Now that i am nearing completion on my project XKR, i wanted to share my progress with everyone - Apologies for the long post, but i am always fascinated reading about other peoples projects on here, and thought others might be with mine.

I picked up this 2001 Coupe locally a couple of years ago for cheap, owing to the fact that it had overheated and dropped 3 valve seats. Initially i had wanted to drop in an LS1, and bought the donor car (2004 GTO) and the jaguar specialties kit, but a deal came up on a 2002 XKR 100 that had been front end damaged, so i jumped on it and sold the LS1 stuff.

What with work, and indecision on the route i was going to take with it, i only really started work on it 6 months ago.

Here is what i started with:



It was all original, complete dealer service history, i got 37 pages of dealer printed history with the car, and it had 189,000 miles on it!

Old engine ready to come out:



New Engine, Removed from the XKR 100 in:



I used all the good bits from the 100, so my car got a new engine and transmission, and all brand new suspension bushings in the front and the rear, i blasted and painted the charge air coolers silver, with black lettering. Used the 20" Montreal wheels (which need refurb-ing at some point), recaro seats, brembo brakes (which i also blasted and painted red) and i used the leather sports steering wheel from the 100, along with the other interior shiny pieces

This is rolling out of the shop under her own power for the first time:



So, now i have a running and driving XKR, time to start making it my own

I wanted 2005 front and rear bumpers, side skirts and spoiler, and while i was at it, i had some other paintwork areas touched up.

Test Fit:



At the paint shop:



Paint is finished. i had them delete the side markers front and rear, and delete the badge on the front also.



The final touches for the outside were to paint the wheels black, and lower the car using mina springs (thanks to 99ragtop for the springs!)





There are still a few things on the list, i want to get the interior re-finished so it looks like new, i did the alcantara headliner, and re-covered the piece behind the rear seats, but would like to get the seats sorted also.





Let me know what you think!! Also, while i think about it, the rear bumper that i bought did not come with a tow eye cover, and i didnt feel like spending $200 for one at the dealer, if anyone knows where i can find one, i would appreciate it!

 

I bet it was a fun project for sure. At some point maybe all us FL members can meet up and get a closer look.

I gotta admit that seeing those beautiful BBS wheels painted black was a shocker.

 

Me too. Always interesting to follow a project like this.

Great job on the engine and body but same opinion as Rothwell on the wheels!

Graham

 

I squirmed a bit with the wheels too, but they actually don't look too bad, original was better though!
Great work otherwise.

 

Great job bringing it back from the dead!

I will go the other way and say that I rather like the wheels in black on a light color coupe.

How difficult was it to recover the rear package tray? I need to do the same.

 

Nice job and the body upgrades work well.

I thought the switch from the aftermarket wheels to the Montreal set was a significant improvement to the better. However, like most of the others here, painting the wheels black was not my favorite change.

And of course, thanks for the pictures.

 

Wow what a great project and progress made....

The car looks so much better when all is said and done.

The upgraded wheels look great, but am sorry to say I'm not a fan of them in black!

Kudos to you for what you've acheived to date, and look forward to further updates.

Best

Jim

 

Thanks for the input!

I have to say, I wasn't sure whether or not I would like the wheels black, so I cheated a bit and painted them with plasti-dip. It gives a great matte finish, and when I get bored with it, it peels right off - so no permanent damage done for now though, I'm liking the black.

The rear tray was outsourced, I tried it myself, and made a mess of it. The humps needed to be stitched around to get the vinyl to lay flat, so I had them do a French seam (I think that's what it is called) to match the seats, I think it cost about $150, but well worth it.

 

Great work overall, well done.

Question...did you consider covering the rear tray with Alcantara, to match the headliner? I'll be recovering my headliner, A-pillars and rear tray in the next few weeks...probably looking at Passion Suede or Alcantara for all three areas.



.

 

Way cool, thanks for sharing!

 

Well it's a small world.
I bought the grille for my car from you a while back.

Looks amazing all finished up!
I know a shop in fort lauderdale that does top notch work with leather and they are reasonable on their pricing.
It's called american auto trim, I don't know anyone up here that compares.

If you get tired of the black look on the wheels I use the ford paint code TL to spray wheels when I have to refinish them and it looks very nice.
It's a satin silver. However there is a toyota paint I'm going to try next and I think it would look even better.

Btw I remember when we had met you were having a overheating issue, what did it end up being?

 

? Is that a huge brace I see across the front of the engine bay? Did that increase stiffness and handling response? I'm always eager for handling modifications ...

 

did you get a good deal on the 2005 bumper covers? Im looking for some right now for my 02 xkr

 

You've got one in your car too.

That's the standard core support, it's just a lot more visible when the bonnet is off.

 

Nice work

My 2000 XKR is in grand condition, nary a mark on pillars or headliner, but the backing foam (as has been noted in other discussions here) seems to be going. Looks fine unless something bumps the pillars, then the "dent" seems to hold. I might have the headliner and pillars redone, though could use the current material with just new padding, I suppose. I've been considering bit of an upgrade since more luxury rarely is a bad thing.

Been considering having it done in a smooth leather or suede, in neutral color probably similar to original pale beige, maybe slightly darker understated tan/chocolate to add bit of contrast.

Thoughts on materials, regarding longevity and upkeep?

I certainly would like even more leather smell in the car

regards

-david

 

If the foam is your problem, you may not be able to reuse the material. It is one piece material, not two, so adding foam would be problematic and likely result in wrinkling. However, it is a DIY effort to replace it and there are several threads on here discussing how. The material can be gotten at any decent fabric store for cheap.

I suspect philhef and others will chime in soon. Phil has been experimenting with various looks and materials for his interior. Suede or alcantara makes a very good headliner and is used by some of the high-end luxury cars. Leather is also possible, but be prepared to spend some bucks.

Good luck and be sure and post pictures of the results.

 

great job and documentation of the efforts. Usually not a fan of the black rims but it works great on your car - thanks for sharing.

 

Looks fantastic. I am new on this site but will the 2005 front and rear bumpers fit on an 1999 xk8?

 

Great job bring an XKR coupe back from the dead. There were less than 10,000 XKR coupes made during the entire 10 year production of the x100 style, with only about 5000 imported into the US.


Mark

 

If its a real nice leather smell you are after in your car, I have found the use of Gliptone to be VERY good. I always apply it by hand and kind of massage it into the seats, it's quite therapeutic and smells like a new car again.