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Jaguar XJS 3.6 Manual


Broadsword

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What we need now is the Autoshite body shop, if only such a thing existed, where we could get the paint sorted out! Do we think we could get away with leaving the roof black?

 

I don't mind the scruffiness. I think I'd feel like a flash git in a tidy XJS. Personally I'd spend the effort and money on ensuring it continues to work properly.

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Ooh lovely. I would love another manual jag. For no other reason than to go "oh wow that is heavy!" Unscrew the gear knob. It must be to help gear shift feel but they are very heavily weighted. Obviously that might be ana aftermarket one so might not be.

This one seriously doesn’t feel heavy at all. I was expecting the clutch/box to be the most tiresome part of driving it, but it’s really rather ok. Yes, maybe that non-standard gearstick has made a difference.

 

Are the brakes stuck on? Doubly excellent buy if not.

The brakes are fine. For something this age it really feels tight as a drum. There is very little give in the suspension if you try and rock it side to side and the turn into corners is sharp. It is merely cosmetically challenged. I do have a spare set of X300 “sport (i.e XJR)” wheels in the shed. They might look good on it.

 

Oh my!

Carry on!

Would the gearbox bolt up to a later xjr supercharged 6? That would make a mighty XJ-S. Asking for a friend

This one has the Getrag 265 gearbox. X300s manuals used a Getrag 290. I suspect physically it would fit though on an AJ16s. Supercharged XJS conversions have been done.

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Did they even officially sell manual XJS and XJ6's?

All 6 cylinder XJ6es in 2.9,3.6, 3.2 and 4.0 came as standard with a manual gearbox, tweed seats and plastic wheeltrims and without air conditioning. It was how they managed to keep the price down to the level of Granadas and Rovers etc.

3.6 XJ-Ses too were all manual as standard, although you did get aircon and alloys thrown in.

Auto was about a grand, as was leather. Sovereigns had everything as standard but were quite a bit more expensive. Think S-Class money instead of E-Class, pretty clever when it was just different trim .

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Would the gearbox bolt up to a later xjr supercharged 6? That would make a mighty XJ-S. Asking for a friend

 

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!!

 

Lovely buyage Mr Sword…. It does look a beaut.

The main reason I avoided the XJS was never finding a manual. I prefer them - so you're onto a winner there in my book.

 

Looking forward to seeing this being 'dealt with'.

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I think the sweet spot for me XJ-S wise is a late Celebration or whatever the runout model was, in the turquoise blue or burgundy colour. Manual, with the supercharged six and suspension and brakes to keep up with the engine. Did I mention I might be seliing the Locost?

 
But I would've bought this one too, because it's a bit rough...
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My manual 3.6 was great, the clutch was light and the gearchange brilliant. I really liked it and would have kept it forever if an ex-girlfriend hadn't taken a dislike to it/me and attacked it with a hammer! Little dents everywhere the bitch. I sold it to one of the many dodgy traders round here (and got a good deal due to poor light and careful leaning on the car :)   ) and was a tad gutted. Though to be fair, the heater was stuck on full heat which made the hot summer we had a bit of a chore. 

 

To be honest, I prefer the 3.6 manual to the V12 but they ain't worth as much (though they should be - V12 charisma?)  as they feel much more balanced, less understeery at high speeds and quicker/more responsive all the time.

 

Back in the day, I bought a brand new 3.6 auto sport pack in metallic grey with cream/beige interior, sports seats etc and loved it. Sadly, it loved the dealers far more than me and spent about 4 months in the first year of ownership back there. Consequently, it got rejected (amidst much recriminations and bad blood) and I got a Mercedes instead.

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That looks the bee’s knees. Well played.

 

More old Jaguar content is always good content, especially when it is an XJS. I’m not sure about a manual gearbag in a woft-era Jag, but that could be because I’m a lazy sod.

Bonus lattice alloy in the boot for added jealousy and sexual arousal.

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I worked at a main dealer when these were new and the standard manual gearbox versions were not well liked at all. Even mechanics thought it spoilt the car due to being heavy to use and generally weak (albeit usually the clutch).

 

However, TWR did offer a dogleg getrag conversion - these they totally transformed a V12........at a huge cost.

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This looks like fun -- manual XJ40s were very tight in the footwell, are these better?

It’s a little tight in the pedal box. For some reason your knee has a tendency to bash on the steering column as well.

 

top purchase there.Looking forward to reading more.

 

Correct I MOT'd that a few years ago.Very shonky.The owner thought it was worth £100k because it was The Saint's car.

I looked at the MOT failure sheet for the saintly Jag. Doesn’t look like there much left of the poor thing. The owner must have a rather over-optimistic view about it’s current value.

 

I don’t think I will have time to look at the Jag this week since I need to get the red Xantia through its MOT. Mig welder arrived in the post today. That, front brakes to sort out and an accumulator sphere to replace. A good place to start with the Jag might be a better inspection of the engine bay, then strip the interior completely and start again.

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Oh my!

 

Carry on!

 

Would the gearbox bolt up to a later xjr supercharged 6? That would make a mighty XJ-S. Asking for a friend

There's a cottage industry offering kits for converting badermatic jaaags to spanish gearing, upwards of £5k though so finding a fucked donor is obviously the AS go-to solution.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Things have been busy enough to prevent much work happening to the XJS.

 

I ordered a replacement bonnet which will be painted in the correct colour from the same place as the one I got for the turquoise XJR6. This one comes in at £200, which is still very cheap, and I can sell the old one on. I might try and persuade them to get their tame paint-shop to do the other bits on the car that need doing. Would be nice if there were somewhere more local, but I don't have such contacts.

 

Today work started clearing up the interior. Front seats and all the carpets and sound deadening came out. Much of it is soaked, but the floors are in one piece. Some welding has happened in the past obviously, but no nasty surprises. The boot is in surprisingly good condition and I can't see any rot on the scuttle panel of engine bay bulkhead. In fact apart from surface corrosion I can't find real rot anywhere. It's maddening that the exterior got attacked with blackboard paint and an orbital sander as it would have been ok otherwise.

 

The plan for the interior is to cut all new carpets throughout. Most of the original stuff is rotting and was probably poor quality even when new. Might need to source a replacement driver's seat. The headlining can be re-trimmed easy enough. It is just some fabric glued to a fiberglass tub. It came out easy.

 

The battery is dead. Strange it started the car last time when I left it disconnected, as today it was reading 6 volts. The battery tray is such that you can only fit a small battery. The one in there was 52 Ah. A spare 75 Ah I have is already too big.

 

I'm a little stuck with the wheels. I don't have the key to remove the security bolts on the centre caps. I desperately want them removed. Might have a buyer lined up for them and the steering wheel, so keen to do a deal.

 

Looking again in the engine bay the tips of the viscous fan have been shredded. This might explain the occasional graunching noise I hear while driving, seemingly at random. That need further investigation.

 

TL;DR no nasty surprises yet. The majority of the work is cosmetic and then just get the engine serivced up nice.

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Excellent progress.

 

I see evidence of many previous owners getting their left elbow out.

 

I've often wondered how those headlining boards would look with just a coat of white emulsion, clean but rugged, a sort of toughbook look, not quite in keeping with the ambience of the JG though

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