Skizzer's XJ-S

[Skizzer]

You are xtriple's long lost brother AICMFP

 

Harsh!  (No offence to xtriple, obv.)

 

It's not that I want everything perfect, it's just that once you've gone to the bother of dropping the heavy rear subframe you might as well do all the service jobs at the same time.  The pads aren't new and the diff seals are notorious, plus there's definitely oil leaking from somewhere.  The discs look alright so they can stay.

 

A minor cold has blossomed into a full-on sinus infection this morning, so I probably won't be spending the day upside down beneath any cars after all.

[Christine]

No.... it's just  an executive cold 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

 

I've spent a good chunk of today wrestling with bits of Jaguar headlining.  What a c*** of a job that is.

 

Not too far off now but I need at least one replacement trim clip and a couple of obscurely sized bolts because half the fixing holes in the new liner are in the wrong places, and I've cross-threaded the bastards trying to screw them in at an angle.  It'll look better when it's finished though.  Will post pictures when it's done - maybe next weekend.

 

Having taken the vestigial parcel shelf out, I was rather pleased to find zero rust around the bottom of the rear screen, a favourite rot spot for these:

 

Rear screen corners: not rusty! by Skizzer, on Flickr

 

Meanwhile, the car starts ok but dies when stone cold unless you keep your foot on the throttle for a few seconds, after which it idles fine.  I'm suspecting it needs a new cold start injector - easy job but they're about £80.  Here we go.

 

Still haven't done the brakes.  Rome wasn't built in a day, you know.

 

 

That picture reminds me again just how badly made these things were. Lovely car, but the quality was just dire.

[Skizzer]

Footnote: I went back to it today; the bleed screws are still not shifting. I needed to move the car because it's in the way of having lighting fitted in the shed, so I filled the brake fluid reservoir with fresh DOT4 and drove it carefully it off the ramps...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and the brakes work absolutely fine. DOH!

[brickwall]

Well, that's something

[Guest Breadvan72]

Yo Skiz Blud, let's do our trip to the XJS scrappy.  I need arches and a main beam relay and a heater valve and a gearbox mounting and a boot lock.  You definitely need a boot lock too.  Get one even if yours works.  They are made of Impossibilium. 

 

Worst that can happen?  Scrappy bloke points, laughs, and takes the keys of us in return for bus fare home with optional Greggs on the way.  WCPGW?  

 

 

Anyone want to buy an early 90s XJS Convertible in scruffy but apparently solid order?  Local dude wants 3K for one.  Light blue, manual, six cylinder. 

 

[Junkman]

So let me get this straight.

It wouldn't shelter me from the elements, has half the adequate cylinder count, and I'd have to do something similar daft and anachronistic as getting up from the sofa and walk to the telly to change the channel?

For 3 bags?

[Guest Breadvan72]

Good ones will go for 8 to 10K, and manuals go for more than autos.  I am thinking of buying it, pimping it, and flipping it, but am not sure I CBA.  

[Guest Breadvan72]

OI SKIZZA!  WY U NO REPLI ME U MSG????!!!!!!

[Richard]

He's taking a break from Autoshite at the moment. I believe you can get hold of him on Flickr.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/57855672@N07

[Skizzer]

^ I iz bak now

 

 

Right, with the Vauxhall misbehaving, the modern BMW parked at Birmingham airport, the Jeep not insured to me, the Disco, Audi, Renault and Rover being out of MOT and the Golf and the XJ6 being laid up, this is my only driveable car at the moment.

 

I've been exercising it regularly so it runs fine, but the handbrake is still sticking.  It has a range of about 10 miles before the brake pedal goes long and the brake warning light comes on.  The brakes do still have some stopping power, just a lot of pedal travel, so this afternoon we went to visit my sister in it anyway.  She lives at the other end of the Gower peninsula, about 12 miles away, so the last bit was driven quite gently.  (Actually it was all driven quite gently - what I think I mean is the last 2 miles were with total concentration and fully clenched buttocks.)  No nuns or kittens were harmed.

