1988 Jaguar XJ40 Sovereign
Discussion
Earlier this year I started a new job so just to add to the change, I thought I'd buy anew car. It actually turned out to 2 cars I bought, a MINI R53 with a great spec and the car in question, the Jag. I'd just sold my E38 740i after having it on and off for sale for months, trying to decide whether to forge ahead and get rid, or keep and steadily improve. I got 2 offers for the E38 and so it left my ownership early this year.
I decided I wanted a car that could be considered a classic, but without the pitfalls of a "proper" classic. I'd found that although the E38 was a great car, it was still too new to be considered a true classic but too old and temperamental to be a daily driver. The budget was limited as the R53 was already bought (a car I'd wanted for a while to be fair) so choice was limited.
Most Mercs and older BMWs in my budget were either poverty spec or projects at best plus I didn't really know what I wanted. I then stumbled across a few XJs of various ages and these fitted the bill perfectly. I'm fortunate that I have a decent size garage with a scissor lift so I had the space and reasonable ability to DIY most things that may need doing.
So I started the search for an XJ deciding I liked the XJ40 as it was old enough to be a true classic even though in reality it appears to be an unloved car in classic car circles. Which means they can be cheap.
To cut a long story short, I got talking to a guy from the XJ40 Facebook group and although I ideally wanted a local car as I'm sick of travelling to look at heaps of rubbish, it sounded good and looked OK in the pictures. A video was requested and sent, more photos as I needed and all and any questions answered. Great. A deal was done and a plan to get the car to me in Kent provisionally made. A week or so later I got a call to say the car was leaking hydraulic fluid (more on this later) and he couldn't sell it, but also wasn't willing to spend any more on it either. I was gutted. We agreed I would buy it, at a further reduced price on the understanding it needed work almost immediately. A deal was done and I started to arrange getting it transported half way across the country. I hadn't physically seen the car at this stage and didn't until it turned up one Friday lunchtime....
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/JToLadhW[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/rwnptouv[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/yQ4FcKAk[/url]
More on this tomorrow...
I decided I wanted a car that could be considered a classic, but without the pitfalls of a "proper" classic. I'd found that although the E38 was a great car, it was still too new to be considered a true classic but too old and temperamental to be a daily driver. The budget was limited as the R53 was already bought (a car I'd wanted for a while to be fair) so choice was limited.
Most Mercs and older BMWs in my budget were either poverty spec or projects at best plus I didn't really know what I wanted. I then stumbled across a few XJs of various ages and these fitted the bill perfectly. I'm fortunate that I have a decent size garage with a scissor lift so I had the space and reasonable ability to DIY most things that may need doing.
So I started the search for an XJ deciding I liked the XJ40 as it was old enough to be a true classic even though in reality it appears to be an unloved car in classic car circles. Which means they can be cheap.
To cut a long story short, I got talking to a guy from the XJ40 Facebook group and although I ideally wanted a local car as I'm sick of travelling to look at heaps of rubbish, it sounded good and looked OK in the pictures. A video was requested and sent, more photos as I needed and all and any questions answered. Great. A deal was done and a plan to get the car to me in Kent provisionally made. A week or so later I got a call to say the car was leaking hydraulic fluid (more on this later) and he couldn't sell it, but also wasn't willing to spend any more on it either. I was gutted. We agreed I would buy it, at a further reduced price on the understanding it needed work almost immediately. A deal was done and I started to arrange getting it transported half way across the country. I hadn't physically seen the car at this stage and didn't until it turned up one Friday lunchtime....
[url] |https://thumbsnap.com/JToLadhW[/url][url] |https://thumbsnap.com/rwnptouv[/url][url] |https://thumbsnap.com/yQ4FcKAk[/url] More on this tomorrow...
Cambs_Stuart said:
Lovely. Is it the 3.6?
Good luck with it. Interesting to hear what the leak was.
Yes, it's the 3.6, which is the engine I wanted althoughvthe 3.2 and 2.9 seem to be far more common. Good luck with it. Interesting to hear what the leak was.
Also to answer another question, I believe the wheels aren't original, I think they're from an XJS and were likely to replace the metric originals.
So, let's start with the good bits. Remember I hadn't seen the car until it turned up to my house via Shiply. ..
Rust, or lack of it. It isn't rust free, but the weak areas (so everywhere really but in particular the sills, jacking points, rear deck by the fuel filler cap and front wings) are far better than cars half its age. So a great start.
It started and ran lovely, the guy who transported it to me commented how good it is and I assume he's seen plenty of cars that aren't....
The air con works, in fact everything works. The electric aerial fascinated my children although the big comfy seats didn't.
The headliner had been replaced along with a new windscreen.
