Jaguar Sovereign rust and restoration - lots of welding!

[oldtimer]

Congratulations for a superb job - Well done.

[Phil 18]

well done excellent work i can remember driving these when they were brand new along with the daimlers and i remember thinking at the time be inresting to see which parts of the panels wil start to get affected with the dreaded tin worm first in the future

[Tintin]

I have just seen this - what an amazing job.

One question - what colour is the paintwork?

Robbie

[db40]

well done excellent work i can remember driving these when they were brand new along with the daimlers and i remember thinking at the time be inresting to see which parts of the panels wil start to get affected with the dreaded tin worm first in the future

I remember them from the start too. My dad bought one of the early cars - delivered new in February 1987. Here it is photographed some time in 1988.



I remember people saying that modern cars like the XJ40 simply wouldn't rust like the older cars - and quite a few people believed they were so complicated that they wouldn't last much past ten years old since they would be too complicated for anyone to fix themselves. Wrong on both counts!

By the time my dad sold the 3.6 it had a fair bit of rust on it, most noticeably on the rear arches and boot lid. The XJ40 I have now is the one which replaced it - and has been far more rust resistant than the '87 '40.

[db40]

I have just seen this - what an amazing job.

One question - what colour is the paintwork?

Robbie

Thanks for that. The colour is Diamond blue (JFN) - the paint I used was manufactured by Glasurit, but lots of companies will be able to match it. I like the colour; it takes on a different character depending on the light.

[db40]

db40,

Great job, well done! The car looks great and I loved seeing all the pics. This would make a great article for the magazine.

I'm really impressed with how well you've done on cleaning the engine. As a matter of personal interest, what product did you use to clean the alloy block and head?

Cheers

Paul

Thanks for your encouragement!

I just used Autoglym Engine and machine cleaner to degrease it, it actually wasn't very dirty. After I had removed the engine manifold I think I may have wiped some of the more sensitive areas of the block carefully with a rag with a bit of petrol on it. It was a while ago now! The alloy wasn't corroded at all, possibly because the car has always been garaged so has not seen as much condensation as many others.

[db40]

Heck! That is a lot of work and very well executed. Most impressive.

Such a shame when the tin worm strikes. Multi-layer steel inter facial corrosion is the very Devil.

Very nice work. Keep at it.

Mike K

Thanks for that.

There are a lot of rust traps built into the '40, but then it is an old design. As the car is stripped down, it doe become apparent why the XJ40 was the safest cars made in its time - they're very strongly built.

[db40]

I love that chrome tape! I wonder if it is still available?

I bought it from Flint's Hire and supply - it is still available. I would need to check to discover the width I used.

https://shop.flints.co.uk/Products/pg_M ... rome-Tapes

[db40]

Wow ! going through all that made me feel really into it. I could manage the chrome tape but when I first saw a hole in the sill of my then 92 XJ40 I just panicked and got rid of it That was in 2004. Well I have learned to try a bit harder since but then a lot of stuff depends on 'horses for courses' .
Nonetheless, an inspiring and motivating read !
Thomas45

Thanks for that!

[db40]

A proper job indeed. Incredible attention to detail, that would expect from you David.
cant wait to see the car!

One or two wobbles on the way though - as you'll remember!

[db40]

Staggeringly impressive. I doff me hat to you.

This restoration really should appear in the magazine.

Mike K

Thanks for that!

[db40]

Congratulations for a superb job - Well done.

Thanks.

[db40]

It has been a little while since I updated this thread - in fact I thought it was more up to date than this!

Back in June I had my car serviced at my local Jag dealer (who originally supplied the car, all those years ago). They have serviced the car since it was new and it has a fairly complete history - just one gap when the car was off the road for bodywork repairs, which motivates me to keep the history up. Besides, the old thing is so completely reliable than they must be doing something right!

They are always enthusiastic about my Jag - in fact it would be fair to say they love the old thing and the XJ40 generally! The '40 represents the good old days for Jag dealers - before the S and X type changed the customer base and transformed everything from low volume service orientated job, to a volume business.

The dealer always picks the car up from the house, then drops it off afterwards. This time the service manager phoned me in the afternoon to say what a wonderful old car it was - and that it was such a pleasure to see it. He told me the dealership had a copy of the Enthusiast's magazine which had a series of articles on the model - and he would put it on the passenger's seat of my car before it was delivered back to me, so I could read it myself. I thought this was incredibly nice of him - and excellent service indeed. I didn't have the heart to tell him I already had the magazine.



I have always had excellent service from Royles, whether at the original dealership in Prestbury, or the later premises in Wilmslow which they moved to in about the year 2000. They are much better than anywhere else I have tried.

