I had decided before I even bought the car to run some sort of V8 engine. If you're a Jaguar purist, you'll go into your usual rant about how it's not a Jaguar anymore, I don't care. I specifically bought a shell that needed work and with no engine so I could fit a V8. Let's face it, it's unlikely anyone else would take this car on, so I've left one "pure" V12 powered car out there for someone else to spend countless dollars on that cranky V12 and wonder how a 5.3 litre engine can be so gutless. Seriously, 285 ft/lbs of torque out of a 5.3 litre engine? I know many sixes under four litres that crank that out.....
To be honest, I think the XK engine is a far, far better engine and so is the AJ6. You have to wonder about the legendary V12, the 4 litre AJ6 engine can be within a half second of the V12 in acceleration figures....
Anyway, spare me the lectures. I'll build a car with an engine that's more powerful, more reliable, cheaper to run and service and generally more enjoyable to drive.
So here we are. I have stripped the shell and found the main problem areas. Both floors need replacing. I'm not at all worried about that as reproduction floor panels are cheap and readily available, as are genuine Jaguar parts for very reasonable prices.
There is some minor rust low down in the quarter panels behind the wheels. Again, an easy fix.
The rear parcel shelf is also a bit rusty due to a leaking rear windscreen, and so is the floor under the rear seat cushion. They are both easy repairs as well. The XJS has no rust around front or rear windscreens, no rust in the sills or the A pillars, so it's an excellent shell in that respect, and that alone makes this shell worth restoring!
The big issues are the bot floor and the left hand front sill. The bozo I bough the car off dragged it around the paddock on it's floor and hit a few rocks etc. So I need to push these pieces out. They look bad, but the process is pretty straightforward. I have the skills, my time is free and I know it will be worth it to have a nice, rust free strong shell.
Here is the front of the sill I need to repair:
As you can see, the rest of the shell is amazingly rust free, even up around the cowl where the front guard overlaps. They often rust up there.
Here is the boot floor. Notice the crease in the left floor and bulkhead. This has also creased the floor under the fuel tank, so I can't remove the tank until I pop this crease back out. bashing on it with a mallet is NOT what you should do here, you need a Porta power. I will detail how to do that later when I get around to it.
Here's a photo inside the cabin, showing the floors. Yes, those bright white spots are holes! Jaguar used a medium density foam with a bitumen layer over it under the floor on these cars to suppress sound, it worked well. Unfortunately it holds moisture and never dries out once wet. So you get the classic Jaguar floor pan rust.
Jaguar also used foam backed aluminium sheet sound and heat insulation in the engine bay (thanks to that V12 creating a volcanic amount of heat, due to it's "efficiency"). It causes rust underneath wherever it touches metal, as can be seen on the angle running down from the firewall to the chassis rail. This rust isn't bad, it'll clean up as is.
I also made a cradle on casters so I could move the shell around in the garage and not have it getting in my way. This allows me to push it across out of the way when not working on it, drag it to the middle of the garage for plenty of working room and probably most importantly, allows me to easily clean up underneath after making a mess.
To be honest, I think the XK engine is a far, far better engine and so is the AJ6. You have to wonder about the legendary V12, the 4 litre AJ6 engine can be within a half second of the V12 in acceleration figures....
Anyway, spare me the lectures. I'll build a car with an engine that's more powerful, more reliable, cheaper to run and service and generally more enjoyable to drive.
So here we are. I have stripped the shell and found the main problem areas. Both floors need replacing. I'm not at all worried about that as reproduction floor panels are cheap and readily available, as are genuine Jaguar parts for very reasonable prices.
There is some minor rust low down in the quarter panels behind the wheels. Again, an easy fix.
The rear parcel shelf is also a bit rusty due to a leaking rear windscreen, and so is the floor under the rear seat cushion. They are both easy repairs as well. The XJS has no rust around front or rear windscreens, no rust in the sills or the A pillars, so it's an excellent shell in that respect, and that alone makes this shell worth restoring!
The big issues are the bot floor and the left hand front sill. The bozo I bough the car off dragged it around the paddock on it's floor and hit a few rocks etc. So I need to push these pieces out. They look bad, but the process is pretty straightforward. I have the skills, my time is free and I know it will be worth it to have a nice, rust free strong shell.
Here is the front of the sill I need to repair:
Here's a photo inside the cabin, showing the floors. Yes, those bright white spots are holes! Jaguar used a medium density foam with a bitumen layer over it under the floor on these cars to suppress sound, it worked well. Unfortunately it holds moisture and never dries out once wet. So you get the classic Jaguar floor pan rust.
Jaguar also used foam backed aluminium sheet sound and heat insulation in the engine bay (thanks to that V12 creating a volcanic amount of heat, due to it's "efficiency"). It causes rust underneath wherever it touches metal, as can be seen on the angle running down from the firewall to the chassis rail. This rust isn't bad, it'll clean up as is.
I also made a cradle on casters so I could move the shell around in the garage and not have it getting in my way. This allows me to push it across out of the way when not working on it, drag it to the middle of the garage for plenty of working room and probably most importantly, allows me to easily clean up underneath after making a mess.
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