 

Good points:

• I've replaced the minging headlining.  Car smells of glue (new car smell!) but is a much nicer place to be.
• Engine runs sweetly, once it has warmed up enough not to need the failed cold start injector,which takes about half a minute.
• Handles quite well in a slightly vague, understeery way; rides very well.  Comfy.  Super quiet, mostly (but see below).
• Still not rusty.
• I filled it up this morning - it took £25 of fuel to get home from Cardigan and do sundry running around with the brakes on, which doesn't sound at all bad for a 5.3 litre monster.
• Autobox doesn't clunk.
• Heated rear window, central locking and leccy windows all work.
• Pretty.
• Mrs Skizzer likes it.  Hell, even my sister likes it, and that's unheard of.

 

On the to do list:

• Brakes are fooked (see above).
• Heating and ventilation is hors de combat.
• One of the exhausts is blowing and clunking like Gillian Taylforth and the Tin Man in a layby on the A1 (allegedly).
• Fuel gauge doesn't work, and the replacement sender that came with the car is for an XJ6.  (Fortunately the law of shite averages means I do also have an XJ6 with a failed fuel sender, so that's ok.)
• No stereo.
• When I say I've replaced the headlining, actually the trim on one of the C-pillars isn't sitting right because the grommet that the clip goes into broke.  You can buy the clips anywhere but I'm struggling to source a new plastic grommet.

Minor grumps:

• The steering wheel is so close to the windscreen on these that I keep bashing my hand on the glass when I wave to someone.
• Dull colour.

 

Here's a photo from the other week - it was mostly sunny today but I ran out of phone, soz.

1982 Jaguar XJ-S HE by Skizzer, on Flickr

 

1982 Jaguar XJ-S HE by Skizzer, on Flickr

 

[Christine]

Skizz buy this ! T'is only tiny , it'll fit in da shed !  http://www.fiatforum.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=34001&cat=125

[Skizzer]

Cute. Would indeed fit in da shed, too. And it's cheap for a 126 - they seem to be heading the way of 500s.

 

But I don't really know what I'd use it for. Could tow it behind the Jag for extra braking, I suppose? Comes with a handy built-in A-frame...

[RobT]

Dull colour? Picky sod...looks HOT to me!

 

Any idea when you'll have the XJ6 back? Or are you not in a rush seeing as the shed is full.

[Skizzer]

not in a rush seeing as the shed is full.

This, big time. I would like it back though - SKIZ NEEDZ MOAR SHEDZ.

 

The colour is okay, I'm just a bit bored of everything being light blue. Pale JRG or that lovely sage green they did later would be better. Yes, very picky.

[RobT]

Cor yes, that green is lovely.

 

I know it's not very Autoshite, but I've been watching lots of Harry Metcalfe's youtube vids recently.  You've probably seen them already, but here's the one where he drove to Monaco in a pre-HE XJ-S:

 

 

The one about his XJ12C is worth a look too.  The previous owner converted it to manual so I bet it's flippin' awesome:

 

 

 

 

[HMC]

Cheers for the links Rob. Loved the XJS to Monte Carlo one, great way to unwind at lunchtime with that!

 

I must say I love the blue your XJS is in Skizzer, but also agree its appealing to have a range of hues in a collection of cars.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I really like the colour.

[Skizzer]

Dropped this off at my friendly neighbourhood Jaguar specialist today for fixeration of the brakes.

 

In for a bit of fixage by Skizzer, on Flickr

 

I parked up outside, walked in and Angela behind the desk gave me a look and said, "You'll be wanting that exhaust fixed, then."  So we're having the exhaust fixed too.

[RoadworkUK]

That looks like it's just been driven up from the Camargue and will be heading back to Nice after a spot of dinner.

[Skizzer]

That looks like it's just been driven up from the Camargue and will be heading back to Nice after a spot of dinner.

