16 with a Jag! Lily the XJS

[DrSebWilkes]

Hello everyone! Some of you may indeed already know who I am - I am Sebastian Wilkes and I was 15 when I got my XJS. Now I'm 16 and not much has changed - still got the car, whom is called Lily! I am based on the Wirral / Merseyside (seriously which is it?) but the car is in Stafford SOON TO BE CHESHIRE!!!!

She is a 1992 4.0, Registration XJI 7779, paintcode SDE. Seeing as I have equal amounts of bravery and foolishness, with a healthy spoonful of naivety because why not, I thought "Hmm I haven't got a lot of money so what car should I get?"

Ladies and Gentleman, I present you LILY THE XJS




Okay so I'm afraid, she isn't without her faults. Perhaps if I had called her "Jimmy" then she'd be free of them?

So where are we with her? Well she has rusted in pretty much every usual place that can rust on an XJS. If you're here to tell me to scrap her, then you've come to the wrong place. We ain't here to bin another graceful cat. Okay, so front inner sills, both sides will need work I suspect. Both side floor pans. Scuttle is *bad*. Front suspension is ... "gone" (more on that in a moment though), blue-smoke on startup (and I can only pray it will clear with prolonged used but ... not had that chance yet), ABS warning light (please don't be anything bad ...) Aside from electrical faults that will obviously be present I can't say for sure what other MOT failures there are on her right now.

As for somewhat less sevre issues general issues, lower rear quarters, n/s, has a big hole, front lower quarters are ... "blagh", I don't have a functioning header tank (best not to ask but suffice to say it has a hole), drooping headlining, exhaust leaks ...

BUT THE ABSOLUTE WORST ISSUE OF THEM ALL ... my radio has this code that renders my car inactive if I just randomly mash in numbers ....

Nah just kidding I'm sure there are other things that have eluded me but to be fair there are functioning things in my car like, the engine, the tranmission, the handbrake ... ... the cold air fan works too. Some lights also work which is pretty neat.

So, folks, that's my car. Me? Well I'm just a rather unusual 16 year old with a massive love for the XJS, maths / physics and cooking. You won't find me at any parties, aside from those I start whenever something goes right in my car project.

EDIT:
video of the Jaaaaag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWIi9VwZ_t8

[robv12]

hello and welcome young man, you are the future, get stuck into the XJS and the club, lots of free advice to be had here

keep us posted on progress please

[DrSebWilkes]

Wonderful, thank you! I'm a bit stingy but I have so far enjoyed the rewards of the JEC and I can't wait to pick people's brain on stuff - I don't just like to see things fixed but I love understanding why things work. And hopefully, one day, some other young chap will say "I got this xjs what do I do?" and I'll be on the giving end

And I promised to speak about the suspension, as well I'll mention a few other things as above that was just an intro.

Basically people may say "check behind the spring turret with a firm finger and it should be solid metal". I checked the front of the spring turret and saw through to the otherside. So, suffice to say it's utterly ruined. I have bought, thus far, new springs and new crossmember and this is one of the few jobs I won't do myself given my driveway limitation, and that's I'll have the old cross member dropped out, parts switched over to the new one, then have it placed back - fully renewed suspension!

And as an FYI I don't really like the concept of driving. I like cars, but not driving. I'm nuts, aren't I? So I'm not concerned with driving the car, nor insurance, nor cost of fuel, because A) It'll take ages to get it road legal B) I probably would get paranoid if I did take it on the road.

But don't get me wrong, my #1 motivation is to get it road legal, and done without botching (number of times I see someone say "oh I bought this car and it was botched") because truthfully I do want to use it one day


So in summary, no worries, you'll be well informed whether you like it or not?

[davidr]

Seb - welcome to the XJS Forum (and thanks for lowering the average age!).
I've been following your exploits on the other forum and I'm very pleased to see you here.
When I first had an XJS I didn't have a clue and it was using advice from forums such as this, getting my sleeves rolled up and having a go that led me to now doing all the work on both my cars myself.
It's great to have you here - as Rob says, you are the future and we will help you in every way we can. Please don't be afraid to ask anything. There's no such thing as a stupid question - it's only stupid to let appearances stop you asking!
Good luck and I look forward to meeting you and your car some time ( it will make a great magazine article one day!)
Best wishes
David Randall

[Brakebuster]

HI Seb

and welcome

what a great project car you have there, and a great way to learn how to restore and maintain your own cars , as mentioned, there are no stupid questions, non of us know everything in life , so ask away and collectively i hope we can come up with some of the answers you may need

with a limited budget, its important to identify the correct items to repair first, while always keeping an eye open for those one off bargains , but don't be tempted to buy everything you see , as you will end up with several cars worth of spares in the garage, just like David and me, lol

some more pictures would be great

all the best

BB

btw, it would be great to have someone who is , lets say , computer savvy ,lol, rather than all us old fogies muddling through all the time..........

