Hey All,
I just got my XKR back from the detail shop today, and she looks great. I had paint correction done and ceramic coating added. The paint is super smooth and looks like glass.

I'm very happy with the work this shop does, this is the second vehicle that I've had paint corrected and coated there.

Pics attached.

Pat

 

Nice! We have "cousins"

 

Grooming the Cat

 

No issues with the supercharger but figured after 12 years, fresh oil would be a good investment. After looking at the sticky for the 5L S/C oil change with the filler on the aft end of the S/C, this was a piece of cake🥵

I bought a supercharger oil change kit from EBay that had two 4 Oz. Bottles of AC Delco oil plus a 60 cc syringe and a push-on adapter with a small diameter flexible plastic hose ( about $32 US delivered). I also had a set of stubby ball end Allen wrenches from which the 3/16” fits the S/C plug.

There are a couple coolant hoses and bits of wiring harness above the oil filler plug. I just tied these back to give better access to the plug but access is still a little awkward.
The ball end Allen wrench made turning the fill plug easier as the wrench can be slightly angled and fit in the fill plug.
The removable syringe adapter made life easier too as I could wiggle and push the flexible hose into the S/C oil sump without the syringe being attached. A pair of long needle nose pliers made it easier to push the hose into the sump.
Then I could press the syringe on to the adapter to remove or inject the oil.
Make sure you stuff a rag under the fill hole in case you drop the filler plug. This also helps keep any oil drips or overflow off the engine.

Complete oil fill is supposed to require 216 cc. Took out about 190 cc of nasty looking oil so put back 200 cc at which point a little bit overflowed back out of the fill hole. So figured I did a pretty complete oil change. At least I feel better with fresh oil in there!
Pictures below for those who are interested.

stubby ball end Allen wrench engaging the S/C oil fill plug.



about 190 cc of old oil.



fresh S/C oil. Almost two 4 Oz. Bottles were needed. Color reminds me of a nice Albarińo!


Stubby ball end Allen wrench used for fill plug removal.


Syringe with removable adapter and flexible hose

 

Decided the power steering fluid should be changed as likely to be 12 years old. No problems with the steering but fresh oil wouldn’t hurt.
Used a large syringe and extracted about a pint from the reservoir. I then disconnected the upper (larger) hose from the reservoir thinking that was the return path from the PS pump. The large wad of paper towels stuffed under the hose caught most of the remains fluid... a bit messy but not terrible.
Connected a hose coupler and vinyl hose to this upper reservoir hose and ran the vinyl hose to a catch bucket.
With front wheels off the ground and engine OFF, turned the steering wheel lock to lock but no fluid came out the vinyl hose and the reservoir was filling up. Oops... the larger hose seems to be the OUTPUT of the reservoir to the pump. The BOTTOM hose is the return line to the reservoir (which I confirmed after checking the shop manual post-facto). Duh!
Rather than reconnecting my drain hose to the bottom reservoir hose and causing more of a mess, I jammed a large funnel into the larger output hose that was already disconnected and filled it with fresh Dexron III ATF. Cycled the steering and sucked the old fluid out of the reservoir as it filled. Did this several times until reservoir fluid came out clean.
Connected the larger hose back up to the reservoir, cycled the steering several more times and topped up the reservoir as needed. I could hear air in the PS system which went away after cycling the steering a few times and the air was purged. Ended up putting a total of 1 1/2 liters of ATF in.
Took a nice drive and steering was fine. Topped up the reservoir with another couple of ounces after returning home.
All is well that ends well, but read the manual first!

 

Finally got a chance to take her out of the garage today. She’s been sitting since I changed the oil, months ago. Blew the dust off, and went for a short drive.
Had only gone a couple blocks, when I spotted another X150, turning a corner, half a block ahead. Since it was headed the same way I was going, I chased it down.
A white 2012+ XK convertible, with a mature female driver. I pulled up along side at the next traffic light. We gave each other a mutual ‘thumbs up’, and went our separate ways.
Hadn’t seen another X150 in the area for a long time, but then I haven’t been out much either.
Needless to say, I proceeded to give my baby a bath when I got back home. She needs to sparkle the next time she’s out in public.

