My victim is a 1987 V12 HE - the last before all the ABS and other such nonsense - why nonsense ? - because on older classics technology has a nasty habit of becoming an unrepairable nightmare - been there got the scars - modern cars will not survive in the same way, once the computers die the car dies at least in any kind of original form. The car is a genuine barn find, it was in fact in a barn, the cars original owner had passed away and the family found the Jag when clearing things out. There is little to no history about the car, that went to the grave with the owner.
Went to see the car and prodded and poked the usual places - except one - I'll clarify shortly. Sills good, doors good, jacking points good other than somebody has clearly jacked outside the safe zones, floor pans good, seatbelt mounts good, boot / boot lid good, left hand buttress has significant surface rust inside where it is hard to see - looks like a pinhole or two causing slight blistering of paint on outside. Roof has dents from being used as a shelf. front left wing has corrosion at the bottom in usual spot and some blistering on front top above the headlight. The bonnet has corrosion that has penetrated in one spot close to the windscreen on right hand side, insulation in very poor shape. Engine starts without smoke or fuss (after a fair bit of TLC and new fuel) and car moves, oil pressure lazy so didn't run long.
Got the car home and put together a shopping list - this will be a quick refurb and then on to some cruisin - or so I thought.
When replacing the air filter on the right I took a closer look at what I thought was heat insulation, except it wasn't, it was is aluminium foil stuck to what can only be described as pitch - tap with hammer and hey presto a project is born this is no longer a quick refurb. A fair amount of the story so far can be found here >> https://www.jaginfo.org/threads/87-xjs- ... ad.112543/. To summarise so far I have had to replace the front subframe which on the surface looked fine - it wasn't - I've repaired the inner wings and damper turrets, both sides were equally bad but this was invisible unless you really went looking when the car was fully assembled
and the new one all blasted and painted - primer used is bilt Hamber Electrox (high zinc content), the top coat is Frost Extreme Chassis - I don't like powder coating - rust gets behind it and hides - paint I can touch up. The internals have also been flooded and will get a liberal wax application inside and out before fitting.
I had real problems with weld contamination on this side so that's why it looks a bit untidy - and yes inner and outer have been properly joined.
Had I known what a royal pain it would be to cut and weld in that area I'd have pulled the engine out from the get go instead I struggled - a lot. I did buy brand new unobtanium damper turrets but they remain on my shelf.
I could post many more pics but you get the idea I hope. The moral of this is don't be fooled by pretty, a lot of this damage particularly the subframe was not easily found, don't be so sure that yours is OK. This car WOULD have passed an MOT, an MOT tester would not have found the damage, but it wasn't safe and I'm crazy fussy about such things. Don't expect to easily replace a subframe either good ones are getting hard to find - and if you do find they won't be cheap - look after yours !!
I've recreated a new fuel injection harness, replaced the roof lining, cleaned all the leather, removed dents from roof, obtained new chrome bumper parts, cleaned and refurbed the injectors, stripped / blasted / painted and rebuilt both front brake calipers with stainless pistons. Yes they're on the dining table, yes they were baked in the oven after paint and prior to assembly - don't tell the wife (she was away at her parents).
Various suspension parts after blasting and painting, I've done the anti roll bar too but not taken a picture of it
Spent a small fortune on suspension and other components including even more tools.
So where is it at now - waiting on me pulling the engine out to see if I can get some bolts removed from the thermostat channels without tearing the engine to pieces - 1 has broken and three others feel like they also will but two of them are impossible to access for removal if they break and they happen to be the bolts with one of the lifting eyes on - I thought I was on the home stretch and was doing all the little stuff that I thought would be no issue - boy was I ever wrong. I will also be refurbing the steering rack, replacing the AC system, jury is out on whether I replace the radiator but I likely will in favour of an aluminium setup with Spal fans, I've already replaced the oil cooler.
My quick refurb has taken a year so far and cost more than I paid for the car by a significant amount.
