I really don’t know how to start this thread or what to say- but please read on to the end, and if you’re new, you will begin to realize how special this community really is. I’ve had my ‘15 XKR for about 3 months and am new to JLR but I saw a YouTube vid and drove to Texas from Kentucky. I drove it and bought it that day. Since then I’ve joined the forum and I’ve had a lot of helpful tips and recommendations on maintenance, etc.
One of the first people who responded to one of my questions on the first things that I should do to be proactive in order to eliminate future problems was a gentleman by the name of Ted. He goes by Tberg on this forum and a lot of you probably know him.
I subscribed to him and was able to read all the threads that he had either written or responded to others with help and advice. Then my headliner fell down. I was disappointed, frustrated, and had no idea what to do or who to turn to for for help. Every upholstery shop that I called didn’t want to touch it. Or couldn’t find the material. So I reached out to Ted after reading a thread and someone recommended him in regards to material and info. So I did and he got me the passion suede, and even went as far as to send me some samples on his own dime before practically giving me enough of it to do three cars. Over the past couple of months Ted and I spoke at least one to two times on the phone every week about Jaguars, daily life, his grandkids, his lovely wife, family and his of course his favorite band, the Byrds.
Sometimes I just needed advice, sometimes I just needed a tip or trick, or encouragement to replace the headliner myself, sometimes a source for parts, and along the way, I heard a lot of great stories. He loved his XKR, and his gorgeous red De Tomaso Pantera. I’d laugh every time he told me that the car would overheat by the time he started it and got it backed out of the driveway. I don’t think he realized that he told me the same story multiple times, but it was always funny every time I heard it.
I don’t have many regrets in life, and I’ve been pretty fortunate. But one regret that I have is that I never got to meet him in person. He invited me to come visit him in California, told me I could stay with them, and that I could have his Pantera for the weekend because at this point he had sorted out the overheating problems, but I was still a little bit skeptical lol. I was preparing to plan for some time this coming fall where I could also run over and meet Chris at Mina galleries- who is another one of those unique individuals who always seems to have time to answer questions or give advice without trying to sell you something. But mainly it was to meet this person who had become a friend, and a person who, if we hadn’t spoken in a couple of days, would leave me a message or reach out just to see how I was doing and how everything was coming. He’d encourage me not to get frustrated with the car….
“It’s the best car you’ll ever own and you’ll love it!” He used to tell me every time I spoke with him, and true to his word I think he is going to be right. Not because it’s a jag, or an XKR, or that it has more horsepower than any car I’ve ever owned, because Ted persuaded me to put a lower crank pulley on it (with help from Chris @mina galleries) but simply because of Ted. Ted’s love of cars and his kindness. His willingness to help someone who he’d never met but shared a passion for cars with.

I texted and called him a couple weeks back. When he hadn’t replied in a few days, which was unlike him, I worried a little. I called and left a message. No reply. Then I emailed and still no reply. Finally, a few days later, his number popped up on my caller
ID, and I was gonna ask him if his Pantera had over heated again and left him stranded without a phone. So I answered and before I could say anything, a female voice asked, “is this Bryan?” My heart sank. I already knew. Just because it wasn’t like Ted not to call back. Even when he was busy he made time. Time. The one thing we all think we have. What do we do with it? Ted taught me not to waste it. It doesn’t take much effort to help someone, he’d say. To answer a question. To call your children once a day and say you love them. Do something good with your time, he’d say. Well, he did something good for me. He befriended me. He helped me. He listened. He didn’t have to, but he did. Those that knew him know this. And I’m going to miss him. I’m going to do something good with my time. I’m sorry for those who didn’t have the chance to know him because he was truly one of the good ones and a special person. Goodbye my friend. I will miss you.

 

Ted was a class act, and will be sorely missed by all on this forum. Glad you had a memorable relationship with him. He lifted this forum with his presence, and we are all less with his passing.
Deepest condolences to his family.

 

Tberg helped me tackle my first project on my 2008 XKR: Headliner replacement. He recommended a local upholstery shop that sold the perfect material. More importantly, he gave me the confidence to do the job myself.

God Bless,
Rick

 

@Obtuse1 thank you for taking the time to pen such a meaningful post. In today's world, we are all fed with negativity in waves. Negativity gets viral clicks and makes money for big companies. Negativity fuels endorphins, which gets the heart rate pumping. But those experiences are short-lived and hollow. Real and meaningful relationships, like the one that you shared, are what makes a heart strong. And it is also what makes this community worthy of being a part of. Thank you for the reminder to take a moment to look for, and celebrate, the positives around us and the helpful people in this community. Cheers!

 

thanks for that! It means a lot. I’m a little down as my car is just sitting here with the Supercharger off, the water pump, and a screw that I torqued the head off of that won’t come out, so I’m going to have to re- thread it. But the headliners done, as well as the side and A pillars - and turned out great ! (and if it hadn’t been for his encouragement, I don’t think I could’ve done it.) But he said if you mess up, just redo it because you’ve got enough material! lol and I do have plenty of material and only had to redo one of the A pillars.

 

"thanks for that! It means a lot. I’m a little down as my car is just sitting here with the Supercharger off, the water pump, and a screw that I torqued the head off of that won’t come out, so I’m going to have to re- thread it. But the headliners done, as well as the side and A pillars - and turned out great ! (and if it hadn’t been for his encouragement, I don’t think I could’ve done it.) But he said if you mess up, just redo it because you’ve got enough material! lol and I do have plenty of material and only had to redo one of the A pillars."

You are definitely not alone in that feeling. Within the last few months, I did the work of replacing the water pump, the oil cooler connector, etc., as well as a snout and coupler replacement on the supercharger. Then, within a week, the knock sensor on cylinder 4 started throwing errors and now there's a misfire on that cylinder. So, it's back to removing the supercharger to get to that sensor to see if it's bad or if I screwed up my reassembly last time. Sadly, two of the bolts on the upper intake that had been stripped before my ownership (and I stupidly reused anyway) are now too badly stripped to easily remove again.

It's definitely been disheartening to But, in that 5 days when I first had it back together and it was driving again, it gave me a real sense of accomplishment. I had never done any auto repair that complicated before. Did I do it perfectly? Obviously not. lol But, I did it once and I will do it again.

The one thing that I've learned throughout this whole process is to preserve my sanity I have to keep focusing on the small wins (bleed coolant, remove coolant hoses. etc.) instead of the ultimate goal (get the Jag fixed and running perfectly again). That big goal, especially after just doing many of the same tasks, just feels a lot like climbing Everest again.

So, if you're feeling something similar, my suggestion is to break the project down to smaller pieces and celebrate the small wins along the way. Then, move on to the next incremental goal.

Congrats on the interior repairs, btw. I'm confident that you'll get there!

p.s. I also torqued the head off of one of the bolts securing the water pump, even though I followed the torque specs to a T. I discovered that the break wasn't because I over torqued it as much as it was because the bolt was cheap and too soft for the Jag engineering specs. Bottom line: The cheap bolt wasn't hard enough to demand a rethread of the original slot. I was able to retract the broken bolt and put a high-quality bolt in place without a rethread. It's solidly in place and no leaks have manifested. Maybe you'll get lucky and the same is true?