non runner that needs new paint but supposedly completely rust free which is just what I'm after. If it were a HE I'd be completely rapped.

Now I just have to find the best way to transport it the 800 odd KM to Southern NSW.

I did look at a yellow one in Sydney a couple of weeks ago but looking at it saddened me a little as A/. it was not my ideal colour scheme (yellow with blue interior) but it was so beautifully restored you would be mad to change anything on the car.

B/. It was in such beautiful condition that I just new that the bidding on it was very likely to go way over my price range which is exactly what it did. It was a fantastic car and a bargain at $12K and it's on it's way to Melbourne. Anyone here buy that lovely car? If I had got it for what I could afford I would have felt bad because I could see the cars true value (I estimated about $13K even as a non runner it was THAT good).

Jim...

 

Hi Jim


if you are looking for a rust free 84 HE with an almost perfect interior, no cracked dash and wood in great condition. New master cylinder and total radiator overhaul completed.


car runs superbly and has 164k on the clock. RHD Australia delivery car.


You might be interested in taking our car for a run. Located in NE Vic.


only reason it is for sale is due to the fact that our 76 pre-HE is in the water from USA.


feel free to contact me at bernards@greenwaybanks.com.au at any time.


Bernard

 

Thanks but I have found one.

Will be driving to Melbourne with a 4WD and car trailer to pick it up on Anzac Day.

Regards, Jim...

 

Posted a thread up about my new XJ-S here:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...45/#post963855

Regards, Jim...

 

Hi, I have an xjs, and yes, they have some common places to rust; sills, floors, front cross member, front shock mount areas, inner corners of buttresses near the rear view window, behind the chrome of the front windscreen lower corners, bottom of doors. In short, these cars seem to rust really well from the inside out and rust can be quite extensive before it shows much on the outside. I’ve heard, on a quiet night, standing next to the car you might actually hear it rusting 😁.

I wonder if you still have the car? So many have been scrapped for parts over the past 7 years or so.

I’ve kept mine and had work done, but I’m not fully sure that’s wise, although I like the car and I’m through the worst of the rust now, so still keeping it. I’ve now had it 20 years.