Bargain Basement Bucket List Big Cat - Off to pastures new..(27/10/24)

[320touring]

10 hours ago, grogee said:

25.0

65L (14.3gal) of LPG (£58.44) for 290.8 miles is 20.34mpg.

 

Or £0.20/ mile in fuel costs. About the same for the Clio 182 on unleaded

[320touring]

So far I've put circa £120 of LPG in the XJR since Friday. should be bankrupt by Xmas at this rate😂

[hairnet]

huv ye bin gan wick everyday 😮

[Dave_Q]

A lot of larger outfits are using biomethane in place of LPG, if you can get your hands on a few ton of manure you might be able to make your own?

https://cryonorm.com/liquefied-natural-gas/liquefaction-plants/biogas-liquefaction/

[tooSavvy]

4 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

A lot of larger outfits are using biomethane in place of LPG, if you can get your hands on a few ton of manure you might be able to make your own?

https://cryonorm.com/liquefied-natural-gas/liquefaction-plants/biogas-liquefaction/

Did we read, last few weeks, of a BioGas 'dome/tank' nuking it, when hit by lightning.. 🤔

[320touring]

Today, I got to find out what I have bought. That and make some improvements.

First up, obviously, was the improvements..
The headlights on this are like piss holes in the snow - £11 got me 2x Nightbreakers.
Fitting was simple - for the driver's side, all I had to do is move the valvesaver reservoir and then pull the light holder out.

The passenger side requires the removal of a trim panel above the air box. This reveals a wheen of relays, ideally located right in the path of all the road spray. Excellent engineering.

All changed and the piss holes are a bit larger now. A noticeable improvement on the drive home.

I took the opportunity to take a picture of heritage in action. Both British cars with their front hinged bonnets up!

The next thing was servicing the LPG filters. There are two on the feed lines to the injectors, and they both looked pretty old.

The first step is to shut off the LPG feed at the tank- a simple screw in valve.

Then run the car on LPG til it switches back to petrol. 

The filters are simple to change - and the new ones were easily installed. I also went round all the clips and ensured they were completely snuggled up. This seems to have reduced the smell of LPG.

I also made a point of remembering to open the tank valve again - so I could make it home!

The gearbox fluid was also checked and 500ml of DEXRON 111 eas added to bring it right up to the HOT marker.

Trepidation then filled the air - time to have a look under the car and see what the structure of the car is like.

Assume the position:

All good thankfully - sills and floorplan look in greAt condition, easily the best of the 4 jags I have owned.

Bouyed by this good news it was time to have a look over the brakes and suspension.

At the rear all is in good order - the subframe is tidy, the shocks appear to be the correct green Bilsteins, and the disks and pads appear new and only lightly worn.

I also managed to ID where the grease nipples are on the half shafts - something for me to do soon.

All was much the same at the front - correct shocks in decent condition and barely used brake discs and pads.

Overall it looks like I have made a reasonable investment, and it's possible to see where a lot of the servicing costs over the last few years have gone. I am extremely pleased by this!

Now I had some confidence in the thing, it was time to put in the effort to get it a bit more pleasant.

Removal of the rear window blinds was a priority - they are well made and fit well, but I don't like them. 

Blinds removed, then it was time to do the windows - the glass seems to be fairly free from scratches despite the significant mileage, and it all came up well.

Lastly, I cleaned all the shut lines, door cards and door frames - the leather wipes pulled some amount of grot off the doorcards.

My brother made a grand job of hoovering out the car - and the carpets came up lovely.

The boot was packed and it was time to set off home.

So there we are. Fundamentally a reasonable buy, with a relatively short list of things to improve/update or resolve. 

[320touring]

XJR did 332 miles using 10L of u/l (as ran out of LPG on way home from unit) plus 64L LPG. 20.39mpg.

Total fuel cost £71.67 which buys 52.43L for an mpg equiv of 28.79... 

Magic. That's 4mpg better than the Elgrand 😃

[GeordieInExile]

Reliable, economical and practical family transport for the modern gentleman. 

[hairnet]

cars no modern

driving staff even less so 🤭

[straightSix]

On 04/12/2023 at 23:14, 320touring said:

I got a wheen of invoices with the car, dating from 2018 to present..

I did what you should never do...

So that averages out to £1096 in maintenance per year over the last 6 years. (This figure does not include the £1600 worth of LPG installation)

Scary stuff! 

Time to put some context on the bald figures

The old girl has not had an easy time of it since 2018. The LPG kit was fitted in 2019 and it's easy to see why..

 

I make that out to be 90,626 miles in 6years.

That means a not entirely unreasonable £0.07 per mile in costs.

The logic re the £1600 spend on the LPG comes into sharp focus when you look at the fuel costs.

Assuming 23mpg long term average, and a fuel price of 1.499/L

90626 miles needs 3,940 Gallons (17,911L) for a cost of £26,848...

 

Assuming 20mpg on LPG, and a fuel price of 0.899/L

90626 miles needs 4531 Gallons (20,598L) for a cost of £18,518..

That means the LPG install + fuel + maintenance cost a total of £26,695.

 

Effectively, that's the running costs for free.

Hopefully it remains to be free to run🤣

My old one had done 230k miles I think it was as the bloke used to commute from Birmingham to Oxford every day, dread to think of his fuel costs

Looks like you've bought a good one though, they really are fantastic things. That exhaust manifold is quite an expensive upgrade as well!

