Delightfully Shambolic Jaguar XJ40 - Back to Magnificent

[phil_lihp]

Ouch! I did it the wrong way around and bought the Jag first though. Fortunately not my collarbone but I did dislocate my shoulder and take a fairly decent chunk out of the top of my humorous. All on the mend now though, I don't remember a great deal of the ambulance ride to A&E but my friends did enjoy seeing me a little bit off my face on gas and air so it wasn't all bad.

[Shep Shepherd]

What happened?

[phil_lihp]

Clipped something and came off at high speed on a cycle path!

[dome]

Bad times. Take it easy and don't overdo things. Fix the Jag and waft in it meanwhile. It does actually help.

[Shep Shepherd]

Clipped something and came off at high speed on a cycle path!

 

Ouch! Did that myself a few times when I was a pupper, but the worst injury I ever suffered was a cut to my right elbow, which thankfully didn't need professional attention, although the scar is still visible 26 years later...

[phil_lihp]

It has been a very good week for the Jag and the positivity is flowing nicely at the moment.  The good things are herewith:

 

1.  Power Steering

The car had a week's holiday parked up at my boss's house following a vehicle shuffle, he drove the Jag to the office earlier this week to swap it back and said 'I don't know what you mean, the steering seems fine'.  It turns out that the best way to fix a car is to park it up and forget about it for a week - he's absolutely right and it's not given a moment's trouble since.  Very strange but I'm not complaining, I did buy a secondhand pump anyway so that can live in the boot.

 

2.  ABS Light

This has been on for weeks and no amount of relay jiggling has sorted it.  I had a brainwave today and unplugged the ABS module in the boot, plugged it back in and...fixed!

 

3. Paintwork

Yes, it still looks bloody awful.  However, the first wash in months followed this afternoon by a thorough coating of Turtle Wax green colour polish has taken the edge off and filled all the bits of missing lacquer in green instead of white so it looks OK from a distance.  What paintwork still remains is now quite shiny.  I hoovered it out inside and it looks nice too now although I couldn't find my leather conditioner so that'll have to wait.

 

Mechanical work is still needed, the oil change and long-promised brake bleeding session which I might even get done on Monday if the weather holds.

 

Anyway, I've taken it for a couple of hoons around some fantastic roads nearby and still love it to bits, putting your foot down in Sport mode provides such a fantastic surge of speed but with no drama or fuss.  It just shoves itself towards the distance with great urgency but complete composure, the nose doesn't pitch up and the engine noise is subdued.  70MPH takes no time at all and it will keep piling on speed far beyond that with no real effort (so I am told).

 

To cap off a successful afternoon, have some pictures from some random lane not far from Exmoor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[worldofceri]

Excellent news.  That is flippin' lush, by the way;  I have The Jealous.

[purplebargeken]

These are nice things.

[Skizzer]

I think I've said this before but I'm saying it again - what a gorgeous car. I adore the colour combo.

[egg]

Reckon this will sell within minutes if/when Phil does decide to move it on.....

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Good old Jags - self repairing!!

 

I missed all the drama - I hope it behaves itself from now on! I really like the colour of this car - the parchment interior especially. It is actually fairly rare: strange really, since it is one of my favourites.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

<<< How odd - I wonder why my profile thingy at the side of the post has '0 warning points' displayed on it?

[RobT]

The love affair continues, excellent! Glad you're still enjoying it Phil. Looks really good after a polish.

[Partridge]

I know what you mean about putting it in sport mode. My 4.0 fookin' flies above 70 great at 1am in the morning when you can straightline a roundabout and boot it*. Do you find they are almost too quick for a b road blast?

 

*puts car in sport mode*

 

"Hmm, this is quite nippy."

 

*looks at speedo*

 

"Shiiiiiiiiit. Brake. SPEED CAMERA!!! 30 MPH SIGN!!!! BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE. SHIT. BRAKE. SHIT. BRAKE. SHIT."

 

*On a private test track, of course.

[michael1703]

Sport mode and starting in 2nd is better and then sticking it in 3rd when it's doing a millionty rpm

[Shep Shepherd]

Magnificent, indeed 

[Royale80]

Excellent!

 

Cannot beat a self fixing car!

[DeeJay]

You've got the English "Christine".  

[phil_lihp]

Which is why I keep it parked in the road outside where I can keep an eye on it.

[DeeJay]

And it keeps an eye on you.

[Bucketeer]

As with most things in life, you need to experience bad times to fully appreciate the good times. You've had plenty of both with this car, I'm pleased to see it's Happy Jag at the moment.

[forddeliveryboy]

I passed this place the other evening in Kirbky Stephen, Westmoreland. There were more 40s on the drive than the streetview pic, he's obviously a firm believer in self-healing Jaguars. The beauty of these sleeping giants improved a line of uninspiring houses no end, for me.

 

[Guest Hooli]

Loved my XJ40, brilliant cars.

 

The ABS module in the boot is known for cracked joints, if you get bored open it & resolder everything. Same as the fuseboxes in the footwells.

 

Talking of how they shift, even my 3.2 auto would indicate 140 on my private test track...