would have been replacing the shocks after work yesterday but - it figures - new rims/tires were ordered last week and yesterday afternoon left work only to find this. Luckily able to get a used tire with 65% tread left for $35 + $20 to mount/balance.

 

Ahhh, spoke to soon, after standing for three days on the drive he would not turn over. So new battery ordered and fitted, got it for £57 from Tayna batteries with a 4 year g/tee. Was a little short in height compared to the last one but it was not a problem to fit.
So with rear spoiler fitted, the front grill is next on the cards, or it may be the gearbox change, I will have to wait and see. Strange been on a test drive today and covered about 30 miles, and no issues from the transmission, not even a little bump.
Great weather in the North of the UK over the last few days , hope it continues

 

Yesterday I found this :



x2 - both sides pretty much the same. The yellow stuff is the underside of the carpet !!

Today I found a supplier of replacement floor panels, and started to look for a mobile welder.

I know it's been said before, but whoever designed that double-skinned panel in the floor pan that is specifically intended to trap water and cause rust that can't be detected until it's too late should be force fed iron filings and water, then put in a damp dark place and allowed to corrode from the inside out.
Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh - I like kittens and puppies !

 

Wasn't that in your owners manual???? these are collector cars and intended to be stored in climate controlled conditions and only driven on sunny days.

Russ

 

Russ.
No - not in manual. There's loads of stuff about the fact that if "trac control" lights up when you put the ignition on you need a new battery, and that if your engine suddenly cuts out at 90 mph on a motorway, then start shopping for a replacement throttle body, and a small warning that any attempt to replace the heater hoses will lead to severe abrasions and blood loss on both hands BUT bugger-all about rust under both front seats !!

 

Uuummm. must have been in the supplement.

Russ

 

I feel for you UK guys, the Jags over there seem to have a lot more rust issues. Strange that they are made there but also rust there. Go figure.

 

Jandreu.
Not just a UK problem. I think we who live in places where there's lots of rain, plus ice and snow in the winter (and therefore salt & grit as well) accept that part of the maintenance schedule will be an attempt to prevent the start of rust. Many European cars have had a much worse reputation than Jaguar - Lancia for example. Toyota has just recalled thousands of 2000 - 2003 vehicles because of rust in critical areas.
I realise that it was part of the assembly process, and therefore probably quite important during manufacture, but whoever "signed-off" the design of that double-skin plate under the floor should have known better. It was probably the same person that put a very small gap between the inner sill and the outer sill, and then used a sealant to join them together which would eventually go rock hard and not flex with the bodyshell, allowing water to get into a place where it could never get out again.
Some manufacturers used galvanised panels, which made a huge difference. Jaguar (Ford) didn't, which only makes the problem worse, and happen more quickly.
You guys (and ladies) who live where the sun always shines have fewer, if any, problems of this nature.

 

I belive it is called engeneered aging and was invented in the US in the 1930th starting with light bulbs.

 

So here's a answer why so many Northern US owners don't use our Jags as daily drivers in the winter and store them up !

 

+1. There's nothing like working on a car and having absolutely no rust or corrosion. I rarely ever have to get the torch out.

 

Took Thunderbird1 out for a drive today to Newcastle and back about 60 miles, at some lights the autobox clunked again, not much but evident. So on return home I booked in for the secondhand box to be fitted and at the same time the O/S suspension top link and ball joint sorted, I have all the parts, so its just labour. My Indy says it may be in for 2 days, booked for 28th inst, fingers crossed the box is as stated and only has 37k on the clock.
Couple of pix for you, thought he looked the biz today ( as always ).

 

After experiencing a couple of ABS/Traction control errors, I went ahead and inspected/cleaned the wheel sensors this week end. Altogether, and easy job, and I really found nothing of concern. Just what I thought was normal dirt for a daily driver.

