One of my customers(I own Deep Reflections Auto Detailers in Silicon Valley) brought in a 98 XK8 and wanted a detail because they were selling it. It was a pretty rough and being honest I told them I could BUT, with the paint peeling and the seats coming apart and really scuffed up. It might not be a worthwhile investment. It had 108,490 miles on it.
We discussed various options to get the cosmetic issues fixed, plus the ABS light is on with an intermittent stability message.
They simply did not want to deal with it at all. I asked them what they were looking to get out of it. They named a price I could not refuse.
The tensioners were fixed at 80K, which was a concern, and they did a nice job of maintaining the vehicle from a mechanical perspective. Drives like a charm. Took it up to 80mph and it was very smooth and quiet.
This will be a fun project to do. I have not had a chance to go through the car to see what else is wrong, although it sounds like there is a subwoofer in the rear and that is shot, but that is the least of my worries.
So I will periodically post as I go through the restore process.
New paint
New seat covers
New wheels are my priorities.

 

Looks like its in good hands.


Bluetooth code readers are just a few dollars, but I would guess one of the ABS sensor wires is unplugged or similar. Northern California seems to have multiple Jag's in the Picknpulls for spare parts.


When one shows up around here in inventory, I grab the ABS sensors for a couple dollars, because they are over $100 each new.


Pull the shock caps and check for crumbling foam in the upper shock mounts, but if its driving good, the suspension may have been recently redone.

 

Hi Grzvldt and congratulations on the new Cat.

Looks like an ideal project for someone in your line of business, and I've seen much worse. The lacquer on this side of the pond seems to suffer less for some reason

If you have paperwork confirming that the tensioners were done then that's good, if not, assume that they haven't been.


Looking forward to the transofrmation.


Good luck,
Mike

 

Thanks, will check out the crumbling foam. Across from my shop is a Jag only repair shop and they handed me all the receipts. 99% were from that shop. Seems they did a lot of coolant work.

 

Mike,
Have a receipt from the Jag shop across the street from mine showing the tensioner change.
Coincidentally had a very steady customer come in with an F1 for a wash, and we got to talking, and I find out she and her husband had one and they collect Jags. She wanted her husband to come to my place and see the car. Good times!!!

 

You can see that the hose at the thermostat tower was recently changes, because the original would be ballooned to the size of a baseball.

Having all of the nut caps on the shock mounts could mean a very thorough and detail oriented mechanic replaced the shock mounts, but usually mean they were never touched.

 

Believe it or not those seats are salvageable.

I have restored worse and I am an amateur. Take a look click me . Also if you look at the foot of each of my posts and click on the Franks Story link look at items '2'.

Good luck. It is nice to see someone taking on such a big job.

 

Sorry, driver seat and armrest are crap.

 

You obviously dont need my help. Good luck with the restoration. Unsubscribed.

 

Looks like you are going to have some fun.
The TopsOnline has good reviews here on the forum, and what seems like good prices on ebay for the seat covers. They sell a kit that comes with the skin for the center console. My seats are a little better than yours so I am thinking about trying a refinish since I have no through cracks. Same paint issue as yours with the failing clear. I am getting close to all the bugs worked out on mine and getting close to the paint job, I have been playing with mine about a year now.

 

New leather makes a huge difference. Get new carpet also. When you are in the car it will feel new, it wont be until you walk out and see the peeling paint you will remember it has 108k on it.

Consider black carpet, I did and it looks great.

I wonder if you can color the top, that would save some change.

 

https://www.topsonline.com/model/Sea...pe_Models.html


........for seat and lid cover.

 

Looks like a good project. There are so many XK8s for sale in that cosmetic condition, I've wondered if they could be affordably fixed up. I will enjoy watching your progress.

 

Its worth noting that the forum software displays the words "THREAD STARTER" under the name of the person who started the thread.

This avoids confusing the personal who originally started the thread with other posters.

 

Grzlvdt, Congrats on your acquisition; looks like an exciting project! Looking forward to updates on your progress. Will you be restoring the existing paint & clearcoat or completely stripping it to bare metal and starting over?