Thomasso, I've never been to Butte but when I was 16, 17 and 18, I was in Great Falls, Conrad and on up to Cut Bank....On the Wheat Harvest, driving a Massey-Harris Combine...Never been back but always wanted to.....Beautiful Country we live in!

Good luck to you! Billy Clyde in Houston

 

Well, there was a boat he was very fond of. But after I moved away and my brother got busy so we were no longer spending time with him on the boat he sold it. Thinking back over the decades there wasn't really any one thing ... except family. I think what he was most proud of was his two sons!

We did about 4800 miles - a little less than expected - in 16 days. 7 days on highways and 9 days visiting with family and looking into ideas for retirement. We got home Sunday evening after 3 days logging 1888 miles; tired but safe.

I wish we could have taken Kat but we had a 9' boxed Christmas tree and two large storage containers of things the kids left behind when they moved back to Canada plus my wife's bow and one of my bows, etc. The Caddie SRX was FULL! It was a comfortable ride and got us there and back safely.

I'm looking forward to taking Kat on a road trip we are planning for October.

 

WAFlowers,

You got me thinking about my Dad...Seems like about all he did was work....He didn't Fish or Hunt nor did he play Golf....but he taught me all about Cars, Trackers and Combines....anything mechanical. I did my first overhaul on our Ford Tractor...took me about a week as I had to take the Engine to the Machine Shop for Sleeves and new Pistons.....Also turned the Crank and did a Valve job on the Heads.....He taught all that to me and I've used it ever since. I was about 15 at the time! Can't count the number of Hot Rod Engines I've built, including the Engine in the 2005 Jag about 3 years ago......That was the first time I had Heads Ported and the combustion chambers ceramic coated.

It seems like almost everything I do you learned it from him? I was lucky, he lived to be 99...

Billy Clyde

 

I am 38.

 

My dad taught me what his dad taught him:

You can learn how to do it once, or learn how to pay for it forever.

I'm 29 and my dad's 63, his dad would be 111 if alive. It doesn't matter that the first engine my dad rebuilt was a Matchless Vertical Twin or my first was a 90cc Honda Single; you learn skills that save money for life.

I make enough money to pay out stuff, or buy new cars, but this saves money for life. Did you know what people get to do a tear off and redo of a 34 square roof? Holy crap. I'm a senior software engineer and do ok, but my butt was on the roof for a while. Same goes for when my water heater needed to be replaced.

I've been doing some car repair favors for coworkers and holy crap do shops make a fortune!

2004 Chevrolet Impala LS (3800 FWD V6)
-Repair Cruise Control
-Replace downsteam O2 sensor (HO2 circuit code)
-Replace headlights and foglights housings
-Fix ABS light

The shop wanted about $1300 for parts and labor.

Me? $100 including parts for CC, determined it was the actuator underhood, used unit was $17, and my time for diagnosis and repair. $50 for the O2 sensor installed; $120 for headlight and foglight housings installed, took 10 minutes did that as a freebie laborwise. ABS light was the float was stuck in the master cylinder, I bled the brakes to get clean fluid throughout and banged on it and got it unstuck. Charged $50 for all of that.

I spent a leisurely afternoon on a Saturday, made $156 profit and helped a coworker's son save a bundle. I put that in my IDS fund . Doing another coworker's farm truck's brake lines (93 1 Ton Ford) for $300 this weekend; plumbing the whole car. I'm making fun money charging bargain basement prices, and building goodwill from coworkers and friends.

 

80sRule,

Your Granddad and your Pop "paid it forward".....Now it's your turn!

Billy Clyde in Houston

 

39

 

65 and still pulling my own wrenches.

 

62. Master Mariner driving an ULCC (Ultra Large Container Carrier). Started with a Daimler 3 litre. Then fell for an XJ40 Daimler Double Six. Worst thing I ever did was sell that for an X308 XJR. The XJR lasted a year to the day, and in 2003 I bought the XKR. 16 years we've had her. After five years we sort of needed a new car but I couldn't bring myself to sell her. So we ended up with an X308 LWB Daimler Super 8. Then six years ago we found our X358 Daimler Super 8. We think it's the penultimate one. We think the last one's in Wales.

