I discovered that a mouse decided to take up residence in my driver side fan cage this week. He met an untimely death when I turned on the fan. Evidently, he could only keep up with the fan for so long until his little legs gave out. In any case, I need to extract him. This requires removing the steering column. I have read several threads on related activities and read the service manuals. I am perplexed about the exact description of "steering column lower shaft" because in the service manual there is a tension bolt just above the u-joint. I have seen this tension bolt in other photos. I have attached 3 pics. #1 shows the shaft with a tension bolt from the thread "Anyone ever removed the lower steering column" by RaceDiagnostics. #2 shows my steering shaft but I do not see the tension bolt. #3 is the diagram from the service manual.

Does the '99 XK8 not have the bolt? Or, is it possible I am looking in the wrong place? I hope someone has some ideas.

 

on my 2000 XKR when I removed the steering rack, the column disconnected on the side of the universal joint that's closest to the rack, iirc. I.e. the u-joint would be left on the end of the column. which as you can see in RD's pictures is the case - u-joint on end of column. I think those set screws in the photos actually belong to the lowermost part of the u-joint. (I haven't read the thread so could be wrong)
I don't know if that u-joint is too big to get out but it's worth a try. Others may have more specific help...

 

My question is a concern whether or not I am relating the three images to each other properly. If the circled blue areas are the same location I am concerned about where my tension clamp and bolt are located. If these three images all show the same location and part the middle picture is missing the clamp and bolt. This is what makes me think I am looking at different areas of the steering column, but I am unable to discern how they are different. I need some expertise in relating the three images. It is probably something simple and I will be embarrassed

for sure. :-)

 

I think you have circled the same part. You can see in RD's thread that he has removed the u-joint at the rack end of the column (you can see the splines on the rack in one photo in the left of the image and the splines on the column on the right). But - you don't have to do this to remove the column (or the rack) - you can take the u-joint off the rack.
i.e. your column doesn't appear to have the tension clamp + bolt.

 

There are two different types of lower steering column, yours is the other type that looks like this.

OEM Jaguar XK8 97-03 Steering Column Lower Rag U Universal Joint Shaft | eBay

 

That is it! Thank-you for identifying the lower column. I was successful in getting the column and drivers side blower motor removed. I eradicated the unwelcome squatters (all dead) and freshened the air ducts. I also used copper screen and rivets to block any further attempts of them returning to their temporary home. It was an interesting process removing the blower motor. I was very impressed as to how much equipment is located behind the dash and between the firewall. The engineers deserve a congratulations. There were times I could have used a third elbow or a Star Trek transporter but patience paid off and the job is completed.