[hairnet]

props to BRUTHA_HOOVER

[Supernaut]

3 hours ago, straightSix said:

My old one had done 230k miles I think it was as the bloke used to commute from Birmingham to Oxford every day, dread to think of his fuel costs

Looks like you've bought a good one though, they really are fantastic things. That exhaust manifold is quite an expensive upgrade as well!

The only photo I took of this car was of the exhaust manifold...

 

PHWOOOAAARRR!

We reckoned it must have roughly the purchase price alone worth of exhaust on it. Full stainless steel system, it sounds utterly filthy.

[320touring]

A 6:45am start after sitting for 6 days. No bother.

Fired first turn and was on LPG by the time the windows were defrosted. Those Nightbreakers are a big improvement. Would recommend for £11.

That's not lens fog, that's the condensation out the exhaust.

[2flags]

Nice. Very nice. You seem to have a good one there. Love a nice Jag. 

[320touring]

Friday morning 4.45am

What the fuck am I doing?

Ah yes, the interior lights make the leather interior looks inviting, if a little cold.

Best get in then and see where we end up...

Tebay, as is tradition or old charter or summert.

Then it was onwards to sunny Wrexham, where the LPG tank was duly replenished.

Was lovely to see this old Royce out - poor fella was having to feed it the full price stuff.

The Jag drank 66.88L of LPG for 283 miles - a heady 19.2mpg..

After 8.5hrs and about 400 miles, I reached my destination.

Any guesses?

 

[Back_For_More]

South for once...... Devon(ish) for an MoT exempt A30 

[hairnet]

what have you bought from northern monkey?

or have you bought eddys jag

[gadgetgricey]

16 hours ago, 320touring said:

Any guesses?

 

Something in Cardiff area?

[320touring]

41 minutes ago, Back_For_More said:

South for once...... Devon(ish) for an MoT exempt A30 

Nope, although that sounds a great adventure!

Not buying anything this time, just on a visit

22 minutes ago, hairnet said:

what have you bought from northern monkey?

or have you bought eddys jag

Neither - Too far south for eddy's Jaaag, and northern monkey retails stuff that is far too good for me😂

16 minutes ago, gadgetgricey said:

Something in Cardiff area?

Closer...

A clue 

[chancer]

The one and only BMW i'd consider buying. Classic

[Back_For_More]

You've got your vowels all wrong mate...... A30 not E30 ffs! 

Not visiting your old 335 estate are you? 

[Noel Tidybeard]

have you tried puffing the tyres up a little moar?

apparently 10% is acceptable from manufacturers

[EyesWeldedShut]

Not a Schoda thing is it?

No, hang on, Cardiff = Barry = that rather nice Beemer wot I missed out on earlier this week??

[320touring]

1 hour ago, Back_For_More said:

You've got your vowels all wrong mate...... A30 not E30 ffs! 

Not visiting your old 335 estate are you? 

@jaypee and I still have that...

[hairnet]

skizzers beemer cos hes one similar?

[320touring]

1 hour ago, hairnet said:

skizzers beemer cos hes one similar?

Got it, down visiting Skizzer!

[straightSix]

8 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

have you tried puffing the tyres up a little moar?

apparently 10% is acceptable from manufacturers

When I was using my 3.2 x300 for going to work I'd bang the tyres up to 40psi and put lighter weight oil in all in the hope of 30 mpg 

[hairnet]

huv ye bin roped in tae appearing in a video

 

[320touring]

Having stuck 860 miles on this in 2 days, here's some thoughts on it...

 

Positives:

This car covers miles like they are metres - comfortable seats and a lazy driving experience make it a most pleasant place to be.

The arm rest is spot on - lovely matched height with the door armrest, it's basically like doing 70mph on your sofa.

The ride, even on 17" rims is comfortable - classic "see bumps but don't feel them".

The auto box performs well, smooth changes whether under harsh or soft acceleration.

Easy to get the box into overdrive and keep it there - useful on backroads.

The whine of the supercharger is not intrusive, but serves as a reminder that you are being pulled along by something a bit special.

The stereo is great - decent sounds all round.

Power is ALWAYS available - just prod the pedal and off you go. However, it's happy to just nurse along at a GPS 70mph.

The LPG is smooth at motorway speeds.

Despite a lack of cruise control, it's easy to maintain speed, and the pedal position is comfortable.

No engine fluids (coolant/oil/ATF/Power steering ) consumed.

 

Negatives:

The LPG fails to keep up past 4000rpm.

It idles roughly on LPG.

Light throttle openings on LPG are stuttery until up to 40mph.

If on overrun on LPG (e.g. coming down a hill with no throttle) it gets crossed up and splutters.

Think it has the beginnings of a ball joint rattle from the passenger front.

It makes Oliver Reed look like a tea-totaller.

860.4 miles

£193.79 in LPG

216.04L LPG (47.52 gallons)

18.1 mpg

22.5p/mile

 

If it was petrol

£193.79 is 141.55L (31.14gallons)

27.64mpg equiv

 

Overall:

13/10 would roadtrip again! 

 

I'll need to see if I can get the LPG checked and serviced fully (I did replace the filters and that has helped a bit).

With the LPG running cleaner I'd hope it will be a tremendous mile muncher.

 

I'm glad I've met my hero - I'm not disappointed!

 

[Back_For_More]

Mine was a instant hit with both myself and the gf...... She loves it amd it's the only one of the sheds she chases me to get back on the road. 

I've lost count of the times I've just 'thought' I was pooling along on the motorway - only to look down and see triple digits. 

Fully agree - they're immensely lovely places to be. I really don't care about the fuel costs - it is always worth it. 

You seem to have a corker there. Best of luck with it.