Delightfully Shambolic Jaguar XJ40 - Back to Magnificent

[Skizzer]

Shame! Still, you got an outstanding calendar shot out of it. And it's just an alternator away from being utterly glorious.

[Bren]

Is there an alternator on the equipment list?

[Timewaster]

But what a lovely place to sit while you wait.

Maybe a bit chilly by now though.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Yeah, decent weather for January, a nice big bus stop to break down in, quiet looking road... 

 

The needle is still firmly on the "WIN" side of the gauge for this one.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

20160130_153924.jpg

 

 

That should have been an official XJ40 brochure shot. 

[phil_lihp]

Yes it was bloody freezing but I'm warm inside a truck cab now on my way home. The Jag looks lovely sat up on the flatbed.

 

Autoaid continue to be excellent too and I should be home in 4 hours or so.

[phil_lihp]

I wonder if this is a record for 'least distance achieved' on a collection. Or most recovery trucks used as I'm in number 2 of 4.

[phil_lihp]

The seller was a lovely bloke and phoned me about an hour ago asking how it was going. He was absolutely mortified when I broke the news but I persuaded him not to worry too much, I don't blame him.

You pays your money and you takes your chance.

[phil_lihp]

 

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

On the bright side, it does look very sleek on the back of the recovery truck.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

But apart from alt*/delete, what's it like?

 

 

 

*ernator

[richardmorris]

It's currently achieving a record breaking and never to be repeated mpg.

[phil_lihp]

But apart from alt*/delete, what's it like?

 

 

 

*ernator

All is forgiven. I love it.

[Timewaster]

Given the title of this thread, I really hope - if only for the irony that it was the resistance of the alternator at fault.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

All is forgiven. I love it.

 

 

My first XJ-S at least made it home from the auctions, but FTP the following morning. The fuel pump trip switch had tripped. Press the button and away it went.

[Guest Lord Sward]

I was at work thinking about this thread today.  There was me slaving away on a Datsun aftersales counter thinking of the XJ40. Now I read its thrown the Heritage card in, I feel a bit better about things.

[billyboy406v6]

Breaking down in your Jaaaag is way better than doing same in a shitty Vauxhall. Top collectioneering !

[purplebargeken]

I was relayed from Devon many years ago when I bought the 2.9 Jag. Lovely chap but he listened to the Worzels all the way to London. 'Don't tell Oi, tell 'Ee' still rattles through my head at times. 

 

You should have checked the underside whilst it was on the flatbed, much easier than crawling underneath!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

if the alternator costs less than the fuel you'd have used this is a mega win situation .

[phil_lihp]

I got home at 2:20AM, ended up being 4 trucks and the last one ate its propshaft support bearing a few miles from home. It got us there but only by making a lot of very loud grinding noises that attracted quite a bit of attention and probably didn't endear me to the neighbours much.

 

He went off to a nearby petrol station to be recovered home and I went to bed. Long day.

[fatharris]

Please don't touch anything I own!

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I hope it behaves itself better from now on!

[phil_lihp]

Well, it hasn't gone wrong since

 

OK, now I've had some sleep and some breakfast, time for a quick review of things.

 

The car is fabulous.  The engine and gearbox are superb, smooth and contain clean, topped up fluids.  There are no nasty noises and it rides and handles well.  

 

The bodywork is good, the arches and sills look good, the boot floor is spotless, the A pillar and front arch corners are very solid and the boot area is pretty clean too.  There is indeed a nasty bit of crustiness on the bulkhead which will need attending to before it gets much worse and the sunroof has some scabs as expected.  There's a little bit of rust around the windscreen but overall it looks solid.  I've not seen underneath very much because it was dark by times it was on the first recovery truck but what I've seen looks good.

 

So far all the electrics seem to work, the gauges behave (even the oil pressure gauge which sits nicely at the right point) but I have yet to play with everything.  The sunroof works and does not leak, the stereo is original and sounds excellent.  The seats are a little grubby but have no wear on them.  It has loads of tread on all 4 tyres, the fronts are new and the rears are slightly perished Heros but barely worn.

 

There's a big stack of bills going back to 1999 showing it used to have a private plate at one point, cost £16,000 to trade in against a J-reg XJ40 in 2000 and has had a lot of money spent on it over the years, including a £950 front bumper in 2001, ironically.  Some receipts are from a Jaguar specialist which is a good sign.

 

It also seems to be astonishingly economical as I filled up the tank in St Leonards and it's still full now, 371 miles later.

 

Bad bits:

 

The paintwork is rough - lacquer has gone in several places and having a car cover on it has meant it's got a lot of scratches.  It will be hugely improved by a thorough wash and polish, it's obviously been washed regularly but there's moss in all the gaps and crevices and it could do with a good scrub inside.  The wheels are scabby with a lot of corrosion bubbling under the paint, perhaps a job to do if I decide to keep it a while.

