Not much going on for the weekend. I have to save up some funds to afford the 2 hour trip to DesMoines to the Jaguar dealer to get a new key. Im hoping I can keep my car on the trailer when I bring it there to make things easier for me. Since all they are doing is programming the car or a key or however they do it.

I made my front splitter and side diffusers that of course wont get installed until very last after the car is on the road and driving. I dressed them up with carbon fiber and some more graphics to match the car.










I also installed vivvids darkest headlight tint since my headlights are in such crappy condition. Ill get new headlights someday in the future. I also decided to install some graphics on them just for fun to give them a new shape. Its 100X better in person.

 

Well you definitely have to give your car a girl name now with those eyelids you put on her... I fell like you need some of these...

Seriously though, keep up the good work, really enjoying your build...

 

Neat effect on the lamps.

 

Lol my wife already beat you to that idea and I said nope! She wanted to make the little headlamp washer piece white to make it look like eyeballs.

 

Car is still stuck in the garage as I am waiting on an ID to arrive in the mail and for a friend to get back to me on borrowing his trailer with a wench. Meanwhile I have been enjoying the car in the garage which reminds me of when I was 15 and my mom bought me a $500 car that had to sit outside for months before I got my license and could drive it. I would just sit in it for hours wishing I was 16.. lol..

Playing with the air suspension. The rear lowers about 1" lower than my H&R springs did but the front slams about 1" from the ground tucking the wheel about 2 inches. None of this matters as the fenders get cut anyway and new wider fenders get put on.

I installed some cheap amazon diffusers to the rear valance just to give it a little better look. Almost look like little shark fins.


The front diffuser in place (not installed) just to see how it looks. It will look much better when the wide fenders and wider wheels are on.

 

I love the look. It's kind of a pity that you can't add some depth to the transition from graphic to carbon on the nose. It looks too two dimensional in the pictures.

 

I wish I was skilled enough to actually modify that bumper to make it real carbon fiber in that front part. My wife thinks the car looks like the nose/face of a catfish. lol She is now calling it the catfish car.

 

An update on the stolen key situation. Thief still not caught but was almost caught two days ago (long story).. but I have an appointment with Jaguar of DesMoines, Iowa next thursday the 10th at 1:40 to get some new key fobs programmed with the car. So if anyone lives near by and wants to see my car go right ahead, always nice to meet other Jag owners. It is $171 per key totaling to $342 plus $160 for the programming/install. That brings the total to $502 for two keys installed. They had to double check as there is two frequencies available for an 07 XK. The 314mhz frequency (I think that was the number) I guess is the one used for U.S Jaguars.

They said I have to remove it from the trailer myself which will be easy as it will be on a nice racing trailer with a wench. Then push it into the shop and wait for it to get done which they said will take 45 minutes. Then push it back up on the trailer and haul it back home 2 hours to my buddies shop to fix the small coolant leak. Then finally if I am lucky that weekend I will be able to drive it home and finish the car once and for all.

 

Just a dumb question here but did/could you claim the loss on your home owners or is it to small even with any other items that were taken.

 

Home owners insurance is a $1300 deductible so we just didnt feel it was worth it. And they said they would only pay for the ONE key that was taken and Jaguar is making me buy two keys. I guess when you have lost both keys in the software they use to program a new setup it requires two keys. But if you already have one key they will use that to copy the to the new key.

But if they stole more than 1300 worth than I would claim it on the home owners insurance. But since it was just my wallet with 90 cash and the jag key, plus the garage remote its just not worth it.

 

Dang, dude, that's cheap. I got ripped for $375 for ONE key, plus $135 programming, total $510 for the one key.

 

Just an FYI, a wench isn't what you think she is.

 

LOL! Winch.. sorry..

 

I still have the actual key part that slides into the fob, that alone saved me $240.. just for that stupid key that works with all the locks. I left that little part in the keyhole on the truck door and im glad I did! lol

Question is does the $240 key actually work with the current locks or would they have to be changed as well?

 

The only 'key' is the emergency key blade, which you state that you still have. None of the locks on the vehicle will change, you key blade is fine. Go stick it into the boot lock and open the boot.

 

Yeah im keeping the key blade, but my new remotes wont have keyblades, they wanted $240 more per remote for a keyblade in it. So one remote will have my key and one wont.

I do have another keyblade that came with a new keyfob case.. wonder if i can take it to a key place and have it cut to match my other one.

 

I had one cut for $22, but it mucked up the burr on the guy's cutter so he wouldn't cut another one. My blank was aluminum. SO, I got another smithie to order me a brass blank to cut, cost $28 for blank and cut.

 

Any locksmith should be able to cut the key blade for you....mine was free because the smith couldn't program the remote after he told me he could. Of course I had to wait two hours for him to figure out he didn't have the correct software for the job.

I still hope they catch that theif though.

 

I gave in and decided to install the tow hook licence plate mount. I am impressed with how great the quality is and I can change the angle and placement of my plate pretty easy. I really didn't want a front plate but I also don't want any tickets either and honestly it doesn't look to bad.





I also finally got the rear camera installed. My android stereo records the rear and front cameras as soon as the car is started and stops when the car is turned off. I got a 64gb micro sd card that lets me record for weeks before it starts recording over itself again.
Running the wiring through the trunk boot was pretty simple. I just taped my wires to a metal close hanger wire and ran it through, took maybe 15 minutes total.

 

IMHO the offset front plate mount has a huge negative impact on the 'look'. Its in a bad location design wise (too high and doesn't flow with anything on the body) bordering on lazy as far as how it was installed (meaning that it looks like you gave up on trying to find something better). Off the shelf parts that don't fit on custom cars are a huge turn off.

I think this would be a great opportunity to do something similar to your swan neck stanchions that either mount to the splitter or off the lower grill and hold the plate @ 1" away from the bumper below the sickspeed decal. Make it float in space while not trying to attract attention to it, make it cool. Make it fit the space and flow with the body lines. That's what I want to do to mine if / when I ever redo the bodywork. Not a fan of the plastic plate mount on mine either.