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. :)