Jaguar Tales

As the XJ-SC V12 arrived from Grimsby The best place to start is at the beginning,  This part of the blog has been a long time coming...it's will be four years in January (I can't quite believe it) since the car arrived from Grimsby. I made the mistake of buying a cheap car sight unseen (a bad habit).  It looked reasonably OK in the photographs, and even when we drove it onto the drive, it didn't look too bad....however, on closer inspection the surprises kept on coming! We decided first to check the engine was sound, and after a bit of tinkering, Max and I managed to get it running on all 12 cylinders.  A good result that gave us more confidence in the car. Brakes, steering and suspension were obviously all in a bad place.  There had been some work done previously on the front brakes, but the inboard rear discs were almost seized.  The steering wheel was upside down, or so it seemed, but this may be because the steering rack has not been centered:  The ste...

In preparation for the autumn rallying season, the XJ-S was scheduled to have an upgrade during the summer, with the fitment of a sump guard, some added protection for the rear suspension and a little cosmetic attention. None of the above was ticked off the list as one by one, other family cars developed more urgent needs to take up my time.  The one taking most time and trouble was Davina's Range Rover Sport.  I had replaced a failed alternator earlier in the year, a job that I thought could not have be more inconvenient if had been designed that way.  Little did I know that a few months later, the designers had a better treat in store! Returning from Cornwall (a round trip of 600 miles), as we exited the M25 a few miles from home, the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree with instructions to stop the car IMMEDIATELY.  Obviously I ignored the warnings and bongs and continued home. The following morning an ominous puddle of oil was spreading on the drive underneath...

 The XJS coupe had remained tucked up in storage for much of the remainder of 2023 until the MOT became due.  This prompted a call to action:  Use it or lose it. A few longish trips ferrying Max from Essex to Loughborough blew the cobwebs out of the V12. A few running repairs were needed:  The petrol tank started to leak (again), but, naturally, the second time around, it was much easier to extract and refit the tank. The enormous Cibié spotlamps needed rewiring, but came in useful on a Winter's evening when in order to keep the mental cobwebs away, Dexter and I competed in a 12-Car navigational event organised by the CSMA NWL in February 2024.  We were pleased to record a class win and 2nd overall with zero navigational penalties, and despite a largish time penalty when we overshot a junction by some miles! The weather remained frightful, with the UK recording one of its wettest ever Winter and Spring.  This was preventing any useful work being carried out...