Upon further inspection, it appears to have been sold by Loxleys of Bromley which no longer exists today but would have been my local Jag dealer as a boy. In fact towards the end of the XJ40 production run I probably would have been removing brochures from there for my collection, the majority of which are now gone
In short, it was in far better condition than I expected and if any of you read the barge thread and the associated budget, I'd have been able to buy this car twice over, tax and insure both too
Rust, or lack of it. It isn't rust free, but the weak areas (so everywhere really but in particular the sills, jacking points, rear deck by the fuel filler cap and front wings) are far better than cars half its age. So a great start.
It started and ran lovely, the guy who transported it to me commented how good it is and I assume he's seen plenty of cars that aren't....
The air con works, in fact everything works. The electric aerial fascinated my children although the big comfy seats didn't.
The headliner had been replaced along with a new windscreen.
Upon further inspection, it appears to have been sold by Loxleys of Bromley which no longer exists today but would have been my local Jag dealer as a boy. In fact towards the end of the XJ40 production run I probably would have been removing brochures from there for my collection, the majority of which are now gone
In short, it was in far better condition than I expected and if any of you read the barge thread and the associated budget, I'd have been able to buy this car twice over, tax and insure both too
Thank you everyone for the lovely comments. I am very pleased with my buy, it has helped to restore faith in humanity (some sellers are honest!).
Now let's look at the issues. To be fair, most are minor. A few interior lights needing bulbs, a few bits of trim missing here and there. When the car arrived, there was a box of bits that most would just throw away, however I decided to keep them, there were a few electrical modules, various relays, belts and switches and odd bits of trim. Interior door handles didn't look right, so I set about trying to resolve it. Managed to secure them to the door OK, but as luck would have it, the covers were in said box! Very lucky as they are no longer available.
After:
Missing trim on headliner, a bit bizarre but a replacement is on order...
Front number plate was broken so I ordered some replacements which I'm very pleased with....
Now let's look at the issues. To be fair, most are minor. A few interior lights needing bulbs, a few bits of trim missing here and there. When the car arrived, there was a box of bits that most would just throw away, however I decided to keep them, there were a few electrical modules, various relays, belts and switches and odd bits of trim. Interior door handles didn't look right, so I set about trying to resolve it. Managed to secure them to the door OK, but as luck would have it, the covers were in said box! Very lucky as they are no longer available.
After:
Missing trim on headliner, a bit bizarre but a replacement is on order...
Front number plate was broken so I ordered some replacements which I'm very pleased with....
Now the big one....
So this car uses a system for the servo assisted brakes, most use a vacuum but not a 1980s Jag. It uses some overly complex system driven by a pump and using LHM fluid. I've no idea how it works, but all I know is that it was unreliable when new and time has not been kind to it coupled to the fact many parts are no longer available. The low pressurecswitch for this system was reported as leaking, but previous owner topped up the system and reported the car drove fine still.
After it arrived to me, I carefully drove it around on private access road where I live and it was fine. But as time has gone on, it dumped green fluid everywhere and this weekend the brakes were hard to use, effectively unassisted. I'd finished doing the supercharger service on my MINI so the Jag went on the ramp and I was greeted by this..
Low pressure switch was leaking. Easy enough to access and swap, but at around £350, not cheap. Vacuum driven conversions can be done, but the UK does not have a plug and play conversion, the US does but its expensive, especially with postage and duty. Just by chance, I found an aftermarket alternative so that is the route I'm going and part turned up today.
Will fit it thus week, then onto the next jobs.
So this car uses a system for the servo assisted brakes, most use a vacuum but not a 1980s Jag. It uses some overly complex system driven by a pump and using LHM fluid. I've no idea how it works, but all I know is that it was unreliable when new and time has not been kind to it coupled to the fact many parts are no longer available. The low pressurecswitch for this system was reported as leaking, but previous owner topped up the system and reported the car drove fine still.
After it arrived to me, I carefully drove it around on private access road where I live and it was fine. But as time has gone on, it dumped green fluid everywhere and this weekend the brakes were hard to use, effectively unassisted. I'd finished doing the supercharger service on my MINI so the Jag went on the ramp and I was greeted by this..
Low pressure switch was leaking. Easy enough to access and swap, but at around £350, not cheap. Vacuum driven conversions can be done, but the UK does not have a plug and play conversion, the US does but its expensive, especially with postage and duty. Just by chance, I found an aftermarket alternative so that is the route I'm going and part turned up today.
Will fit it thus week, then onto the next jobs.
dbdb said:
I have always had a soft spot for the original 3.6 litre XJ40s with their digital instruments. This is the earlier spec with the taller door mirrors and neater open plenum - I always thought they looked better than the later cars. They're rare cars now.