Sadly they, along with a number of other smaller family-owned Jaguar dealerships, they lost their franchise on 31st May this year - after a long run with the marque, since Royles had been selling Jaguars since the 1950s. I remember reading an article in the JEC magazine to say RA Creamer in Kensington had also lost their franchise at the same time. R A Creamer were the Queen's dealer and owned by a member of Sir William Lyon's family, but there is no room for sentiment in modern business. They are only interested in dealing with big business now.

Royles will continue to run an official Jaguar service centre, so I will be able to take my car there. It runs well, so why change? I wouldn't consider taking it to another local Jaguar Main dealer though, since I have not had good service from them. If Royles closed, I would take the car to a specialist.

It seems bigger is better with Jag dealers these days - but today's Jaguars are a volume product and there is no room for the small service orientated dealers that were once their bedrock. Here is the old beast, still with its original dealer plate. Both are history now.

[db40]

In deference to the winter we have nearly experienced in which it has looked almost like a snowflake might fall at least twice, I have fitted some all season tyres to my Jag. Well, I say all season but they are Michelin Crossclimates - which Michelin claim are actually summer tyres but with some winter capability, whatever difference that makes.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Is ... nd-out.htm

I try to avoid driving on salted roads so Crossclimates are not necessarily the most obvious choice for me. I chose them because they have a tapering section which is useful for clearance on the rather tight front wheel wells on the XJ40 when fitting 225/60 16 tyres, especially to these 8J wheels. Some modern high performance tyres can have a very wide tread area and even a wider section than these Michelins – the 225 size is nominal. The Pirelli P6000J is such a tyre - and many modern summer tyres are wider still. Michelins – certainly the Crossclimates - are much more tapered, indeed slightly more so than the original Pirelli P4000Js. The Crossclimates do not rub at full lock, unlike many other modern tyres on the XJ40.

So far, I am pleased with them. They give a lot more grip than the Pirelli P4000s I have replaced – really noticeably so. Subjectively they also handle better, most particularly the steering. Modern tyres have a reputation for slushy steering because of the soft/thin sidewalls and I was slightly concerned the Crossclimates would suffer from this. But they don’t: the car feels significantly more ‘planted’ and steering response is improved over the Pirellis. This could be helped by 8J wheels which may stiffen the sidewalls of course.

The P4000 was a very quiet tyre for its time and continues to be competitive in this area even now, so night-and-day noise reduction running with the new tyres was unlikely. They are definitely quieter though, especially on good and moderate road surfaces, where the tyres are now almost silent. Very broken up surfaces are slightly quieter, but the effect is less marked.

They ride very well too – together with the tapering section profile, reports that the CrossClimate rides well is the other factor which attracted me to them.

The original tyres needed to be replaced through age rather than wear. They seemed to be in good condition without hardening or cracks, but I was uncomfortable with their 2007 manufacturing date. Unfortunately, the tyre size 225/65 15 99W is no longer made by Pirelli or anyone else, which has compelled me to move up to 16” wheels with a 225/60 16 102W tyre.

I like the 16" Lattice wheels and bought a set a while back The lattice alloys were available as an option on my '40 and their ‘originality’ also appealed to me, over fitting a set of 'Duo' wheels, which I also like, but were only available later. The car did not come from the factory with the lattice alloys, but it could have done. It is a small point, but it is nice to have.

The 16" lattice wheels were forged and made for Jaguar by BBS. They're very good quality and are lighter and stronger than the cast wheels such as the Teardrops. Even though I have moved up an inch in diameter and an inch in width, I have saved 1.5 kilogrammes per wheel fitting the lattices with Michelin tyres over the Teardrops on Pirelli P4000s. It's not a huge difference, but any unsprung weight reduction is always a good thing - and normally a larger wheel would mean more weight, not less.

These particular wheels have never been refurbished, so retain their anodised finish. Bizarrely, the way to maintain them is to rub a small amount of Vaseline into them. It really makes a big difference. Jaguar recommend this in the handbook - but it is perhaps a better known treatment in Porsche circles. A lot of Porsches have the forged and anodised Fuchs alloys.

Gaining an inch of wheel and losing 5% of the sidewall made me concerned some of the car’s smooth and compliant ride could be lost. This is one of the best attributes of the car and I was keen to mitigate it as far as possible. I would say I have succeeded – the ride is actually improved over the Pirellis at slower speeds, and it is only apparent I have moved up a wheel size when hitting the largest potholes. They’re now possibly noisier than before when I hit a big pot hole, but feel very similar. They don’t crash though the structure like they do in many modern cars with big wheels.



The tyres are unidirectional though, which means they can only be correctly fitted on one side of the car. If I need to replace a wheel on the right hand side of the car the tyre's tread will run in the wrong direction, so can only be fitted as a temporary measure. Many modern cars don't have this problem of course, using space saver tyres. Not something Jaguar fitted!

[J44EAG]

A truly stunning car. The engine detailing is most inspiring. Indeed a lovely job.

Very well done indeed.

Mike K