Enhancements

[a_romeo_75491]

Greetings all,

This is my first post.
I own 1995 4 litre Celebration with 134k miles. She is in very good condition. I firmly believe that preventative maintenance is both the most sensible and cheapest way to keep her in tip top shape. With that principle to the fore I am always looking at ways to enhance her performance.

I won't bore you with all the work I have had done to her but perhaps of interest to other owners, the most recent thing was to have an oil test done. Essentially, whichever company you choose will send you the kit which you use to return the oil sample. Depending on how much you pay they will send you a report to include lead, iron and carbon etc etc content and amounts versus a base acceptable level for each. I paid about £80 and received a most complete report which thankfully, told me the engine was in very good health.

Continuing the thread of enhancements, the a/c unit has a very heavy compressor within. Does anyone know of a lighter and more efficient unit that could be fitted? The current one saps quite a bit of power too.

Any ideas/ thoughts gratefully received.

Drive serenely,

David

[davidr]

Hi David and welcome to the XJS Forum. You say you wont bore us with all the work you've done but actually we'd like to hear about it! Please tell us more!
As far as the aircon pump goes, you will have the later (Denso I think?) type that is much smaller and more efficient than the earlier Harrison so progress has been made.

[a_romeo_75491]

Hi,

Well you did ask me to tell you more so here goes:
A brief history first. She was made in 1995 but not sold from the Jaguar dealer until April 96. A lady from Essex bought it and she was kept in the grounds of the Edwardian house the owner lived in. With about 7k miles on her she was bought by a Mr Shaw who was a senior manager on the channel tunnel project. He lived in the north west and every Monday morning he drove to Ashford before returning home on Friday. This way he clocked up serious mileage but always on a motorway. It was serviced every 4 to 5 months as he was driving about 5-6k miles every 6 weeks or so.
He then sold it to the Costin family of Cosworth fame. I have a wonderful letter from Chris Costin detailing the work he had done such as replacing the manifolds and cats. His wife used it mostly but then he put it on a SORN and stored it but kept it MOT'd. After a few years it was passed to Clarkes the xjs specialist from whom I bought it 6 years ago with 116k miles.
I have every bit of paperwork inc MOT certs, invoices etc etc.
Since I have had her I have the the front spoiler, bonnet, sills and rear panel under the boot repainted. All the radiators have been recored and the system flushed through. The front and rear suspension have been replaced to include drop links, radius arms etc using Bilsteins up front and the standard Boge at the rear.
The rot around the windscreen has been treated and a new seal fitted. I have had the enhanced crank shaft sensor fitted with noticeable improvements in performance and fuel economy. All of the bottom hoses have been re made to marine standard. LEDs have been fitted to the sides and rear. She has been carbon cleaned and serviced regularly....perhaps too much. The rev clock packed up so a nos one was fitted.
Turning to the inside I had a wooden dash inset made to match the rest of the wood, the drivers seat refitted with new back straps, side bolsters and the leather treated and cleaned. I have upgraded the stereo head unit and new Focal speakers fitted and balanced.
The wheel rims have been treated and re coated with the correct finish. The correct Pirellis have been fitted.
The entire body has been ceramic coated and the wheel arch lips lined with an anti stone chip covering.
I have retouched the underseal where it had chipped off.
She lives in my garage covered by a soft cloth with the xjs logo on it.
I wont bore you with the amount of Jaguar based automobila I have inc xjs press releases and a letter signed by William Heynes on Jaguar paper.

Forgive the onslaught of information...there is a lot more but I shall stop now.
She's been to Goodwood, Le Mans, Reims, Magny Cours, Clermont Ferrand, through Spain, Portugal and back through France to my home in Jersey. Our next trip will be in September to the Loire. My brother is currently on the JEC organised trip in France enjoying his XJS. I blame him for my purchase and errrr enthusiasm.

Re the A/C unit any thoughts on removing it?

Drive serenely

David

[davidr]

Thanks for the comprehensive update.
I would love to put that in the magazine if you could write it up and send some photos. It sounds like the car has a really interesting history that our members would like to hear.
As far as removing the a/c system goes - my personal feeling would be don't!! These cars can get very hot inside. (I am assuming its a coupe).
Others may have a different opinion of course!

[ptjs1]

Hi David,

The car sounds great! I'm just about to produce an article on LED light fitment to XJSs. It's taken me much longer as you will appreciate, the bulb failure warning systems are an interesting challenge! It would be great if you could let us know how you got around the problem. I would be intrigued if it's the same solutions that I found!

Cheers

Paul

[ptjs1]

David,

Also which Pirelli tyres are you using? You mentioned the "correct Pirelli tyres", but the P600 that was fitted from new, and then the subsequent P6000 tyres, were discontinued many years ago (quite rightly imo, as they had major production flaws!) So I wondered if you were using very old versions of these tyres or some other Pirelli tyre?

Cheers

Paul

[a_romeo_75491]

Hi David,

Your quite right, removing the A/C system is a stupid idea. However, with the passage of time surely someone somewhere has developed a compressor that is lighter and more efficient than the old 1990's technology? I have researched this at length, spoken with engineers in that area but they all say the same thing, its heavy because of the work and hostile environment it has to work in. Hey ho.
I will send an article to you with pleasure. Do you want more details or just as is with some pics?

Hi Paul,
Im afraid you credit me with too much expertise! I ordered them from the Better Lighting company, others are available, and he sent me the bulbs. I had a mechanic fit them whilst getting the suspension done. The o/side rear one blew but the company replaced it double quick. Its now 5 years on and I've had no issues. I will be getting the headlights done next.
Re the tyres, I have new P7 Cinturatos fitted. £120 each but worth it. When at 105mph on a tightening radius bend in France I had complete confidence. She came with P6s. I will be interested in your LED's report.

Drive serenely
David

[greeban]

For what it's worth I too recommend keeping the a/c - as said, it does not take much to get the inside hot. On the late models the a/c works really well and makes the car an absolute pleasure to drive in the summer, especially when stuck on the M25!

I fitted LEDs to the rear stop and tail lights and have solved the brake warning light issue (I think!). Amazingly the tail light uses the antiquated reed relay set up to set the warning light off, and the stop light uses a modern semiconductor - which is why I love this car with all its foibles including using both metric and imperial fittings! So the upshot is that the tail and stop need different size of resistor. I would need to find my notes if anyone needs the values and how you fit them.

[a_romeo_75491]

Greetings,

I had my XJS out yesterday. Further to me enquiry about removing the a/c I was able to bask in chilled air whilst all outside sweated.
If only I could blame the folly of youth when I first thought about taking it out.

Drive serenely

David