So two cars.

 

Well 56y now,
Had the jag for about 4y now so 52y when i got the best car iv ever had,
First seen the xk8 watching wheeler dealers on the tv and decided there and then to get one,

im a subcontractor construction worker and work away from home, so get to drive the xkr at weekends, had other weekend cars but all seamed common when out on the road,

XKR/XK8 Definitely not the common run of the mill car's.......................
May see newer models but the x100 seams extremely rare and so good looking out on the road.

 

I'm 69, and wife is 65.

Well, it's my wife's car, but she lets me drive it when it needs gas.... We've had her for 5 years now. When we first got her, we had an XJ40, and X300 and she made our third along with the BMW 540i. All older vehicles, and I wish I'd never sold the XJs. The previous owner of the XK was less than diligent, yet she still turns heads every day.An example of the poor previous care, one of my first actions was to change the entire timing chain, tensioners and guides, when I discovered only one of the upper tensioners had been changed.

 

Read all the posts to this question, and just had to reply. I'll be 78 in August. Sold a lovely 1989 Mercedes 560 SL to buy the 2006 Jaguar XK8 convertible. Bought the Mercedes "right" for virtually a song and a dance, but it still cost way too much to keep it maintained in the condition it deserved. Have had the XK8 for about 3 years, now, with no exceptional repairs. I live in southern Ohio, and I have plans to take the Jag on a southern trip in a few weeks, driving first to Destin, Florida to attend a wedding, then west to Biloxi, Mississippi, then further west to New Orleans before heading back to Ohio. Looking forward to having the wind in my hair !

 

24

 

Great question! I'm 45 years old (not afraid to throw that out there - lol) and own a 1999 XK8 Convertible.

 

Don't feel bad about the timing chain components. All pre-2003 4.0 engines need this replacement. If owners catch it before things get loose, they can get by with just the tensioners and maybe the guides. I did mine myself with the great help from a member that provided the "cam lock" tool. It was a bit of a PITA, but a great learning experience. Keep an eye on your water pump and all hoses. I hop you changed your under-plenum hoses when the front was apart. Have fun!

 

Born in 1970 (yes, I´m 49 and the big 5 is coming up April 2020).
Had to sell my ´72 Triumph TR6, because everybody said "Whoa! What a nice OLDTIMER!" - and it was 2 years younger than me!! Gaaah!

Happy with my 2002 XKR Convertible now, much more classy and rare over here in Austria.
Men my age usually buy a Porsche...booooring.

 

57, but still feel like 56.875.

Dale

 

61 yrs young, just turned 100000 on the odometer going for 200000 and into my 80s with a big ole smile om my face:-)

 

I was driving along and noticed 99999

Then, suddenly: BAM! What a difference a mile makes!

Billy Clyde in Houston

 

To one and all. I guess it is about time I updated this age thing. I'll be 84 on the 20th of this month. Still going strong. Took the airplane up couple of days ago at sun rise. Only time to get no cross wind. Did practice landings. Got in six with two being squeakers. The bird is doing fine.

The XK8 is also doing fine just turning 69,000 miles. Probably going to sell it this summer. Just getting two many toys to take care of. A 95XJ6, 29 Model A, 1980 Suzuki GS1000G, Long EZ with 993 hours on the clock, finally Toyota Camry. And a home on Holly Lake Ranch, Texas.

Been taking up my spare time by creating slide shows of my aviation experiences for the several organizations I am a member of. The latest one and the most interesting is titled, "The History of Supersonic Flight". I was involved in part of this and worked and flew with a lot of the people directly involved when working at EAFB and later the Boeing company..

Take care guys. And keep those Jags in good condition.