[DrSebWilkes]

Quick update RE: the suspension renewal: I now have the

• cross member
• springs
• Spring pan
• all the bushings (at least that's what they said!)
• subframe / engine mounts

Anything else worth replacing while I'm at it? (My wallet is sort of hoping people will say no)

I haven't actually got all too many pictures sadly ...

[poprivet]

A warm welcome from me as well, take it a step at a time and treat it as a long term project. You will gain many valuable lessons along the way which will stand you well in life. At 16, my motor engineering learning efforts were confined to a Raleigh RM1 moped so you certainly have a head start on me and many others on here I'm sure.

Keep the reports coming, the JEC is a fantastic resource, not just on the technical information but also for the help and advice you will get. I think a short magazine article is also called for

[BigCatXJS]

Welcome Seb,

Glad that you finally took the plunge with JEC membership

Best, Richard

[DrSebWilkes]

Welcome Seb,

Glad that you finally took the plunge with JEC membership

Best, Richard

Thanks you
Actually really liking it so far - also loving the monthly magazines (a real bonus treat). Yeah sorry for not joining sooner is honestly all I can say

Unfortunately my car engine isn't working at the moment (it used to be absolutely fine before) ... I'm half tempted to start an independent thread on the matter. :\

[ChrisDixon]

Quick update RE: the suspension renewal: I now have the

• cross member
• springs
• Spring pan
• all the bushings (at least that's what they said!)
• subframe / engine mounts

Anything else worth replacing while I'm at it? (My wallet is sort of hoping people will say no)

Hi Seb I'd replace the shock absorber upper mounts (and the shocks maybe), anything rubber like steering rack gaiters, brake hoses. With discs and pads it depends but if you can afford it new discs will look better on a refurbished subframe than the old ones. Check the wheel bearings too. And ball joints. The other thing to check when the subframe is out is the inner wings, they may well have been repaired in the past but they usually have small rust patches roughly in line with the inside of the turrets, which can't always be seen from the inside as things like the air box and header tank are in the way.

[DrSebWilkes]

Hi Seb I'd replace the shock absorber upper mounts (and the shocks maybe), anything rubber like steering rack gaiters, brake hoses. With discs and pads it depends but if you can afford it new discs will look better on a refurbished subframe than the old ones. Check the wheel bearings too. And ball joints. The other thing to check when the subframe is out is the inner wings, they may well have been repaired in the past but they usually have small rust patches roughly in line with the inside of the turrets, which can't always be seen from the inside as things like the air box and header tank are in the way.

It has been repaired in the past but I'm not terribly keen on how it's been done so I will have a good prod I think. Let's say it actually fails ... is that something (given it'd be in a Jag-garage at this point) to get "them" to do or let them proceed and I worry about it some other time?

I'll see what I can do for the rest of your list. Especially with the latest engine development I've got to be strict on funds ...

[DrSebWilkes]

THE ENGINE LIVES!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWIi9VwZ_t8 Ha HA!

[davidr]

Well done Seb - it's a good feeling when it goes right isn't it?!!
What was the problem?

[fergolf]

Hello:

Reading this tread I remembered when was 16 like you... in 1988, I was already dreaming with the XJS. I still keep part of my old high school student folder...just look:



I had to wait 24 years to see my dream fulfilled.

Congratulations Sebastian

[DrSebWilkes]

Hello:

Reading this tread I remembered when was 16 like you... in 1988, I was already dreaming with the XJS. I still keep part of my old high school student folder...just look:



I had to wait 24 years to see my dream fulfilled.

Congratulations Sebastian

Ahh muchas gracias! Que bueno que hay alguien que habla español aqui hehe

Siempre has viviste en España? El razón porque hago la pregunta es porque soy muy interesado en donde Jaguar viendo sus coches.

Como de grande o bien conocido son Jaguar alla?

Just showing off a bit of spanish don't mind me xD For those who can't translate, I just love seeing XJS's in countries other than the UK / USA. Partly to show the XJS as a "world traveller" but also because it's interesting to hear how Jaguar sold their cars abroad.

Hell, I managed to find someone in Colombia who is running an XJS ... Colombia right now has a grand total of 2 official Jag dealers and Leyland never exported their cars there xD

Well done Seb - it's a good feeling when it goes right isn't it?!!
What was the problem?

I can't say for sure but I have a theory: I reckon when I tried running it last weekend, bearing in mind it hadn't been ran in months, and that without the air filter and housing the choke would have been affected meaning the engine would have run a lot rougher. Couple this with the more turns that usual to get an engine started after so long, I reckon the engine flooded since it couldn't start properly.

So this weekend that just passed, I checked the Crank Position Sensor's resistance and while I got the multimeter and contacts to touch, it seemed to read around the [correct] 3.5k Ohms needed. So it wasn't that! I refitted the air filter and housing and fully depressed the accelerator pedal to prevent the engine from being flooded - took a few more turns but it did start. After running for a minute, I turned it off and started again normally - straight off the bat with no issues.

Aside from the "small" exhaust leak, the exhaust looks good and definitely doesn't look blue Doesn't smell bad either so I think it's burning okay. Seriously - what a massive relief.