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Skizzer's XJ-S


Skizzer

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I should add, it still needs stuff doing. One of the tail lights is very dim, probably a corroded contact, the bumper chrome is crispy and the paint is a bit 10-footer in places.

 

And the fuel gauge still doesn’t work. Or some of the interior lights.

 

Oh, and there’s no stereo.

 

And the cold start valve doesn’t do cold starts, so no video yet cos I’m too busy stopping it from stalling to operate a camera.

 

It’s still plenty shite.

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I should add, it still needs stuff doing.

And it always will.  They're just one of those cars.

 

I do miss mine, for all its faults.  Sadly the chances of me being able to afford a properly sorted one, with prices the way they're going now, are slim to none.  Still, 'tis better to have loved and lost, &c.

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Man, you have all the best cars.

 

My parents very briefly had a manual 6 cylinder one, bought second hand from the local Jag dealers.

 

I would have been only 9 or 10 at the time but I distinctly remember how serene it was. I used to love missing the school bus and getting dropped off in this, it was quite the contrast to the battered every-panel-a-different-colour Volvo 244 they smoked around in previously.

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I don’t think I’ve posted an underbonnet shot of this before, possibly because it’s completely terrifying. It’s like wandering into a Ridley Scott movie.

A9C6DB41-8904-4C14-8B3C-AA3F02512C7E.jpeg

Somewhere in there is a cold start injector that needs replacing. God only knows where though. You’d think following the fuel rail around would show it up, wouldn’t you? Think again.

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I don’t think I’ve posted an underbonnet shot of this before, possibly because it’s completely terrifying. It’s like wandering into a Ridley Scott movie.

 

attachicon.gifA9C6DB41-8904-4C14-8B3C-AA3F02512C7E.jpeg

 

Somewhere in there is a cold start injector that needs replacing. God only knows where though. You’d think following the fuel rail around would show it up, wouldn’t you? Think again.

 

That fuel rail is bigger than my towel rail. 

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  • 4 months later...

As noted in another thread, the Jag had a little accident in its pants outside the house earlier this week:

DFBCF7B6-62FE-4BFD-925B-05769EA2A721.thumb.jpeg.dbb860c26da9b4949d628ba26d088e1b.jpeg

I figured it was coolant given that seemed to be coming from the neighbourhood of the radiator top hose, so this afternoon I went to chuck in a top-up of Prestone. But it was already full. Huh?

So I started it up from its resting place outside next door and put it on the drive, then noticed an even bigger puddle/trail.

Demonstrating a knowledge of organic chemistry that must have my petroleum engineer father doing 6,000rpm in his grave, I divined at this point that it was not in fact coolant but petrol, and lots and lots of it.  A high pressure hose has worked loose and is spraying flammability all over various spark plugs, leads, injectors, the aircon compressor et cetera.

A4CC41F1-E205-4863-8B40-381847759BBD.thumb.jpeg.eb49f12628509b76f5ecf3633c8e1ad1.jpeg

You can see where the hose has come adrift from the crimp thing - it was even looser than that but I pushed it together a bit.  The fuel has now evaporated while I had a calming cup of tea from a safe distance.

Should be an easy fix, at least.  And no fiery death, which is a bonus.

AS logo replica shot:

0A00806F-1133-405D-9D20-888D2F9021C1.thumb.jpeg.915b613ad6297b7565e3dd6e57e1cb09.jpeg

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4 minutes ago, Broadsword said:

That was a close shave. Can't have taken much for that to go up in flames?

Quite.  Lucky the ignition system is all new and not throwing sparks out everywhere.

 

I just looked on SNG Barratt - a replacement connector with the correct fittings comes with an injector attached and costs £136.  Think I’ll make my own out of a cut length of fuel hose and standard clips, thanks all the same.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Fixed this. It runs noticeably better now that cylinder number 1B has rejoined the party, and no longer sprays fuel everywhere.

CE6A9E1D-2E06-4CE2-89A3-A427E1E3512E.thumb.jpeg.f0ab85c77c80f328062667a4cd52d68e.jpeg

I put some baby oil (not made from actual babies any more) on to the barbed fitting to help persuade the hose on properly and added a fuel hose clip for extra fiery death avoidance in future.

People will sell you special pliers for these hose clips but I found mole grips were excellent for the job.

The trouble with the Jaguar V12 is that it’s still pretty lively and quite smooth when it’s only firing on eleven cylinders, so it’s not always obvious when one has gone postal.  Talk about first world problems, though.

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6 minutes ago, Broadsword said:

That looks like a good quality repair, good job. In the background of the picture I can see another very similar hose, are you going to change that too?

There’s another 11 of the feckers :-(

I thought about doing the others; there’s nothing really wrong with the hose, I suspect it just wasn’t quite put back fully tight after the engine came apart and gradually worked looser. The others all appear fine.

I’m erring on the side of leaving well alone for now, but will check them regularly. 

Feel free to say ‘I told you so’ if I’m proved wrong. (Family flowers only, donations to AS and the Fire Service Benevolent Fund.)

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  • 1 month later...

Filled this up with yummy VPower and extra Redex lead replacement topping this evening.

The fuel gauge still doesn’t work, but the odometer said 61 miles since the last top up.  It’s fibbing because 1) the speedometer connection only works about two thirds of  the time and 2) it pissed half the last tank out on the pavement (see above).  Even so, £89 was a bit of a surprise...good job I topped it up really.

 

Anyway, then I took it for an Italian tune-up, which it seemed to enjoy, and so did I.  It idles (even) more smoothly and the over-eager gearbox kickdown has had a word with itself.

8CE9D72A-95ED-4718-A5CF-ED413A54FD56.thumb.jpeg.8d71486376874f9e4de8938f5bf89d2d.jpeg

All set for Chumley then. 

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23 minutes ago, Skizzer said:

Yes, yes it is. Excellent.

I’ll even let you off bringing Invacars (almost) into my thread ;-)

I found it here if you are at all interested! 

http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/210525/retro-trailers

imagine the irony of a trailer made out of an electric car being towed by a V12 Jag? :mrgreen:

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12 minutes ago, richardthestag said:

v12 is fa winners

spend moneys on unleaded premium and not lead replacement imho

I do run it on Shell VPower, which is 99 octane.

A bit of investigation confirms the V12 will happily run on unleaded, so I shan’t bother with the lead additive in it again. Same with the Lotus 907.

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