Had a very productive day today - replaced the hood struts (it no longer falls down on my head), replaced the broken antenna and shampooed and sealed the top with Raggtopp.
Almost ready for winter

 

Nice. I'm getting mine ready for her winter hibernation as well.

 

Another good Saturday
I changed out my dash lights to LED - they make a huge difference and aren’t too much work

 

I need to replace the hood struts also--is there some preferred brand?

 

I ordered the $13 URO one from Rock Auto (https://www.rockauto.com/?carcode=1355891&parttype=1404) and it works fine.

 

I got mine from Amazon - brand is “Boxi”
They work well

 

StrongArm makes some of the best hood and hatch struts on the market. They are usually available at www.liftsupportsdepot.com....

 

The original equipment lift support struts are Sachs Stabilus, available at very reasonable prices from Rock Auto. The advantage of the Stabilus struts is that they are valved so the tension releases somewhat when fully closed to reduce the stress on both the strut and the ball mounting points. This is why most of the European automakers use them (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, Jaguar, etc.)

Cheers,

Don

 

I've used Strongarm and Stabilus in my cars. The Strongarm worked wonders on my Mustang, but were garbage on the BMWs. Stabilus, which are original equipment, work great on the Jag and I'm very happy with them. I will say that the trunk ones on my E39 are getting pretty week after 7 years. I'm not sure of the average lifespan of these.

 

Another Saturday - Another Job
I have had a power steering fluid leak that was gradually getting worse ——- so
I ordered a new high pressure steering line from Rock Auto and put it in today. This is a PITA job that was made more difficult by not having a lift but I got it done.
The old hose is pictured - obviously very degraded

 

Well done....

 

Can you post the link to that specific hose on Rock Auto?

I may have this job ahead of me in the near future.

-- Rock Auto observations -- I have no relation to Rock Auto other than as an occasional customer --

While I do order from the list supporting parts places for Jaguar/XKR specific parts, for more generic parts I really like Rock Auto's online catalog format that displays the range of available parts.

Here's the Rock Auto link I keep bookmarked for my 2001 XKR: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...harged,1440768. I keep a similar Rock Auto hotlink permanently bookmarked for each of our vehicles and this is usually the first place I start when I need to source parts for a repair.

The Rock Auto online catalog waterfall format is intuitive (to me), shows me just the info I'm looking for, and also helps to remind one what other parts might be needed when doing a repair. Their shipping isn't cheap and, while many parts aren't available for our antique vehicles, a vast number of parts are available.

My main RA lesson-learned over the years is to ALWAYS select parts from known high-quality manufacturers and NEVER choose the cheapest option, no matter how tempting, if there is a choice. Sometimes I won't order from RA if I'm not happy with the available choices.

Here's 2 screenshots of their online catalog, the first showing the high-level hierarchy, and the second, showing the range of available parts that is displayed when a particular part name is clicked upon:
..
Here is the link again (for a 2001 XKR): https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...harged,1440768

 

It was the “Uro” option

 

EXCELLENT post.

 

Just installed these and they fit perfectly. About $21 USD.

 

Another Saturday job completed - repaired windshield washer tank leak. Thought it would be the grommet 3/4 of the way up the tank but it turned out to be the 4 inch long hose on the pump which was degraded from age and had split.Easily replaced with a piece of fuel line.
One of the easier fixes and the last of the annoying leaks —— for now ——