So, as some of you already know, yesterday was the day to pick up our second Talisman, a Platinum Silver 2003 Coupe with Ivory interior.

A Talisman, because 5 years ago, after a year long search, we found our XJ8 Vanden Plas on the same day that we later heard my wife had breast cancer.
We bought the Vanden Plas nevertheless a couple of days later, as a little token of pleasure and to the life that continues (or so you hope in such situations).

Fast forward, exact (to the date!) 5 years on (and a kind of first milestone in the surviving statistics), we passed this XK8 a week ago, only saw it in a flash.
And it was the same wife which convinced me to turn around for a better look ....
Well, the rest is history, we made the deal, picked her up yesterday, and she is gorgeously standing on her Apollo's.

So, with an XJ-S in the basement which lacks terribly in progress, I got myself an other project .... hmmm ....
Luckily, this one is in a very reasonable condition, and it will probably take less to bring her back to the same "better then new" condition I did to our Vanden Plas.

I made up the list during the last days, which is as usual getting longer and longer, but nothing too much to worry about so far.
The main issues are a P1646 code (but no engine light yet), a dropped / slightly noisy front, and a variety of smaller issues like broken plastics in the interior, some bulbs, etc.
5 years experience with the XJ8 (and a tremendous interaction on this forum) makes it all very recognizable ... sometimes not sure if that is good or bad though.

Below some pics of yesterday, with a last shot of the Vanden Plas, which will be parked up for a bit.
And before flaming me, that leaper is gonne come off, it is glued, not bolted, so it will just need some careful handling I hope.

 

A beautiful car and a Happy wife. You are blessed!

 

Congrats on the new cat.
As suggested, some floss or fishing line and heat will help with the leaper removal, although the glue must be good stuff as it looks as if it's from one of the MKs and they're pretty heavy.

Enjoy!

P.S. Love the VP

 

If the floss or fishing line is too weak, you can get some thin wire (cheese slicer) and use is to remove the tape & Leaper. Usualy takes 2 people, 1 to hold the wire flat on both ends and another to pull the wire through the tape. May have to have wood handles to keep wire from cutting the fingers. BEAUTIFUL CAR! Coupe

 

You might also try soaking it with WD-40 first. Won't hurt the finish and can help in dissolving the hardend glue. Several years ago I purchased a car with a bunch of old campaign bumper stickers. They were so old, hard and, I swear they said "Vote for Abe". Dissolved the glue and they wiped right off.

 

Thanks guys.

As I have always done with a "new" car, I started with a good wash, followed by an interior clean-out.
That way everything goes through my fingers, and everything broken, cracked, dented, or missing shows up.
And so I did yesterday, and fortunately nothing extra came to light.





On the front, the chrome splitter is damaged, and the license plate is fitted in a rather strange way, with the overriders missing, will need to find some replacement there.
The intake cover under the wipers is cracked, and so is the plastic cover above the firewall in the engine bay,



Inside, the seatbelt buckets are broken on both sides, the center armrest needs some stretching work, driver side door pocket is badly repaired.
All need some work, followed by a dye-repair, but it is mainly hours, sometnig I have plenty off.
The shifter cover and surround are totally f*&%ed up, that might be a headache to find some replacement.
I still have a wood trim shift knob from my VDP, so that ugly silver one will go.

The fixed carpets were quite bad looking, with sever strains, but a bit to my surprise, they cleaned up perfectly.
They look and smell like new again.
I also cleaned the mats (still the original Jaguar ones), will decide to replace or not after they are dry.

Then, used a couple of hours to cleaner all leather, followed by Gliptone leather conditioner with that great leather smell.
Long overdue, so probably gonne do that an other time today.
Entering the car is sooo much more pleasant if it smells nice.

ANYONE PARTING OUT A DONOR CAR ?

 

Eric,
It turned out to be a good looking young Lady! After all the dirt came off, she shined right up....Now you've got a really nice project Car.....Shouldn't take to long to get those little problems fixed-up......Look into getting a convex Chrome mesh Grill to replace all the stuff that's broken....That would really make it look good....Then remove those Bumper Strips that run down both sides to make it look smoother!!!! It's good looking now but there is so much more that can be done to it.....!

