Who here is a DIY mechanic

[steveww]

Being new to Jaguar ownership having previously had a '69 Lotus Elan, it appears that there are not that many XJS owners who roll their sleeves up and get their hands dirty.

I just wanted to do a quick poll of who on this list does their own work and to what extent?

So lets hear if you do your own work and what the biggest job you have done on your XJS.

[almcl]

I do my own work.

Fortunately the XJS has not needed anything massive, a few replacement components has been about it.

On other Jaguars, repairing the body, rebuilding the engine, converting to a manual gearbox and that sort of thing.

Some pictures here:
http://www.almclwebpages.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/2.html
http://www.almclwebpages.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/2a.html
http://www.almclwebpages.pwp.blueyonder ... imler.html
http://almcl.org/sitemap.aspx

[iain1980]

I do all my own work, ..........................but.............

I repair heavy plant for a living, so I won't be winning any concourse prizes!

At £40 an hour or more I am not going to be relieved of large amouts of money that could be better spent on petrol for something I could do myself.

Although it is a bit of a busman's holiday for me it is satisfying to stand back and admire shiny jag that I repaired.

[Mr.Ian]

I'll tackle absolutely anything.

XJS work (on my own car) to date is a massive list but main bits are, outer sills / floor pans / inner sills / rear chassis leg repairs / boot floor /rear valance / lots of small panels made by hand / rear suspension and brakes fully stripped and rebuilt.
More to do also on top of that.

[steveww]

It appears to me that we DIY mechanics are in the minority amongst Jaguar owners.

I take my hat off to those with the skill and time to undertake major body restoration. I am pretty good with the oily and electrical bits but I do not have the patience or skill to do body work.

On my old Lotus I rebuilt the engine, gearbox, brakes and suspension. I completely replaced the entire wiring loom and numerous other little jobs. At the moment I am rebuilding the front suspension on my XJS and will be replacing the entire exhaust after Christmas.

Al - I like your web sites. That South African trip was a bit of an adventure. Good to see a Jaguar being used rather than "park and polish".

Any more DIY mechanics here?

[kelsham]

I do all my own repairs and maintenance. The only job I had done by an expert was a gearbox rebuild on the auto box.

I was working at the time and wanted to use the car, I did not have the time to learn how to rebuild auto boxes.

I bought a MIG welder and have carried out body repairs to the radius arm floor area to my satisfaction and the MOT inspection.

I did work as a print machine technician, which helps with understanding the electrics.
My main interest was always cars.

regards Kels.

[Brakebuster]

i dabble now and again

long live the XJS

BB

[SimonR]

Good luck to you!

I must admit that I still find it a little daunting to work on the XJ-S but I try my best and am extremey appreciative of all the help I get from forum members here, right down to someone on here very kindly coming round to my place on Saturday to help me rebuild my clutch hydraulic system!

I'm pretty handy with my other car - a Maestro Vanden Plas with pretty much all the parts except bodyshell and interior of a 2.0EFi MG Maestro transplanted into it. My father and I did all the conversion work a couple of years ago and I'm currently in the process or rebuilding the front suspension and installing a digital dash with talking Margaret Thatcher!!

One day I'd like to learn the black art of bodywork as I hate paying other people to do stuff that I could learn to do myself.

[masterb]

I also dabble, and try to learn on the job, i think there are more of us than you think who do there own work.
Possibly like me with varying degrees of success, and of course others of a much higher caliber.

[540itouring]

I do all my own work on mechanics , electrical electronics etc as i also have use of a ramp at my friends garage.


I also have a 95 XJR6 which i have restored , BMW 5401AT and do almost all the work myself. I like working on the cars as long as i am not stuck out in the cold !

[JED1961]

I do ALL my own work
The list so far on my XJ-S includes
new headlining fitted
fuel system stripped out inc injectors/electrics ,cleaned repaired refitted
all the usual electrical probs, windows ,guages ,lights,fuel system, wipers etc etc repaired
tin worm removal
tuning /servicing
polished my wheels and a few other bitsnbobs
resprayed a few paint defects (more to do )
replaced steering rack seals etc
stripped front end of auto box replaced clutch plates and resealed gear box
etc etc etc all good fun !!

[Telsmoneypit]

Being new to Jaguar ownership having previously had a '69 Lotus Elan, it appears that there are not that many XJS owners who roll their sleeves up and get their hands dirty.

I just wanted to do a quick poll of who on this list does their own work and to what extent?

So lets hear if you do your own work and what the biggest job you have done on your XJS.

This is the Jaguar ENTHUSIASTS club not the JDC.
I do everything.

Bodywork, Mech, electrical, fitting windscreens, subframes..the list goes on

The biggest job? front subframe replacement.
The most expensive? filling it up with petrol every week.

I bloody despair....

[greeban]

Me too! Last job was to replace the evaporator on my celeb - great fun! Have a wonderful picture of the inside with all its wires hanging out!
Hugely satisfying - also rebuilt the front suspension not so long ago - my problem has been finding quality parts. Use jaguar classic parts when I can - be aware of imitations!

[BigCatXJS]

I'll do basic stuff on my XJ6 as there's more room to operate in. I lack a ramp and my V12 XJ-S has very little space to operate in, so I entrust my XJ-S to a very good, reasonably priced independent Jag specialist who knows my car inside out. It's a trek, but worth it to me. I am more than happy to get my hands dirty and learn, but I confess to being more at home running IT Infrastructure

I very much admire folks who do look after their XJ-S themselves and I find this forum (and the free JaguarForum) very useful for understanding and resolving issues.

[jonc3725]

I have done most things on mine including electics over the last 8 years. To be honest the XJS is not that scary compared to more modern cars and it's engineering can be understood especially with all the info about on the web.
In my experiance there are more XJS drivers than DIY mechanics but for me the engineering is half the fun (well maybe not always when it is a cold, December evening in the garage and the components fight everything you do!!!!!! Anyway I would not have the money to pay garage rates if I owned an XJS they must cost a bloody fortune.