Polishing up...

I'll be going to the Scottish Jaguar Day this weekend so thought it was about time I gave the Jag a bit of special attention. It had been away out at the Grangemouth Gala Day last weekend and was used for commuting on the following two days - which it needed to be fair. Seems to generally 'work' a lot better when it is being used - so as a result it was pretty filthy. I discovered that the Tesco near the college has a really good pay-as-you-go jetwash with a foam brush so I made full use of that before driving home and breaking out the Autoglym polish. After about 2 hours work, the results are below...

Near mirror finish on the paintwork - not bad for an old motor!

Stainless Steel flashes out front still good...

Rear 3/4 view. Roof and bootlid all straight. Bumper to be fixed...

Right hand profile showing the small but deep 'battle scar' on the wing, and the very slightly wonky rear bumper...

All glasswork polished too. 

I'm really pleased with how it polished up! Compared to how the car looked both inside and out when I bought it there is a huge, positive difference.

Although she looks great, mechanically I want to address a few things as noted before. A service is planned for Saturday (tomorrow) where I'll change the oil, filter, plugs and air filter as well as checking the diff and gearbox levels. My boss will also get the chance to have a look underneath to point out any areas for attention I've missed, as well as road test it to give me his opinion on what else is needed to make her 100%. If I'm lucky I may be able to get ny A/C recharged for free and have the Jag Waxoyled to protect her bahookie from the salty, Scottish roads. 

A couple of things have sorted themselves out, again. My seats adjust fully now (apart from lumbar support though I can hear the motor going) and the erratic tailights seem to have settled down to working condition. Fluid leakage is still minimal. 

On the other hand though, while driving about with the A/C off and windows down, I noticed a horrible rattle when accelerating. I know the upper timing chain tensioner perhaps isn't in the best of health, but the rattle only happens under load, not when the engine is revved at idle, so I wonder if it's something to do with the drivetrain? Having said that the big Jag still goes like a scalded cat, with no untoward noises from the gearbox. A look online seems to indicate that what I might have is a loose Catalytic Converter which is bouncing about as the exhaust gasses pass over it. If that's the case, and bearing in mind there's a hole in it already, then it may be time to put aside some money for a new exhaust. I don't suppose another tranny fluid and filter change will do any harm either. Rosco's years of experience should help me pin down the noise - which is oddly intermittent too - and set up a plan for dealing with it. Spares shouldn't be an issue as Rob Jenner has just bought another X300 to break. :)  

Going in the right direction...

Apologies for the lack of recent updates. Things have been happening to the Jag, but as the college course has drawn to a close that's been my main focus.

The Motorcycle and Small Engines Maintenance & Repair experience (actually with a heavy bias towards general automotive maintenance & repair) has been great fun. I have completed all the outcomes and done so well that the college presented me with a 'Student of the Year' award! My application for next year has been accepted so I'll be moving onto City & Guilds Automotive Level 2, skipping the Level 1 course. I can't wait to get stuck in!

As the course came to an end, and even though all the assignments and assessments were taking priority, I managed to get the Jag into the workshop to sort out her wheel alignment, check for leaks, and wire brush some of the underside in preparation for undersealing it at a later date. I'd been putting up with an off-centre steering wheel and odd cornering behaviour for a bit (easier to turn left than right) so it was time to sort things. I used a 4-post ramp to get the Jag airborne, wire brushed and WD40'd the track rod ends, then walked away for a cup of tea to let the WD40 do its stuff. Once back I got out the 4-wheel laser alignment gear, set the steering wheel to straight ahead, and sprayed the track rod ends again before starting any adjustments. The initial readings on the alignment gear confirmed that the alignment was well out. It was a quick fix though and within minutes the front wheels were both pointing in the right direction. The rears were within 1mm of each other. I really should have checked them first to make sure the thrust line of the car was dead on, but the 1mm difference is OK.

Here are a few pics of the job in progress...

Laser alignment gear all set...

Offside track-rod end. The spring you see is probably the wrong one for the car. It doesn't match the nearside! That wire dangling down is the earth for the ABS. Before clean up everything you see here was caked in mud, dirt, grime, oil, coolant and transmission fluid from all the various leaks. No major leaks to report now though!

Rear A-frame and under car view. What lies beneath, eh? Well, a fair bit of surface corrosion, but no holes! Overall it's in really good condition for a 15 year old car with nearly 120,000 miles. The rust has been brushed off and I'll give it another going over before the whole of the underside is coated in Tetraseal or something similar. The exhaust has seen better days though. More on that later!

Pointing in the right direction...

Now, as it's prudent to do when underneath the car, I had a poke about at any rusty bits. The chassis is good, including the sills and arches, but one of my silencers for the exhaust now has a hole in it. Makes the car sound a bit bad-boy, but it has to go. 

Poke, poke... D'oh!

A quick bit of welding after the area has been cut back a bit and dressed will maybe sort this out for the meantime. Ideally though I'd like a new exhaust for peace of mind and because I want to bring the Jag back to excellent condition. On almost every XJ I've seen, the rear silencers rot out here. I couldn't see a drain coming down onto them, but there must be some reason for such localised corrosion? Answers on a postcard please!

After the alignment had been done I can report that the Jag drove much better. The steering wheel wasn't canted over and the cornering had improved. I decided to use it for a couple of days and took the opportunity to go to my first Jaguar Enthusiast's Regional Meeting at the Craig House near Dalkeith. It was a rand night out with like-minded people and I was able to begin the process of sorting out new wheels etc. thanks to Rob Jenner. H9 WAP's current ones are too far gone to reasonably restore so I'm thinking about a set of XJR rims. 

So, now that college is over for the summer I'm a bit stuck for workshop space. Having said that though I hope that Ross at Mulsanne Motors will be able to let me on a ramp long enough to do a service, the underseal and re-charge the air con at some point. Maybe the minor welding too!