 

That's the dream.  The reality is, we only got as far as Waunarlwydd before the brake pedal went so long I had to move the seat forward to slow down, and it sounds more like a Fokker triplane mid-dogfight than a purring Riviera cruiser.  But hopefully we'll get there soon.

 

To be fair, at £2k it was very cheap for a low mileage, MOTd and un-rusty XJS, and all I've spent on it is about £300 on a new headliner, a bottle of DOT4, about £50 of petrol and a spoonful of Castrol Valvemaster.  This is not a lot for a V12 supercar.

[dollywobbler]

41 years after they were launched, it seems folk are still very capable of destroying the rear brakes on these. Seem to recall a story in Auto Express in the early 90s about someone wrecking one on a test drive by leaving the handbrake on. I can see why fly-off handbrakes didn't really last the test of time. Perhaps that's happened to this one at some point?

[Skizzer]

41 years after they were launched, it seems folk are still very capable of destroying the rear brakes on these. Seem to recall a story in Auto Express in the early 90s about someone wrecking one on a test drive by leaving the handbrake on. I can see why fly-off handbrakes didn't really last the test of time. Perhaps that's happened to this one at some point?

It has indeed happened to this one - in post 53 on page 2

 

In my defence, I think it was already dodgy before I came along.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. I think because of the reputation, some folk just utterly ignore the handbrake, which then causes other issues. That and the fact that the read brakes are an arse to get at without a ramp, so no one bothers...

For the money though, it still seems pretty good.

[Skizzer]

Had the report on this today from my new best friend John at MisterMatic.  It turns out it's not (just) the handbrake: the rear cylinders have seized so the back brakes have been partly on the whole time.  He's going to do a full rear brake rebuild for me.

 

Tell you what, this is going to really fly when I get to drive it without all the brakes on.

 

The exhaust seems like a straightforward fix and he agrees the car looks very solid and a good 'un.  The estimated bill is nicely within my expectations so I'm pretty happy with that.

[Skizzer]

As briefly mentioned in the Grin thread, I collected the XJ-S on Saturday morning.  It's now got a fresh MOT, an exhaust that runs all the way from front to back without stopping and entirely rebuilt back brakes.  Also a few suspension bushes and stuff.

 

The upshot is, it now drives like it's supposed to - which is to say it's a complete transformation.  

 

Oh

 

my

 

God.

 

Super smooth engine, that just surges forwards.  Smooth ride, too - you can feel fine ridges a bit, but speed bumps more or less vanish (best taken slowly nevertheless, because the ground clearance has slugs worried and the overhangs are the size of Portugal).

 

So we motored down to the Camargue for Sunday lunch:

 

Lots of horses by Skizzer, on Flickr

 

Actually I'm lying, that's not the Camargue, it's North Gower.  But I tell you what, burbling along in the sunshine my sub-£2k supercar, it felt like the South of France.  Happy days.

 

The steering feels light around the centre, with a tendency towards 'come on, turn in - Christ, here we go', but that might just be me getting used to it.  It's not a sportscar, which of course was what made people compare it unfavourably with the E-Type, but then that was hardly a Lotus Seven rival by the time it got the V12 in the Series 3.

 

But it's a fabulous cruiser.  (Or at least it will be when I've got the ventilation to work.)  

 

Naturally, by the end of the weekend there was a rubbing noise coming from the back end somewhere, so there's more work to be done.  Oh, and the last speed bump in Bishopston made the boot fly open.  So sleep easy, friends, it's still BL shite at heart.

 

1983 Jaguar XJ-S HE on Llanrhidian Marsh by Skizzer, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Marvellous.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

The boot thing is a bit odd though!!

[Skizzer]

The boot thing is a bit odd though!!

 

I think it took a thump on the towbar, which somehow jogged the metal hoop thing that the boot latches on to.  I'll give the latch a good clean and greasing as it's a bit grimy and may not have been very well closed.

[anonymous user]

 

Oh, and the last speed bump in Bishopston made the boot fly open

You really must get that fixed, imagine the embarassment if the plastic wrapped corpse fell out onto the road