 

The bumpers front and rear have seen a lot of action.  The front one is pointing up slightly and is deformed at the corners, the back one is quite wonky.  I might leave it, it's part of its charm.

 

The alternator doesn't work properly, it puts out 11 volts.  Second hand or reconditioned unit to be purchased ASAP.  The belt looks brand new but the alternator itself looks original.  The eBay ad says it had a new one, I suspect this has been lost in translation, it was his son-in-law who listed the car for him and the chap clearly wasn't very mechanically minded.

 

There was a noticeable blow on the exhaust at the front when I left the seller's house.  By times I'd got 10 minutes up the road, this had turned into a menacing roar as it went over 2000RPM for what is I suspect the first time in 3 years.  I like the noise, the straight six sounds great, but it's a bit caddish and brash.  Not in keeping with the image, dear chap.  Or perhaps it is, given the slightly scruffy nature of the car - I'm not sure.  Will be fixed though.

 

Front brakes binding - not surprising given it's hardly moved in recent months.  It was resisting slightly in traffic and both front wheels were quite warm by times I got 10 minutes down the road to the petrol station and it tended to lurch about when braking heavily.  I could hear at least one disc scraping as I drove along.  As the miles added on and I gave the brakes a workout at every opportunity this sorted itself out and by times it ran out of volts it was almost back to normal but I'll be having the front brakes apart anyway as a matter of priority before it goes anywhere too far

 

It is a little reluctant to come out of Park sometimes.  The seller mentioned that he had trouble with it about a year ago and had a new brake light switch fitted to fix it but it did it when I left his house, apparently it can do it when it's been standing but sorts itself out when it's been used a bit more.  We'll see, it's not the end of the world as it always came out of Park eventually when being swapped from truck to truck.

 

All in all, it's lovely and I can't wait to travel more than 20 miles in it.

 

Have some more photos utilising a different take on the petrol station shot.  It didn't get as far as a timber-framed pub so that will have to wait for now.

 

 

 

 

[RobT]

Despite the issues, that's still a massive WIN. Look forward to your progress on this Phil. That really is a lovely colour and wheel combination.

[Guest Lord Sward]

Despite it all, i'm still jealous.

[purplebargeken]

I might have some of those centre caps in the loft. 

[mercedade]

When the oil pressure light comes on and flickers alarmingly, chances are it's just the shit switch/sensor that one can upgrade for the later one, .....then it is fine and can be ignored

 

 

I think every person driving an XJ40 (and AJ6 engined XJ-S too, I imagine) has been given the fear by the oil pressure sender at least once! 

 

 

 

I tried that - once. Then it transpired that the massive blue cloud was me. My first '40 (G reg 4.0 in an XJR body kit) drank oil like a Texan George Best, it was rough as hell, and I loved that thing. From then on, I had to learn how to 'interpret' the oil pressure light, because sometimes it was telling the truth and had no oil in it! (also, a testament to the unkillable nature of the AJ6)

 

The viscous fan coupling was permanently seized on, so it made (to my ears) the perfect POWER noise with every press of the accelerator. Then, one day the fan exploded under the bonnet, punched an inch-long dent in the bonnet but miraculously didn't slice through any of the perilously exposed wiring next to it. Drove it like that for another 3 months until it tried to kill me - basically, if you pressed the brake pedal too hard, it went completely solid and yanked the car to the left. If you pressed it progressively, it was fine. This, combined with its rapacious oil thirst and habit of putting the gearbox into limp-mode if you went a smidgen over 80, meant it was curtains.

 

So I bought another one (J-reg 3.2 with the most perfect interior of any car).

 

Will find pictures one day. Love them!

 

Your one looks like a star - that's exactly the kind of thing I assumed was out of reach these days (I paid £350 each for mine, well over 8 years ago)

[phil_lihp]

I am pleased to say that the oil pressure gauge works perfectly and the needle sat nicely in the middle, the light goes out straight away when starting and there's no obvious smoke so I think the engine's a good one.

 

I've just ordered a reconditioned alternator for £100 (extravagance!) - a used one from a breakers was £80+ so I thought it was worth £20 more for a rebuilt one with a year's guarantee.  Unfortunately the cheap used one MB linked to was gone by times I got to it and a Jag specialist who was breaking one on eBay told me that the Denso ones on the 4.0 fail for a pastime (also lots of grumbles on the forums from a quick Googling) so it makes more sense to get a known good one.  Should be up and running on Saturday all being well!

 

I keep looking at it parked in the road by my house, it's brought a bit of 90's sophistication to my street which is more or less balanced out by a neighbour's huge, noisy and very shabby matt black Pontiac Firebird.

[RobT]

If nothing else, they make nice ornaments.  This thread has got me going again, so for the past few weeks I've been on ebay etc looking for something half decent for peanuts.  Nowt around at the moment, so you did very well with this one Phil.

 

Are you coming to Shitefest in it?

[phil_lihp]

My Shitefest attendance is questionable to be honest, I'll probably be a last minute entry if I do.