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I've been hankering for another Jag for some time now - I've had an x300 XJ6, two x308s (XJ8 and XJR) and an X351 XJ8. I've always wanted an XJ40 but the horror stories put me off...
I just decided to ignore that and had a good look at what's for sale. I put the Smart Roadster up for sale and she went a week later to a lovely fella freeing up the readies.
I found an XJ40 that looked great - bit of a project but fully useable and solid. It had also been converted to LPG very recently.
After exchanging a good few messages over a few days I decided to send the seller a holding deposit and then arrange to head over to Norwich. Which is when I found out how difficult it is to get to Norwich!
I ended up booking myself on a National Express coach set to leave at 11:50pm on Saturday night getting to London at 6am before a change at 10 to head to Norwich for 1pm. I bought one of those travel pillows and waited for Saturday to arrive.
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The time arrived and I headed off into the night to start my journey. It went without any hitches, aside from a lack of sleep on the coach. I thought I'd be able to sleep as I find it hard to stay awake as a passenger on a long trip but it was difficult! The first seat i had was right next to the toilet and looking straight down the aisle so there wasn't much hope! At about 2am another seat came up so I swapped over to that but I still struggled!
When I did fall asleep, the driver said 'wakey wakey rise and shine' over the tanoy which had me very confused thinking we must be there but it was just to wake people up that were getting off at Birmingham.
I saw that a few people around me were managing to curl up on the seat and sleep so I tried that but it wasn't really working. I think I must have gone off though as I woke up with a fright when the dude next to me fell off his seat and landed with a loud bang on the floor! He was alright but pretty embarrassed 😂
Arrived in London pretty knackered but excited. Had a few hours to kill so found a coffee shop and had breakfast and a large coffee. Wandered about looking at expensive cars for a bit - I think I was in Chelsea or thereabouts. There was a lovely 70s Porsche 911 that looked like one of those resto mods that companies are making. Wanted to get a pic but I was on a call when I saw it.
On with the journey - managed to nab an hour of sleep on the next coach and rolled in to Norwich at the predicted 1pm - next I had a 20 minute walk and another bus to find!
At about 2:30pm I was walking towards the road the Jag was on when I realised that if I didn't buy it then I actually wouldn't be able to get home in time for work the next day 😂
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,004
Club RR Member Number: 58
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1992 Jaguar XJ40 Sovereignadam73bgt
@adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member 58
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I do have a soft spot for the XJ40, was such a comfortable car, interested to see how you get on with it 😁 At about 2:30pm I was walking towards the road the Jag was on when I realised that if I didn't buy it then I actually wouldn't be able to get home in time for work the next day 😂 This sounds like when I caught a train to Kent one evening to buy a BMW 7 series, one way train ticket and there were no trains scheduled to go back after I arrived so if I didn't buy the car I was stranded 😂 |
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May 26, 2023 14:15:44 GMT
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I do have a soft spot for the XJ40, was such a comfortable car, interested to see how you get on with it 😁 At about 2:30pm I was walking towards the road the Jag was on when I realised that if I didn't buy it then I actually wouldn't be able to get home in time for work the next day 😂 This sounds like when I caught a train to Kent one evening to buy a BMW 7 series, one way train ticket and there were no trains scheduled to go back after I arrived so if I didn't buy the car I was stranded 😂 Makes for some added excitement 😂 to be fair, I'd already decided I was buying it after his first message reply - I can convince myself to ignore all sorts of problems and live the dream in my head 😂 |
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Loved the look from a distance, had a snoop around before knocking on the door and spotted a bit of rust on the a piller but otherwise nothing surprising from our messages.
When I had the keys I poked and prodded underneath and saw that whilst it did seem generally solid it wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped. I opened the door and let myself in the cabin - first thing that hit me was the awesome old Jag smell. The second thing was how 'classic' it felt. I'd done my usual thing in the time before the journey of consuming every bit of XJ40 media on the internet and most of the reviews talked about how 'modern' they felt which kind of disappointed me a bit. I thought maybe it'd be extremely similar to the x300 XJ6 I owned about 8 years ago. It didn't! The early style steering wheel really adds to that feel.
Unfortunately, I lifted the front carpets and it was damp with rust forming in both footwells. Boot equally damp...
I knew the headlining was stapled up but I didn't know the wood inside had been 'restored' by Stevie Wonder...
However - 4 good tyres, generally solid looking chassis, no sunroof, great colour combo, seats in good condition, and it started on the key. It has an LPG conversion that was only done 2 years ago as well as a reconditioned steering rack and new bushes. Sounded great and ran beautifully.
Took it in a drive and it was smooth, torquey and drove fantastically. However, the brake pad light was on and it didn't want to accelerate hard on LPG without swapping back to petrol.
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Worked on a good deal given the extra issues I hadn't expected, had a great chat about the fella's other cars and punched in the postcode to the nearest LPG station.