 

Great you were able to get the car on the road. That is the point after all.
I keep looking for another XK on the local roads but only see the SUVs. I did glimpse a nice XK140 (I think) a few weeks ago but was gone before I could turn around to catch up and get a better look. Pretty fast for a vintage car!! There is a new forum member in the next town over with a XK vert but I try to avoid going there (like the plague&#128535 as it is a summer beach town with lots of visitors right now. Maybe today I’ll see one.

 

In the early days of my (misspent) youth, we VW Microbus owners would always flick our semaphores - later headlights - when we chanced upon other VW drivers. Microbus drivers were a certain type of oddball and was always fun to see other like-minded outsiders. Was a cult thing; guess some things never change with specialty cars...

 

Today I replaced the rear part of my car's exhaust system with a new one from Elite & Performance Jags in Derby, England. I wanted more 'growl' but no droning at highway speeds, and their system promised this. The system is hand-made for the vehicle with a lead time of about two weeks. Fitting took about two hours (including an hour or so for the car to cool down).

Elite's website says this about the system I chose:

Elite RR performance sports rear box, suitable for the new XK/XKR 2006 on 4.2, constructed from 2.5” pipe work in 304 grade stainless steel, huge weight saving over the OE rear box, features quad 3” staggered and slash cut tailpipes with inner perforation, direct replacement for the standard rear box, fantastic sound that gives an Aston V8 Vantage-esque bark on acceleration and pleasing rumble at idle, performance increase approx 18-20bhp. Fully mirror polished, lifetime warranty.

The system lives up to the description in every way. Looks awesome with the bigger pipes protruding from the diffuser!

Here are some pics... first one is from the Elite website:



These are taken with my phone:



And here is the shiny bit underneath:



I am delighted with the result. A lot more growl under acceleration but no uncomfortable drone at cruising speed, which is what I wanted. Plus a beefier look. It sounds especially awesome in Sport mode when braking and the throttle is auto-blipped as the lower ratio is selected.

 

A crude before and after comparison showing how much nice the bigger tips look.

 

Well, I didn't actually do anything TODAY (besides check the tire pressure, oil levels and a quick walkaround), but I did the full paint polish treatment last weekend in anticipation of departure tomorrow for a 3K mile tour of the Southeast US. I'm swinging by Biloxi, MS to grab a long time friend, and we're headed to the Atlanta, GA metro area to help another mutual friend celebrate another birthday by attending a surprise soiree for him this weekend. Biloxi friend gets the added bonus of visiting his daughter and two granddaughters while we're in the area.

I sense the eminent death of many Cuban cigars.

 

Looks nice , post some sound clips. 20hp though highly unlikely , closer to 0 more Likely as a stock setup is not restrictive.

 

 

I take the bhp figures with a grain of salt. Not looking for more performance - just more growl and a better aesthetic.

This is the exact same system I had fitted, from the supplier's website.

 

The exhaust looks to be a lot closer to the ground then the OEM? Take it easy over bumps!:-)

 

It looks that way but it's more a trick of the camera. I had to use a wide-angle lens and practically lie underneath the car to get the photo at all. In real life, there's a ton of clearance.

 

Wash with a fresh coat of wax. Gosh, you guys. I've had my dream car for almost a year now and I am still obsessed.

 

Coventry wheels n/a 5L very good

 

I’ve done a few cosmetic things to my baby.
1. changed the gear knob and added a machined R with a red insert
2. Put in chrome foot pedals
3: custom jaguar empáleme storage box
4: jaguar center rim caps
5: jaguar emblem Valve stem covers
6: changed lug nuts from brushed metal to high gloss black with jaguar head etched in
7: changed the supercharger pulls to a Mina supercharger pulley, increased hp by 37 hp
8: had entire car ceramic coated


Foot Pedal additions

Gear shifter addition

Rim treatments

My baby at home

My baby ceramic coated in the garage

 

Nice work! Although if you didn't do ECU tune for the pulley you probably gained 10-15 hp best. I noticed no difference on mine with pulley until properly tuned. Can help you out , send me a PM