Congratulations! She's a Beauty...…..

Billy Clyde in Houston

 

Frankly I am not a big fan of the mesh grill on the XK.
On my Vanden Plas it looks pretty cool, but I have always liked the chrome splitter etc. in the XK design, not so much as a reference to the E-type, but just as the XK design.
Personal matter I guess .

On the XJ forum we have the same discussion on the side bumper strips, lovers and haters.
On the XK I think both look good, but on my particular one they will stay.
The car had some respray, and I can totally see the scenario where they did not remove them before painting the door ... most likely ...
And they really don't bother me on this design.

Today I cleaned up the trunk, removed the rear view camera, took all non-original wiring out (camera, manual antenna) reorganized, fixed and bundled all remaining looms, refitted the lining as it is supposed to be, and some more.
Cutting wires out is always a challenge, never know if the car will start after that .. but it did ...

Now one question: Is the trunk button on the lid supposed to work (as it is on a XJ)?
I see quite some video's where owners use the FOB to open it.
Mine is not working, and the little switch behind the button was toast.
However, I replaced it, electrically it is fine, but the button still doesn't work ...
For good order, FOB, dash switch and key all work fine.

 

Well, yeah, the trunk button on the lid is supposed to work, but you if have the dash button, the fob and the key working, it's not that important in the long run. BTW, a tip I found on the forum is to clean the trunk button with rubbing alcohol. I found out mine was green after trying this !

 

Very nice!
The billet aluminum shifter j gate from the Ebay seller in Canada works well, and as the rest of the shifter area looks good it will make a big visual improvement. I quite like mine.
Are the door mirror covers the "chrome" plastic ones? I have been wondering how they hold up...

 

Shows you don't know me (yet)
I will make it work cause I am one of those sad guys who can't relax if not everything is working as it should be, even if it is totally useless.
Just finished taking out my Vanden Plas interior to have the heater pads working, and I live on a tropical island

I am a bit afraid to touch anything there right now, as most likely everything will crumble in my hands trying to take it out.
I saw the alloy one, might buy one and repaint the surround satin black, but I still prefer to find an original one.

The door mirror covers are indeed the chromed ones, not sure the car came with them, or if they were fitted afterwards.
They are the exact same OEM ones as on my Vanden Plas, so no "sticky-tape on" as also available, and they are holding fine on both cars.

 

The originals show up on eBay occasionally - I bought this one not too long ago. The 6-speed version is harder to find than the 5.

 

Very interesting that the mirrors are the same as the Vanden Plas, I thought they looked different from the one fitted to my car. I have been wondering if any of the other door mirrors from Jags of the period would fit, as there are not any good options for replacing the painted backs with metal.
Living in Florida there is a constant onslaught from bugs and road construction debris. I am hoping for a way to fit door mirrors that had a finished metal back, like the ones available as factory options to the XK.
I wonder if anyone has tried fitting any other door mirrors? They all look like they mount the same way and have the same connections...
BTW I saw a NOS complete center console/ arm rest very cheap on Growler (no affiliation other than being a happy customer) recently

 

 

I had an other look as your reply made me wonder, but yes, I am rather sure they are the exact same mirrors.
If you want to be 100% sure, you can always check the part numbers.

On an other note, I was travelling for some days, with the XK parked under her cover, and that gave me some time to reflect.
I am a person who is always looking for some project, but then, if I get one, want to finish it all in the same day ...
But now, with some reality pored in, I think I have made up the more realistic plan.

I will first order the O2 sensor, as after some 200km, this seems the only real issue.
While in there, I will also clean the MAF sensor and check on some other stuff like spark plugs.
I am trying to retrieve the previous service records, those will tell me some more I hope (according a door sticker, she seems to have been serviced till now by a Jaguar dealer. If true, that should be very unique in a country where maintenance basically stops when the guarantee is over ...).

I will also immediately order the front suspension parts, as she is running a bit low (specially left side), and as she is a bit noisy.
I presume some new uppers, and some links and bushes will solve that.

Finally, as a starter, I ordered the alloy 6 speed billet from Canada, and the 7 set gauge rings from the UK.
We have those rings in our VDP, and I love them.
Together with some paintwork on the shift surround, that should make the interior looking great again.
I went through the whole leather treatment already, and she is becoming soft, fresh and clean, slowly getting that nice smell back.

