Ez's XJS :p

ez64

Torque Junkie
Points
62
Car
Jaguar XJS HE V12
Here is my build log but more of a conffesion of my ownership of a 1985 XJS HE in the UK.

The day's are sometimes a week apart but it's just when I have money/time to do all these little/big jobs.

Day 1

I eventually went for a 5.3 V12 HE version of the XJS after looking at quite a few purely on good engine/gearbox/ extremely good body work/underside.

The interior is shabby to say the least at the moment but £400-600 later and it will be like brand new which of course is a lot cheaper than a good interior and £1600+ for bodywork.

Couple of things like wheel tracking and minor issues but I can sort them.

I started cleaning all the sponge/interior/carpets as it was full sun shine literally 15 minutes ago and its started to rain so only pictures I got at 4am and some a couple of minutes ago from inside.


Going to be a fun project and while fuel is cheap I want the chance to run one of these cars for probably the last time in my life,

The V12 grumble is also just awesome although a couple of backbox's would help the sound as the ones atm are crap, the alloys are also beeing changed to the much nicer lattice ones that were included in the deal for the car.


Day 2


Got some better pics, new lattice wheels should be this week and exhaust top end needs sorting (hopefully just a gasket but could be a cracked manifold
Oh and the battery is not charging and the alternator does not run the engine....

But dont worry The A/C still works I would cry if I was not laughing. (I should have gone for the 328i convertible that needed no work at all but it will be worth it in the end)







Day 3

Update,

Just changed all the belts today and sorted out a few wires and the battery is charging like normal
smile.gif


Power is again brilliant when the car is running off the alternator again and puts a massive grin on my face when slamming the auto box down to the "1st" gear.

Just tapped the gas pedal not even 1/8th and got a nice rear wheel drift in the car park

Although I connected a sensor that sits over the brake fluid bottle and now im getting a "BRAKE" warning light on the dash.

Brakes are more than perfect though for a car weighing lol ton so I think its another loose wire or bad circut somewhere.




Day 4

Update:

Currently wating for a good quote on head skimming and head gasket fitting and radiator recore, otherwise I will be selling it/using for parts.
(Getting so many different quotes for places £250-£1200)

Looking at a 1990's XJRS 6.0 V12 and a 1998 XJR 4.0l supercharged V8 (370bhp 4 door saloon with a 5 second 0-60)

The XJS is crying not to be put down and looking really nice and having the bodywork exceptional should make it fairly valuable as a project vehicle


This is the furthest I have got and the geadgasket may not be blown I am in the process of trying to fix it now.

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Day 5

Turns out the head gaskets are fine and it's running ok now but a little hot due to the radiator not being recored yet.

I will however be changing the head gaskets and coating/painting the manifolds as a precaution as running long distances with a 25 year old head gasket just makes me feel uneasy.

Onto to more fun things though I started stripping the interior today, the back seats, head liner, pillar carpeting is out the metal behind all of this stuff seems perfect so that’s win :)

The head liner crumbled away whilst taking it out and had mould spots so I binned it, once the rain stops I'll remove the front seats and floor carpet ready to be taken away and have brand new stuff cut and trimmed to order.

I will probably go with jet black leather/fabric depending on cost for the head liner and pillars and blood red carpeting all round for the bottom. To some (most) that will be vulgar and unoriginal but I want it like that so meh.

A bit worrying though when I removed the back seats there was moist/water on the bottom with the sponge seeming to be the cause, hopefully this is just damp sticking being caused by the plastic liner off the seats as I cannot see a leak anywhere.

The leather will also be sent off for restoration and maybe a colour change any suggestions/recommendations?

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Thanks I have stopped for today as I dont have the right torx size driver for the front seats and cannot remove the carpet under without removing them first, I will have a look around as I know they are somewhere but le tired, I might just start removing the carpet from the boot.

We have had sets of houses down our road being renovated/extended and this causes a ton of dust to blow over the cars, first I was forever cleaning the BMW now one day later and the XJS is full of dirt :(
 
Day lol

Headgasket has definatly gone on one bank of the engine as at cold there is water coming from the right exhaust so this will have to be done before anything else, depending on cash I might pay a garage to do it.

I will probably end up doing it myself though as I dont trust garages work and I may as well do a lot of little jobs while all this stuff is off, the head removal tool is £255 though :(
 
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it is mormal to see condensation ( water vapor or steam ) coming from the exhaust system at start up on a cold day on v12 s . This is the easiest method of telling if one side of the motor has a fault , start up and you should see vapour from both exhaust tail pipes . the side not running as hot as the vapour side will draw air back when you put the palm of your hand over it , this may indicate a valve problem . you need to check if you have vapour on both sides , as there are few things worse than lifting the wrong head. if you decide to do it your self PLEASE contact me as there is a easy way and may hard ways of doing this , and i have learnt both , but will happly advise the easy way .
 
I know how to check it and there was not any vapour due to me not running the engine more than 3 minutes, water was dribbling from one exhaust while the other was clean and expelling hot gas.

It has definatly gone and badly with leaking into the cylinders over night and on idle combustion.
 
sorry to hear that, if you do decide to overhaul yourself drop me a message a my profile and i will be happy to help with a few ways on making the strip easier , particulary lifting the head . it looks duanting but if you have a plan its easier so dont be put of
 
sorry to hear that, if you do decide to overhaul yourself drop me a message a my profile and i will be happy to help with a few ways on making the strip easier , particulary lifting the head . it looks duanting but if you have a plan its easier so dont be put of


Definatly would want some help with that as they are a nightmare I looked at those head puller tools and could only find them for £255 and considering I will probably use them once it seems a shame.

Also do I have to dismantle everything around the head like cruise control/ac/alternator/water pump. I am thinking of stripping the cruise control anyway for better air flow as It doesnt work.
 
head puller plates are ok , but there is more than one way of lifting the head .
For alli heads use a air chistle / vibrator ( no dont chistle the head off ) remove the ancillary bits , label all the 745 electrical connectors , vacume hoses , injector rail , harness etc The motor wont look as bad once you remove the inlet manifold, i cant remember but i think you can leave the exhaust manifold on , just remove the flanges on the exhaust . rotate the engine to tdc #1 ( rotate only clockwise other wise you snap the chain tensioner ) lift cam cover , undo the 4 retainer bolts for the sprocket & slide into the steel bracket in front ( the journal into the u shape groove ) & retain with a flat washer in the journal groove ( no need to adjust chain etc just keep the sprocket tight in the chain loop) Mark the position of the notch in the cam end against the cam bearing half , this will give you the re assembly reference . strip the nuts etc of the head so that its only the crap between the studs holding the head down , spray with crc , wd 40 , etc into the clearance hole , then put 1 dome nut on a stud and vibrate the nut and stud , keep flooding with penatrine untill it runs through the gap . repeat on the remaining studs and the head will fall off . ( i use a pneumatic needle gun with the needles removed and a 1/2 extension drive as the impact device ) Its reasonably difficult to get wrong if you spend the time to mark all components . good luck
 

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