After four months of getting to know my 97 XK8 Convertible finished in Anthracite I can no longer entertain keeping the THING on my car.




Although some like the Leaper, I after giving it some time, am not a fan of the XK8 with a leaper.
My problem is how do you remove it.
There is a small nut in the 3rd pic that I removed hopeful the spring loaded Leaper would just pull up and out.
This one seems to have claws dug into the hood/bonnet.
I know it will mean welding up the holes left behind but my hood is the early all metal type so no real concerns, bar trying to match the paint.
Any input to help remove it would be appreciated.

 

They looked good on the XJ6s, but not an XK8. It would be worth having a body shop fix up the holes and match the paint. That is painful to look at.

 

I never understood why folks could not understand that they were ruining the lines of the XK8 / XKR by sticking a leaper on the hood. Hope your removal process goes well....

 

I found this pic on the 'bay' *. It looks very similar to what you have, Note the peg at the rear (presumably to stop the thing rotating) which may be your issue:


Of course, the previous discerning owner might also have glued the **** thing in place.


*There are six left for sale if someone wants to grab a bargain...

 

For some reason leaper on XK reminds me about Alien movie

 

Leapers are a 'SEDAN-THING' not a 'sporty-car' thing.

 

The result of removal of the Leaper, 3 holes and damage to the paintwork and a slight indent from someone who fancied the THING. Next is bonnet off and to the repairer.

 

OH MY!! is all I can say. Just say no to hood leapers! TM

 

Ouch....

 

I removed the leaper from my X-Type and replaced with a round 3.0L badge. MUCH cleaner look. The leaper is neat, but alone on the hood like that, it's just an awkward little boner.

Repurposed it into a paperweight on my desk.

 

I used to have an XJ-S and noticed some cars like mine had a leaper. Always thought they looked like a cat awkwardly trying to jump off the hood. Also had an XJ40 on which the leaper looked great. So great that some sob ripped it off when parked. Fortunately, the replacement covered the damage well.