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After about half an hour on the road I started to notice a slight wobble in the steering present all the time. I figured maybe it was linked to the pads and the fact the car hadn't been used in a long time. Maybe a caliper piston was sticking a bit? It got gradually worse and became audible so I pulled over to investigate and found all the wheel nuts on the front passenger wheel were trying to make an escape 😳 I hunted for the wheel brace and jack but to no avail. Ended up approaching anyone in the petrol station that had a car that looked like it might not have tyre gel but no one had a brace that would fit. After about 40 minutes I managed to get a DPD dude to come over with his van's tool kit and we sorted it. Was a little worried about jacking it up using a scissor jack with a point on it but the jacking point held firm! Impromptu chassis test passed I decided it was a good time to get something to eat before setting off again  This is also when I discovered it doesn't have a cup holder. However - what a lovely place to have some dinner. |
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Drove a bit further and decided to pop an LPG station into Google maps and see if I could have a cheaper drive home. It was closed. However, the area it was in was lovely so I got some pics of my handsome new steed     |
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The rest of the journey was event free and sublime! I've now used it for a week of commuting on petrol only - I'm surprised how far the petrol stretches. Put 100 quid in it in Norwich and got the 4.5 hours home plus a week of commuting and there's still a bit left. Found a local LPG station with lovely friendly owners as well so filled it up yesterday. Pleased to say the initial troubles seemed to just be an empty LPG tank as it seems to operate perfectly.   |
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Did I mention that it's absolutely filthy? It's been sat for a long time and has built up an impressive amount of crud. I'm in two minds about cleaning it at the moment. Of course I will - and I'm looking forward to seeing how nice I can get it to look, but at the same time the crud is covering potential paint issues. It's like Schroedinger's paint at the moment - I can definitely see some previous repairs dotted about the bodywork.    |
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Air con is cold and all fan speeds work but I don't seem to be able to get anything through the face vents - it just comes through the floor vents. If anyone could shed any light on how this unit works that'd be great. My manual shows a different setup with different buttons.  Here is the wood that's had some 'restoration'. I'm assuming the lacquer had split or flaked. It seems they've sanded it all off and used a brush and boat varnish on it all. They've also spilt a blob of it on the dash below the glove box lid which may prove difficult to remove. Am I right in thinking I could just sand them all right down as smooth and flat as possible then use some spray lacquer on them to get a good finish again? I'd rather have a go at restoring the original wood myself than fitting a different set. Although that's obviously an option if need be.   All the wood is like this |
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So the list as I can see it:
Brake pads
Investigate brake light not working even with new bulb
Sort rusty exhaust hanger
Fit new headlining
Take off scuttle and see if drains are blocked (wet carpets)
Wire brush floors under carpets, treat rust, and paint
Change ATF fluid
Get rear door locks to pop up on the key/button
Figure out heating system (may not be functioning right?)
Restore wood
Clean EVERYTHING
Buff and polish to see how the paint is holding up
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I like the wheels but they're not ultimately the style I'm after.
Love the 16" lattice wheels but they're too expensive.
Then I'll be looking at fitting air ride suspension 😎
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May 27, 2023 10:48:17 GMT
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Be careful rubbing the wood down it's probably only a 'thin' venner ... Even so, looks a good buy, good luck with it ! wish I was that brave  See you've also had a 'make over' between picking it up and first lpg fill  |
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Last Edit: May 27, 2023 10:50:03 GMT by westbay
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May 27, 2023 10:55:12 GMT
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Be careful rubbing the wood down it's probably only a 'thin' venner ... Even so, looks a good buy, good luck with it ! wish I was that brave See you've also had a 'make over' between picking it up and first lpg fill I felt I needed to look the part now I'm rolling in style 😂 That's actually the LPG lady - even get the old school 'fill her up' treatment 🙌 |
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May 27, 2023 11:10:30 GMT
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Looks a good solid car, LPG gsuges are usualy next to hopeless especially if it has twin tanks, I find out how many miles it does on a tankfull then use the odometer.
For the wood if it been brushed it's as you say probably a oil based varnish, you can spray over it with something similar but car paints will probably react. To get it off use a stripper, laying a rag soaked in celly thinners over it and covering it in polythene sheet will often lift the varnish off.
The heater vents from that era are often controlled by vacuum, check there isn't something disconnected in the engine compartment, on my Range Rover the tube from the vacuum reservoir to engine had been blanked off.
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May 27, 2023 13:22:07 GMT
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Looks a good solid car, LPG gsuges are usualy next to hopeless especially if it has twin tanks, I find out how many miles it does on a tankfull then use the odometer. For the wood if it been brushed it's as you say probably a oil based varnish, you can spray over it with something similar but car paints will probably react. To get it off use a stripper, laying a rag soaked in celly thinners over it and covering it in polythene sheet will often lift the varnish off. The heater vents from that era are often controlled by vacuum, check there isn't something disconnected in the engine compartment, on my Range Rover the tube from the vacuum reservoir to engine had been blanked off. Thanks mate - yeah I've had a bit of LPG experience, in fact 3 of my Jags were converted and my Lincoln Towncar was as well. I actually attempted to zero the trip after filling it up but couldn't figure it out! Great information on the wood stripping - hadn't even thought of using stripper instead of sanding! I'll have a scoot about for a vacuum pipe 👍 |
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