A new member with a not very exciting question

[kerinbey]

Hello everyone.
I joined JEC sometime ago, following purchase of a very low mileage XJ6 S111.
Having been impressed by the enthusiasm of the club members I have subsequently met, and of course by their cars, I decided around two months ago to indulge in a reasonable mileaged XKR (1998 - 59K mls).
The car has been everything claimed by the previous owner - excellent. But, just to be on the safe side I did have it fully checked over by my local independent Jaguar specialist, (Simon at John Skeggs, Leicester.) and fortunately he agreed.
For peace of mind, and following reading similar advice on this forum, we decided that the tensioners should be changed, and this turned out to be good advice. One had already got hairline cracks appearing at the extreme edges.
I also followed another posting in respect of tyres and got a very good deal from Kwik-Fit, who incidentaly seemed to be one of the few firms able to quickly source a full set of Pirelli P Zeros.
So, there are two personal reasons why I am appreciative of the Forum and the members willingness to pass on information.
My less than important question is that I am taking the car into France for a trip and already have two sets of beam deflectors. One circular the other obolong. I have no instructions and have no clue where they might go on the headlamps for best effect.
Perhaps someone may have, and if so I would welcome some guidance.
Thank you.

[mickmoor1]

hi my name is mick and to live in Wigston leicestershire i have an xk8 convertible in saphire blue, welcome to the super car owners bug , i know mr skeggs and its a good job done that you have had the tensioners done ,i would have thought he would have done the pump and stat as well as they all cause probs sooner tha later ,there is a new style pump on the market which is stronger than the old type , i suppose it could be a prob if it went when you where in france??? I would suggest that you send a P M to Karl grand tourer as he has the xk8 and travels abroad a lot and should know all about the headlight diverters,

What colour is your car ???and i will look out for you on my travels my No is M16K XK so give me a pap if you see my car and we perhaps could have a chat There is a meetup soon of locals and surounding areas for a lunch and day out perhaps you might be interested

[kerinbey]

Thank you for the response Mick.
The car is due to go back to Simon almost as soon as we get back from France. A full service is due then and whilst it would probably have been safer to have the water pump dealt with at the same time as the tesioners the rest of the precautionary measures (belts etc) will be done then.
I am not sure about how to direct a personal message but thanks for the tip.
The car is blue (sapphire) and I would be very interested in a local meet.
Ray.

[mickmoor1]

Hi Ray Thanks for the reply sounds like a good car i like the blue as well lookes the bussiness when its nice and clean , you didnt say whether it a coupe or convertible??? , mine only gets out at the weekends, so not a lot of miles are put on, although we did go touring devon and cornwall for 2 weeks in all tha sunshine it was magic, roof down every day.
ABOUT PMs on the bottom of the posts there is a tab called PM if you click on it it comes up just as though you are posting a message the only diff is you will have to put a subject into the top box then just type away as normal the message only comes to me and not to the bulliting board, try it out then see if you can pm karl, ime sure he will give you all the information required, where abouts in leicester do you live????
Have a great time in france whatch out for the speed cops its so easy to do 120 mph and it seems like 70 as they are so smooth running i get around 28mpg when on a long run providing i dont clog it to much
keep in touch and when you get back we can have a meet up if you like for a chat etc its nice to meet other jag enthusiasts

bye for now MICK

[mike020150]

Hi, Just in case you haven't seen them, there are official Jaguar beam deflectors available for the XK8. Deflectors is probably a misnomer since they consist of clear plastic covers which encompass the whole light unit plus pieces of strategically positioned black tape to block the nearside RHD light peak. Rather than paying dealer prices, Ebay is good source at a sensible price (£10/£20). Mike.

[Bassman]

Hi, Just in case you haven't seen them, there are official Jaguar beam deflectors available for the XK8. Deflectors is probably a misnomer since they consist of clear plastic covers which encompass the whole light unit plus pieces of strategically positioned black tape to block the nearside RHD light peak. Rather than paying dealer prices, Ebay is good source at a sensible price (£10/£20). Mike.

Yep I got a set off eBay for about £20, but as I had just made a set from a pair of plain protectors (using templates supplied by Karl (Grand Tourer-thanks again mate ) I am letting Dave (Shafrs) have the ones I got

If you go abroad a lot (as we do) the clip ons are the best bet as positioning those sticky things is a PITA as is getting the sticky off afterwards

[GrandTourer]

Hi Ray
First, welcome to the forum
Send me a pm (personal message) with a contact phone no and I will ring you and help in whichever way I can.
One way to do a pm is to go to the memberlist (you'll see it listed at the top of the page) and look for GrandTourer, no: 42.
Just click on the button located between the number 42 and the word GrandTourer and write the message just like a post on this forum.

The Jaguar Light Protectors which clip onto the headlights and are easily removed and replaced also come with the light deflection areas premasked and they are then called beam deflectors.
If you are going soon and don't have either of them by that time, we can use mine as a template and mark up your lights which you can then blacken out with stick-on tape. I did this for my first few Continental trips but it is not as accurate as the proper deflectors. Its quite a complex area which needs masking off.
Anyway, look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Karl

[kerinbey]

Thanks everyone for all of the advice. Following a very kind gesture I met with Karl "Grand Tourer" who has very kindly loaned me his set.
I am also grateful to Karl because as we were about to leave our meeting place my handbrake cable snappped and he reassured me that the car would still be drivable. I was very fortunate that Simon at John Skeggs could fit the car in yesterday and so problem solved.
One more thing before closing.
I managed to successfully bid on Ebay a couple of days ago for a rear nearside light pod and arranged to collect it form Auto Surplus at Aldridge West Midlands.
Tony there owns an XK8 and has done a few alterations to it. He can also source parts, so I came away with a still boxed chrome boot finisher.
I can see that this is just the start!
Thanks again and kind regards.

[mickmoor1]

Hi Ray glad you got sorted out with the deflectors i thought Karl would be the best bet being local as well , i guess the cable must have broke after it released , that was lucky if you can call it that ??
Have a good time when you go to France will meet up sometime

bye MICK

[GrandTourer]

It was nice meeting you Ray and I was delighted to be able to help out.
I have not been on this forum since we met so did not see your last posting. Anyway, your wife told me you got the handbrake cable done when I checked on Saturday, so, you should be all set for a fun-filled trip to France. Hope the weather remains good and enjoy your P&J to the full.

I had to smile when I heard about the boot plinth - I'd say you are on the slippery slope to in the modification game

Look forward to seeing you again when you have returned, maybe we can have a drink somewhere and you can tell me about the excursion.
Have a safe trip

[Sharfrs2]

Welcome Ray. Karl's right about the slippery modification slope, the boot plinth is one of the only things I haven't done, just ask Karl about how I was determined not to mod my 8 a few months ago then caught the bug big time