The paint on the offside rear wheel arch had been bubbling away for a while and I had put it off as long as I could, so I took the decision to scrape away the paint to see just how bad it was.
Low and behold rust holes on the outer skin.
I wanted to stop the rot spreading any further so I decided to set about having a new rear wheel arch fitted.
First I’d needed to source a new wheel arch panel.
That was the first hurdle as Jaguar didn’t make wheel arches anymore, so I ended up buying a full rear wing!
(£130 from SNG Barratt)
http://www.razey.karoo.net/images/xj-s%20wing.2.jpg
It was going to be a shame to cut up the panel just for a wheel arch, but I didn’t want to get into the realms of fitting a full rear wing.
Next hurdle was finding someone who could cut, weld and paint.
I searched high and low at all our local garages but all I got was “Sorry mate, that’s a specialist job”
My last chance was visiting an MG enthusiast, who by luck knew someone who might be able to help me out.
I paid them a visit and bingo!!
“Yes, we can do that for you sir but it will take about a week”
I immediately booked the car in and when the week came around for the work to be done I dropped it off on the Tuesday morning and by the Friday it was ready.
When I went to collect the car I spoke with the chap who had done the welding and he said it was a good job they had a full wing to play with as they had to cut into a little more metal than expected and the full wing gave them the extra metal they needed.
He went into great detail about the welding job and the extra sealant he’d put between the skins and also the waxoil he’d pumped in. Without even asking he had also taken a photo of the welding work which he emailed to me later. (see photo below)
http://www.razey.karoo.net/images/xj-s%20wing.3.jpg
And here is the finished job.
http://www.razey.karoo.net/images/xj-s%20wing.4.jpg
Just the bumper to go back on and the tyres to wash and then all I need now are some coach lines, which leads back to one of my old forum, posts!
Regards
Gordon
