XJS Shooting Brake project. Bought a 88 and 89 XJS and creating a Shooting Brake in the spirit of the Lynx Eventer.

 

 

Have you an idea how you will handle the rear door?

 

Some sort of hatch from another car welded in.

Thinking a 260Z but that hatch might be too big.

Worst case would be a SUV rear glass hatch.

 

I've seen a conversion using a Rover 800 rear flap/lip. Can't remember where but it blended in well - with the rear lights from the Rover.

 

Thanks for the Rover tip!

 

 

Beautiful dogs mate!

 

Thanks! Ruby (chocolate) and Sophie (Black) are the models.

More progress, quarter panel reinforcements welded in:

 

Trim a discovery door? Wouldn't it be better to be oversized and then you can trim it?

They are made of aluminum, and hinge out instead of up. I guess the glass would look silly though...

 

I have learned a tremendous amount about auto glass while planning this project.

Most (if not all) side and rear glass is tempered which means it cannot be altered in any way.

I discovered you can cut windshields down but cutting curved laminated glass is tricky. Youtube has experts doing it but I cracked two windshields practicing and gave up on the idea. (I was planning on using a cut down windshield as the back side glass)

I've also discovered that side and rear glass on cars is incredibly subtle in the shapes and bends that manufactured into it. You don't really notice the curve of glass on cars the way you notice other shapes.

I've also discovered that you CAN have laminated glass made into any shape but the quote I got for side windows was for $3500 for two windows. too much for this project.

More updates soon....

 

A number of approaches have been taken on XJS conversions to Shooting Brakes / Hatchbacks. These include the tailgates from Renault 5, Citroen Xantia and the rear window from a Citroen Ami 9 Saloon (used in the Lynx Eventer)

Good luck with the project

Paul

 

Excellent lead! Thanks!

 

 

And here is my favorite view of the car so far...

 

The other day I cut the roof off of a Chevy 4 door pickup to use the roof skin. I cut up a Chevy van for another roof support

The A pillar roof support is from the Chevy truck and the roof support midway through the quarter window is from the Chevy van.

The quarter window frames are made from 1" square tubing with a slit cut through the middle and a piece of mild steel pounded into the groove and then welded. This acts as the lip for the window molding.

The rigidity of the car has increased dramatically as new pieces of steel have been welded in (obviously) but the effect is surprising.

 

I work in the window and glass business and get common requests asking about new glass for cars. If you were to measure properly and alter the shape a tad, you could get away using laminated flat pane glass for the sides which shouldn't cost anymore than ~£200/both. The bootlid depends on what flap you use... The XJ-S had a flat pane in the rear anyway, so it could partially be carried over to the sides.

Do you intend on glueing the glass or using the normal rubber strips?

 

We are thinking alike. I had a piece of flat laminated glass cut into the shape and test fit to check the look but it wasn't quite right. The glass is almost 4 feet long and so the lack of curve is evident.

For the side windows I've decided to use a product/company called Optic Armour. It's a polycarbonate plastic with a special coating that makes it scratch resistant (They have promotional video of steel wool underneath a moving windshield wiper). Here is a link to an article on another car.

Fox Body Mustang Optic Armor Drop-In Blackout Window Install - StangTV

Drag racers use it lose weight but the main advantage for me is that it cuts like wood and can be bent into curves, even compound curves.

I've not decided how to install it yet, choices being a rubber glass setting channel similar to how stock windows are installed, glueing in with silicone or urethane or using bolts and some sort of weather strip underneath.

I'm thinking bolts in order to get the bend correct, along with a rubber channel so that it looks stock.

 

I wouldn't bolt it. You introduce possible rust spots. If I were doing this, I'd rubber channel ist. Reason being, that a glue would require some kind of edge cover to keep it looking neat and tidy.

But good tip with the lexan stuff... I'm def keeping an eye on this

 

I was going to add, keep trying to cut the laminated glass, we did it on a 49 suburban that a friend chopped the top on. I also thought a flap from a Volvo sportwagon, but due to the limit of supply, it wouldn't work.