Thoughts on this car.

[crazyhorse]

Mr Ranchero, congratulations.

Looks good.

Hope you enjoy it for many years.

[robroy]

Congratulations Jamie!

When I first glanced at your initial post, "240z" crossed my mind also, before I noticed that you'd mentioned it.

That looks like an exciting adventure.

I'll bet it'll be fun to experience a car that started out so far outside of what we non-rich folk can normally have around without having to ask ourselves, "house or car?"

My neighbor drives a brand new, high-end Jaguar of some kind, and she loves it.

Robroy

[Ranchero50]

Hey Robroy, good to hear from you, been a while. This car reminds me a lot about the early '70's Z cars. Granted, it's a cat with fleas and some hair missing but I think I can bring it back. Just sitting in it is an amazing experience with everything leather stitched, dash included. Honestly yesterday had me concerned because once the battery gets low the car goes absolutely bat sh.t crazy. We were trying to read the DTC codes and the displays started fading out, HVAC fan coming on and off by itself, windshield wipers started going and the main cooling fan kept trying to run. Left it on the 2 amp charger overnight and now it's a happy kitty again. Gar is putting out 14.5vdc at idle so I'm going to be getting a new battery this week. This coming weekend should see the fan get sorted out and the water pump replaced once it's more than 2' off the ground.

[DuckRyder]

Is it BRG or black, it sort of looks green in some of the pictures.

I like it much better with factory wheels ... hopefully you can find a stock exhaust system. I just get worried about this sort of car thats been clearly messed with, they usually don’t suffer fools well and unfortunately there are a lot of fools.
It is in good hands now, so hopefully you can get it sorted...

Was messing with a XFR last week... does this one have intercoolers atop the engine, (guessing by the hood vents it does)...

[Ranchero50]

Yes sir, similar setup with the Eaton roots style blower under them. It's BRG and the more I look at it the more I like the color. Black is just so boring to me. The color looks simple but shows brighter green in direct sunlight and black in the shade. Complex.

Looking for a place to straighten one of the wheels and possibly refinish all four. Summit has the exhaust parts.

I looked at a couple XFR's but didn't like the lack of rear seat room like the LS has. Of course the XKR has enough room for a lunchbox in back. I was also concerned about the DI 5.0 in them with teething problems for the first couple years.

[Ranchero50]

Continuation of the story. Note the title.

http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk-xk ... nk-178422/

[robroy]

Jamie, I'll check back on that thread now and then; the photos are really interesting.

I admire the way you're able to tear straight in to the car and make insightful observations about what's going on with it.

[DuckRyder]

Nice progress.

I’ve been meaning to say that when I was messing with BMW’s and Mercedes a place called Ye Olde Wheel Shop in Bath PA had a very good reputation.

Edit: After googling I’m a little confused if it was Bath Pa or Eldridge MD though they both seem to have decent reps.

[67mann]

good job Jamie...gonna have a great car pullin out of that redneck garage

[DuckRyder]

It is amazing what a set of wheels and some nice exhaust will do for a car...

Like it much better now, sounds good too, though I’m sure my computer speakers do not do it justice...

[Ranchero50]

Thanks. I do like the car and most of it's basic problems have been resolved. Today was an expensive one, $80 to get it inspected, $620 to get it titled tags for two years and $55 a month for basic insurance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4m2JdL_wCQ

Really happy with it so far. I want to get the headlamps redone and then concentrate on the power windows for the truck. Donor is a '91 F-150.

[Ranchero50]

Thanks. I do like the car and most of it's basic problems have been resolved. Today was an expensive one, $80 to get it inspected, $620 to get it titled tags for two years and $55 a month for basic insurance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4m2JdL_wCQ

Really happy with it so far. I want to get the headlamps redone and then concentrate on the power windows for the truck. Donor is a '91 F-150.

[67mann]

Awesome write up on the other site and great use of that headlamp bezal

[Ranchero50]

Been making some progress on the XKR and needed to dig the Fairlane out today so picture time.





I redid one of the headlamps to fix the auto aim. I also made the bezel that holds the new grill emblem on and the grills have been painted 'aluminum'.

[Manny]

Looks way better with the fresh wheels on it. Have you figured out if its a 240z on steroids yet???