Why have i brought a Jaguar XJ?

[@billywatcheseverything4108]

We had an 86 Sovereign V12 from new till 2005, C180 VAJ 🥰.Steel blue with Isis blue interior. New it was unbeatable for comfort and ride, sadly missed 😊

[@MarksWheels]

Very nice! One day I might own a car for that length of time 😆

[@gregharvie3896]

Hi from Sydney, Australia. For 32 years I owned a rare long wheelbase series 1XJ6 (as out of 98,000 series 1 xj's only 2,600 were lwb bodyshells), Now I watched part 2 first, so the rear valance/beaver panel welds onto the base of the boot floor and onto the rear frame where the boot lid latch is located. These rust easily as there is a rubber plug to fill the central drain at the base of the beaver panel/valance dust from wheels fills at the v shaped connection of boot floor and valance. When I bought my series one in 1979 i sprayed this area with bituminous orminoid (liquid bitumen tar paint as used in steel hulled boats and never had any rust in this area. Also in the rear of the front wheel wells the small panels unbolt or unscrew out they have a flexible seal running down the side of the mudguard, however these panels are crudely sealed and need removing and cleaning out as dust filters and sits on the top of the sill rail and like permanent wet cement if left piled up will just rot through quickly, so ,more bituminous orminoid was applied in this entire cavity, same with the front of mudguards near headlights. After about a years ownership I made galvanized panels for the front half of the mudguards rt seal them off too so no muck built up around headlight bowls. I pulled all the door trims off and doused all their insides with more tar paint At the front the front valance panel is one of the most serious panels supplying strength and rigidity to the front uniting the left and right main box chassis sills, this is helped by the lower radiator support. When I bought the car it was 5 years old in mint condition with18,200 miles on it, when i sold it in 2912 it had 191,0000 miles on it still looked in mint condition and it had zero rust. Good luck with your partial resto' on the Jag. Why I sold it was that I had just bought a one owner fully logbook documented one owner 1967 Jag mk10/420G with a mere 50,020 miles on it from 1967 until 2012. These are like a higher cost better designed version of an xj and really have only 1 major rust point, a drain pope 6 inches down side of bonnet that hides behind the mudguard and has an designed outlet point at base of mudguard however muck can build up in this hidden area, fixed by buying heater hose and letting it stick out 2 inches from the steel drain hole then no problem, tip some tar paint down the gap and seal whole area, then I removed all the door panels and applied the tar paint in its doors too.

[@MarksWheels]

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Some good tips in there. The rear valance tip make me feel a little better about the repair to that section, especially as replacement panels are readily available.

[@gregharvie3896]

@@MarksWheels Hi again from Sydney. When I first bought mine years ago an older family friend had an early 1968 XJ6 and Les pointed out the short comings of the design, as I'd owned a 1965 model 4,2 litre MK10 first, then sold it and updated to the newer 1973 late series 1 XJ6 LWB. So Mark on a couple of "filthy stinking hot" days I took the rear bar off, unscrewed the big valance panels that cover the exhausts and thoroughly pressure washed up around the gas tanks either side then for the really pesky weird shaped boot floor at the back where the two fuel pumps fit that got an unbelievable blast of water, and you wouldn't believe how much dust came out from in there, being a warm climate and the car near new there was no rust but if wet for a while it would have started. I see on re-watching part 2 that someone time ago has sealed/filled in the central bung hole on that rusted out valance!! It should have the hole so it can drain out. Day 2 I parked the car in the sun with the rear facing west so it was all boiled dry. Day 3 I drove the car to Mums parents home and Pa a retired industrial engineer who had built his own 56 foot long steel motor launch had his own slip to winch the boat from the water pressure wash it so no barnacles can grow, then once clean winched further into a giant shed, more like a hangar. Fully fitted out at one end with a giant workshop also with high-pressure spray equipment for getting the marine tar paint into tricky spots so my "new" XJ6 got blasted in all nooks & crannies with marine grade thick tar paint, it stinks a nit for a few weeks but once fully set off, any water that hits it just runs away. Every car I have ever owned has been subjected to this tar paint treatment and all have zero rust. ALSO on ALL 4 door series 1,2,3 XJ;s the rear dogs legs rust out as at the bottom where it joins the lower body sill rail there is a small drain hole, rectangular, about1/4 inch wide with an opening of around1/16 th of an inch just visible it's on the door shut face base, not the outer face side of the car, so any water that has entered from the door lock fitting or wherever has an escape. When you look closely when door open there's the curver outer face of the body side sill rail then this bends inwards and forms a 1/2 inch wide ledge before it extends up vertical again then flattens off where the alloy sill step plates screw on. Follow the half inch wide ledge to the dogs leg and this is where the drain hole is supposed to be, dopes just bog fill it or carelessly paint it shut and then starts the rust from within, by the time it's visible the damage has been done, then so help me people will fix it but again seal the drain hole so it comes straight back as any water has no escape. A quick look at the body section in the big fat lever arch file style service manual depicts the drain, but I guess nobody ever looks at that.

[@leighsanders2045]

Hi Mark. Sorry to hear your getting rid of the STR. I intend keeping mine for a very long time as there is little that can touch it in the price range. I feel/think you will be spending more money and time and swearing more on/at the S3 XJ than you ever have on the STR but hope this is not the case and good luck. Will be following.....

[@MarksWheels]

Thanks for your comment leigh. I'm not sure it would be possible to spend more time and money than I do on the STR lol. So long as it doesn't need a horrendous amount of welding, it shouldn't be too bad (famous last words) but I do feel its time to move on. I have never owned a car for so long apart from my MG Midget!