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I just wanted to write a proper introduction and post some pictures of my new project car, a 1997 xk8. Additionally I would like to extend thanks for all the helpful advice that gave confidence in yesterday's endeavor. Once again, my very kind neighbor gifted this car to me. It was their "baby"... and their spouse owned a garage. The car was well serviced and some paperwork is provided that I am still going over. This car has sat for about 4-5 years. It has been fired up and drived a few times and most recently 1.5 years ago it had been driven to be cleaned around 10 miles round trip. Otherwise the car has sat under a tarp/tent nestled under the redwoods. My neighbor mentioned it is a "limited edition" but what edition and how limited I have yet to discover. This is good timing for me since I am a teacher (so imagine that I have less than no money, so this project is definitely against my better judgement, but I am a wannabe gearhead.. so its a sickness.. whatever) and summer is about to begin for me. I will have 'some' time over the next few months to polish this car up a bit and perhaps suss out any issues. I don't know if I want to drive this car regularly, but I'll admit that I am charmed.
The car has roughly 148k. The previous owner believes the tensioners were replaced and the front thermostat(?) is metal not plastic. Looking around the car all the fluids were present although there was some film on top of the coolant and the coolant looked a bit cloudy. The Oil was amber/clear fortunately. The engine is missing the shroud cover on one side. Mouse droppings were present and blown out with air prior to starting. Nothing caught fire after startup and driving, yay!
The battery which was new 2 years ago was completely dead. New battery sourced, first expense: $140. 2nd Expense 5 gallons of gas. Gas tank had a gassy smell, not like paint thinner. I added 5 gallons of fresh gas.
Engine turned over and fired up immediately. Gave a low oil pressure code for 1 flash then it went away. Codes remaining: Poor performance / low washer fluid. Also there is an ABS light on.
I verified that the brakes had pressure, they do need to be bled but they seem to work just fine. There is some noise I assume from dirt/rust wearing away. It took me a bit to figure out the ebrake... I was concerned it had snapped it's cable, but the previous owner showed me how it works. The brake did seem stuck in place, we rocked the car back and forth... and got the wheel to un-stick from the brake and roll freely. I gingerly drove the car out and into my driveway. Success thanks to all the help from everyone involved.
Nice cat! Fyi, I have the same wheels. A while ago someone who works with glass posted an interesting nugget. He explained how Bon Ami brand "original" cleaner (Note: it MUST be/say original) cleans glass. I tried it and loved it. I've never found anything so fast and effective on glass.
Tried using it on the wheels as I washed her one day - works great. At least as well as those caustic wheel cleaners, certainly less toxic. Nice shine restored, no scratches at all.
Fyi, apparently bon ami sells original and another formula. If it doesn't say original it can scratch glass.
Congratulations on your Baby. Get to know this forum. It is a wealth of knowledge on the XK8, and I am sure you will find it will be to your best interest to read it from front to back daily. Good luck with your project, and welcome aboard.
I was out in Palo Alto a few months ago for work. Had a day off, and took the back roads over the mountains to the ocean. Had a great drive, lots of windy technical driving. I was only in an econobox rental, I can imagine how much fun it will be driving those sort of hills with one of our cars. Get it fixed up, and enjoy.
Good luck. Enjoy it as a project. It looks like it has a lot of potential. +1 on perusing the forum and using the advanced search feature, it will be a big help. Of course we'd
love to see your progress too.
Introduction and thanks