While the wheels were off, I also went ahead and flushed the brake fluid on all 4 corners. Started by emptying the reservoir on top of the master cylinder as much as possible, filled it with new fluid (DOT4 spec here in the US), and started bleeding all 4 corners by decreasing order of distance (right rear first, etc). Nasty black stuff came out of the front right, including a stream of air bubbles. Aha!

The result is nothing short of amazing. The brakes are now much more responsive. The car feels much easier to control (by pedal pressure only, not pedal travel) and feels a lot lighter. These are the kind of jobs that are fun to do at home: $10 worth of fluid and it feels like a new car.

 

Good job. Hope you'll have clear sailing for the rest of the spring/summer driving season....

 

Had my son take my 2003 XKR in for annual safety and emission inspection for tag renewal. Passed emission but failed brakes. Front brakes are original with 32000 miles, rears were still good. Since I'm no longer able to work on the car (77 and a BTK amputee) we took the cars with stockpiled parts ( rotors and pads) to a local brake shop to get it done. Three plus hours with a five foot breaking bar and all four wheels have new hardware. The safety inspector noted dry rot on the front Pilot Sports, during the rear wheel brake job one rear tire had interior sidewall cuts from an unknown encounter with a highway hazard. Now looking at set of new tires for next week. 20 inch rims don't have many options for all season tires, Bridgestone Potenza or Continentals all season are the ones I'm looking at.

 

I drove 1102 miles round trip to pick up my 16" Dayton wire wheels, with new 60s series Goodyears on them for my XK8 yesterday, and stayed in a sleazy motel with a neon light flashing nude girls from across the street, through my window, where the curtains were 6" too short to close. I did spray the bed for cooties, and anything else that might have been living there. Thank God I didn't have an ultraviolet light to see the carnage this room must have witnessed. I was just too tired to travel anymore.

My X Type held the tires nicely, with the seats folded down, and averaged around 22mpg at an average speed of a little under 81mph. For a car that most Jag folks don't like, the sucker didn't even use any oil. That AWD does do a number over a year on tires though.

Radar detector technology has come a long way. I only had to slam on my brakes once flat spotting my tires a bit, when the first ping of the laser hit me. After that I was leading a train going around 90 back to the Chicago area. I avoided Ohio at all costs. In the late 80s, we spent a night in jail there, had to pay to get the 928 back from impound, and $1473 in traffic fines, plus had to travel back there a week later for traffic school, so I could get my provisional license back. All this for a little old cross country race, that ended for us in Ohio.....Be cool....Mike

 

I toyed with the idea of wire wheels, but could never find a used set larger than 15". Post a picture if you can when they're all mounted up.

 

I'm waiting for the adapters to come in. I bought these wheels on Ebay from a nice older gentleman for $550 including the tires that still have the nubs on them. I couldn't afford them any other way. I called up Dayton, to find out the offset by the wheel numbers, and he said they don't make bolt on wheels anymore. I think he is the janitor, or senile, because the wheels are in their paper catalog, and on the net. I'll put up pictures, when things are mounted. Tomorrow I am installing the new leather seat upholstery with green jaguars embroidered on the backrests, and on the top cover....It should be pretty hard. The seats didn't want to come apart. I'm running the garage furnace at 80 degrees tonight, so everything is soft, then I'll sweat like a pig putting them on.....Take care....Mike

 

Today I went looking for a squeak which I thought was coming from the brakes. As I went from wheel to wheel, not finding any obvious cause, I cleaned and sprayed the calipers and the visible part of the disc centres silver to smarten them up a little. On the last wheel the lug nuts were excessively tight, presumably from the last time someone used an air gun on them.

The locating tabs on the locking nut adaptor sheared. The nut is fine so I need to get a replacement number 72 adaptor from somewhere.

And I have three silver calipers.

And I didn't get the squeak either.

 

Replaced the passenger side O2 sensors on my XKR. I'm also changing the oil, coolant and fuel filter tomorrow. It's up in the air right now, and I don't have a lift so it's hard work getting it up there, so I'm doing a lot while it is!