Yeah, I know it easy to do. But, I've learned to keep my nose clean and clear LOL!
BTW, I have a couple of complete headlight assemblies all, of which I believe, have clear lenses. They were take-offs from my XK-R that had various issues, if interested.

 

Thanks for the offer. I may take you up on them if I can't get mine sorted out.

CEL showed up again after a long coast downhill on the interstate. Kind of miffed about it. MD emissions requires 30 start ups and 30 miles without a code to pass. I really don't care, just want the car to be happy when it's running.

 

Well, the good thing, at least we're in the same state and within an hour + or -.
I've been following your posts and applaud your tenacity and follow through....
Good Luck....

 

Really enjoying this thread. As an owner of an '07 XKR (british racing green) I appreciate your energy in getting the car to look and act right. Keep up the good work!

 

Thanks for the kind words. The past couple evenings have been spent getting the Chevelle wagon in correct form. Spent a ton of time sorting out prior **** poor decisions. Last night's was sorting out why the center console was installed at a terrible angle. Found that the stock Saginaw shifter isn't offset like the Muncie one. Found that there's a screw on hump that had been tack welded on offset so it rubbed the shifter. Found the there was two layers of floor that hadn't been trimmer to clear the shifter and the shift rod were rubbing hard against it. Cut the hump off, sheared the unneeded floor away. Googled the different Chevy style shifters to determine what I needed to do and finally reformed the floor and hump so it would clear the shift rods. tonight I need to cut the shifter apart and modify it like the Muncie shifter so the shift rod will come up the center of the console. This has been a huge PITA but it will be worth it when finished.

On the XKR, my red ceramic Growler emblem for the grill showed up. It's cast aluminum and I need to figure some clever way to make a replacement front boss that will hold it and look cool. I also got some carbon fiber looking vinyl that may of may not get installed over the wood grain in the car. Working Ot today to get the toy fund built back up so I can order new TPMS's in a week or two and hopefully get rid of that code.

 

Noticed this evening that my drivers side lamp is aiming low but the passenger is OK. Good I think because it means I probably did something dumb when I put the lamp in. I did it with the lamp in the car in the dark. I'm surprised it even lit.

Chevelle is on the downward spiral for this round. Has coolant back in it, started up nice and even idled pretty quickly. Shifter and cooling fan tomorrow and it's out of here.

 

So the big push of the past two weeks is 90% done. Similar to my XKR we got the poor thing back in pretty good shape. The only hiccup we ran into is the radiator isn't cooling the engine and it heat soaks. Car is a monster, overall slower than my XKR but a lot of fun cruising through town with that big straight rib blower belt singing it's song. Driving it is best described as a fat girl on roller skates. You just feel like it's going all over. Needs suspension work and a better exhaust to bring out it's potential.

Tonight is the prom where my buddy's running his daughter and two other local girls up to it in another town 20 miles away. I don't expect a 'save me' but will be ready. He's happy we got as far as we did with it in two weeks of thrashing.






So, to follow up on the XKR. I plan on flushing all the old coolant out of the garage out tomorrow and getting it back inside.

 

So, no real update beyond some thoughts on the first 18 days of driving it. The car is fun, really fun to tool around in. It's kind of a pain get in and out of but once in, it just feels 'right'. It handles better than anything else I've driven and is dead nuts locked to the asphalt. Yesterday's trip home was via an old paved farm lane that's tough on cars but a ton of fun to ride fast on the bike. The car did amazingly well and handled the rough road at speed.

One thing I've noticed is with the exhaust and just plain sexy looks of the car that it brings out the idiot in other drivers. Lots of tailgating or other shenanigans that have led me to do some high speed twisty stuff that I shouldn't be doing. It's almost too easy to go into hooligan mode, crank on some revs and push some corners. I really need to dial it back a couple notches before something bad happens. Did I mention that car is fun? Sport mode rev matching down shifts seems to rial up other drivers. Oh well.

In other news I've been researching the passenger side mirror and I think the one from a newer S type is the same. I'm trying to figure out if I have both heated and auto darkening or just the auto darkening mirrors before buying a used replacement. Yesterday I also ordered the cowl twist locks and 1/4" push pins for the radiator shrouds. Sooner than later I'll be putting the belly pan back on.

 

If you go to Topix and put in your Serial Number you may be able to find out what kind of mirrors are on your car from the build sheet. I have forgotten if that information is there.

 

"Topix", what is this?

 

Yep. Just last night a base model Ford F150 was revving it up next to me at a red light and proceeded to floor it when the light turned green. I mean, really?

Source for parts, docs, all things Jag. Some docs are free, some you have to pay for. Register your car VIN and browse around
https://topix.jaguar.jlrext.com/topix/user/loginForm

edit: not parts... ^ Service bulletins, build info, etc.

 

Excellent! Thanks for the link....

 

Yep, Topix is pretty cool. I downloaded the manuals and that's helped a lot. I wish they allowed more access to the technical side but I've never entered my VIN.

One interesting thing is this morning on the way to work I cracked into it on a length of empty three lane interstate, well except for a lone Tundra a mile ahead in the middle lane. Went by him just over 140 and the car was HAPPY. Rock solid and happy. It was almost surreal just how fast the dashed marks in the road turned into a blur.

 

Hooligan!

 

OK, Topix sucks... It won't let me in the independent operator section.

 

And now that I'm in it still sucks. Was hoping to access some of the more technical stuff. a ears subscription for $500 is not an option. Oh well.

Back to the car. Supposed to rain tomorrow so it's getting a bath and some remodeling. I have a chunk of aluminum and a lathe so it's time to make a new grill emblem.



Tomorrow exhaust Version 2 comes to life. I also just received my clips so the front can get put together and maybe the headlamps sorted out.

 

Lathe work is finished. Once it cools I'll put it in the mill and drill / tap the mounting bolt holes. Then polish some shine into it and seal it before installation. Red Growler is chrome and red porcelain, came from China for $20 or so. I liked it better than the F type that's overly plastic.





More to come.

 

Nicely done! Alternatively, you could attach it with 3M double sided automotive tape.

 

Purdy!
I hope if you stop quickly, it's mass doesn't pull your grill off!

 

Indeed, it's too dang heavy so I need to relieve it of some material in the back before mounting. The grill is flimsy and maybe some day I'll make another out of aluminum wire mesh. I was tinkering with the idea of creating a '07 version of a XKRS-GT with the carbon bits out of aluminum. Rear diffuser, wing, nose winglets and front splitter. Maybe...

Last night I pulled the drivers headlamp out and it's still unhappily looking at the floor. I think I'm going to swap them side to side and see if the fault follows the lamp before digging into the lamp further. Hoping it's a module or wiring problem as the mechanics seem fine.