Then, I inquired around for some of the other needed parts (seat belt buckets, grill parts, trunk lid, etc), but that all has less urgency.
I can wait till the right one shows up at the right price.

Sounds like a plan right?

 

Suggestions:

1. If you do not have one, get a cheap OBDII tool. Wireless models using a mobile phone app work GREAT. Search for ELM327 on your favorite platform (eBay, Amazon, or whatever Chinese equivalent). They do not have any Jaguar-specific knowledge, but emissions code are a great place to start, including fuel trims, coolant temp, etc. Even if you plan to get a better tool later, get these one of these cheap devices now.
2. In my opinion, the one true flaw of these later XK8s is the aging set of hydraulic lines to the oil cooler. They reputedly have a lifespan of 10 years. They see oil pump pressure (all 4 of them) and cause catastrophic and near immediate oil leaks when one of the many rubber/metal unions fail. Put that set of (expensive) oil lines HIGH on your priority list. If these leak and you cannot pull over immediately to shut the engine off, you are likely looking at a replacement engine.
3. Sooner rather than later, look at a semi-comprehensive transmission service, including connector sleeve, pan/filter and new fluid. Here in the US, we use the cheaper MERCON SP. Not all of it can be changed at once, so you have to do another drain/refill later on. If you feel up to it, you can remove the valve body and replace the tube seals and the bridge seal as well. Follow that with transmission adaptation reset.
4. If you have not done so already spend some time on the EXCELLENT jagrepair.com. You don't have to read it all, but know what is there. Find the vehicle spec book, electrical manual, and the TSBs. IT is GOLD for us owners of older Jaguars.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Thanks for the upbeat and advice!

I do run Torque Pro on my phone for years already, partly because I like it, partly just to keep an eye of things like temperatures.
I actually set it up with same color gauges, and a burlwood background, it is not even too bad if I keep the phone on a (removable) holder.

Having a X308 with the ZF 5-speed, most you say sounds familiar, although I did associate it less with the newer 6-speed.

The oil lines is new to me, I wonder if the same counts for the XJ ....

Finally, one of the reasons I like this car is that although not exactly same, there is a lot of crossover with the X308, and lots of principles are the same.
That will make working on this XK a whole lot easier, as a lot passed my hands already on the XJ.

 

Starting easy, this morning first took out the sun visors, as they both suffered from the dreaded fall-free mode.
Luckily, the steel clips were still inside the visors, and mirror housings came out easily.
A bit of epoxy, and hopefully the first repair is done ... one off of a long list

 

Closing the trunk, I several times failed to grab the strap which I am so used to at my Vanden Plas.
Although maybe a bit odd, obviously I got used to it, so having a spare one, added it to the trunk of the XK.



Also took out the shift surround.
It was painted in glossy silver, then damaged and poorly patched, and was standing out strangely in the rest of the interior.
Having bought the billet alloy shift cover, patched up the surround and painting it satin black.

 

While waiting for delivery of the gauge rings and the shifter plate (living on an island far far away needs some patience ...), I decided to tackle the rest of the interior first.
Taking out about everything besides of the front seats, for a a thorough clean, fixing small issues, and most important, fixing it the correct way without noises afterwards.
I went through the same process with my VDP last year, and it paid back very well with a totally quiet interior.
It also allows me to bring the parts up to my apartment, where it is more pleasantly working than in B2.

First tackled the shifter surround.
Lots of fine-sanding and new paint layers made here like new in a black-satin finish.
Not a big fan of the all black XK look, but I guess it will look great with the alloy shift cover on the way.







Then tackled the door cards.
My driver side came with a rather badly patched up hole in it, and a new door card cost me ~USD.450 in part and shipping, that's a bit stiff.
So decided to mix up some of the remaining dye I had, cleaning the previous "repair", then slowly filling up the hole, while at the same time trying to color-match with the panel.
I will let it harden for now, then try to make some structure in it to blend it further, then a final layer of dye.
If you know it is there you will still notice it, but I guess the majority will not.





Finally, among a hundred little things, did cleaned up the little door speakers, and refreshed the ALPINE lettering.