My late father bought one in February 1987 - it would have had a 'D' 'plate had he not had his own number. It was Westminster blue and my brother and I called it the Blue whale. I remember a trip down to Oxford when my dad called out 'full house' as the VCM had scrolled through every one of the fault messages including 'Fuelling failure' - there was never anything actually wrong with the car though and it was actually very reliable. I believe the problem was caused by dry solder joints between a daughter board and the main board in the instrument panel. Whatever it was, it is fixable now. The main problem was rust and if yours is OK, that's a very good thing!
The XJ40 is a wonderful car and quite criminally underrated. I still have one once owned by my dad, this one a later 3.2 litre Sovereign in diamond blue. I really must use it, it is a lovely car to drive.
I'd agree, although in this instance it's played to my advantage... that being said, if it was a Merc or BMW, it'd be a lot more money to buy initially.... My late father bought one in February 1987 - it would have had a 'D' 'plate had he not had his own number. It was Westminster blue and my brother and I called it the Blue whale. I remember a trip down to Oxford when my dad called out 'full house' as the VCM had scrolled through every one of the fault messages including 'Fuelling failure' - there was never anything actually wrong with the car though and it was actually very reliable. I believe the problem was caused by dry solder joints between a daughter board and the main board in the instrument panel. Whatever it was, it is fixable now. The main problem was rust and if yours is OK, that's a very good thing!
The XJ40 is a wonderful car and quite criminally underrated. I still have one once owned by my dad, this one a later 3.2 litre Sovereign in diamond blue. I really must use it, it is a lovely car to drive.
So, had some time to sort a few bits on the Jag and thought I'd post an update. Thank you for the comments above.
First, the low pressure switch on the accumulator. The aftermarket part was shorter than the original, so I had to make some wire extenders to make them fit right. Wiring isn't my best ability and I didn't have anything to hand apart from these crimps, but the end result appears to have worked.
Then to top up the hydraulic fluid. This uses a special bottle attachment which opens a valve to allow fluid to enter the reservoir, as usually the system is pressurised. This attachment is NLA. So I fashioned a device using a small funnel and a pick to allow the calve to open. This took AGES.
[url]
|https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/363739/202404288194446
Luckily, there is a really good Facebook group for these cars so I asked the question and someone suggested to use a nozzle like what you would use for silicone. This worked a treat and do the job was complete. Started the car, brake pedal feels good and so far no leaks.
Next up, to refix some trims that had worked loose and these all went well using generic clips I had in my garage.
I then raised the car up to remove and realign rear bumper, but I couldn't figure out how to remove the foglight housing so that had to be abandoned. I did manage to fit an exhaust outlet that had worked its way off its mount.
I removed the drivers floor mat, only to see the carpet below like new. Again another result
If anyone has any idea how to remove this tape from this mat I'd be grateful to hear it...
Next up, boot lid alignment. The boot sits proud of the back wings, I've attributed this to the catch needing adjusting and so it was. Only thing is it difficult to completely tighten one of the screws securing it so I suspect this it what's causing the catch to move.
The car has been sat for a while and I'd forgotten to put it on a battery conditioner, so I've done that. But one of the MOT advisories on the car was for the clamp being absent, again these are NLA so any feedback on a solution is appreciated.
List of jobs seems to be getting smaller but a few have been added, notably..
Alignment as inner edges on front tyres worn
New discs and pads as discs have a lip
Realign rear bumper
Work out how on earth I adjust the internal clock
Fit bits of trim I'm collecting this week
But most importantly, drive it. Some more pictures, this car is a reminder of "tgry don't make them like they used to"...
Under bonnet lights. They still work....
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First, the low pressure switch on the accumulator. The aftermarket part was shorter than the original, so I had to make some wire extenders to make them fit right. Wiring isn't my best ability and I didn't have anything to hand apart from these crimps, but the end result appears to have worked.
Then to top up the hydraulic fluid. This uses a special bottle attachment which opens a valve to allow fluid to enter the reservoir, as usually the system is pressurised. This attachment is NLA. So I fashioned a device using a small funnel and a pick to allow the calve to open. This took AGES.
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Luckily, there is a really good Facebook group for these cars so I asked the question and someone suggested to use a nozzle like what you would use for silicone. This worked a treat and do the job was complete. Started the car, brake pedal feels good and so far no leaks.
Next up, to refix some trims that had worked loose and these all went well using generic clips I had in my garage.
I then raised the car up to remove and realign rear bumper, but I couldn't figure out how to remove the foglight housing so that had to be abandoned. I did manage to fit an exhaust outlet that had worked its way off its mount.
I removed the drivers floor mat, only to see the carpet below like new. Again another result
If anyone has any idea how to remove this tape from this mat I'd be grateful to hear it...
Next up, boot lid alignment. The boot sits proud of the back wings, I've attributed this to the catch needing adjusting and so it was. Only thing is it difficult to completely tighten one of the screws securing it so I suspect this it what's causing the catch to move.
The car has been sat for a while and I'd forgotten to put it on a battery conditioner, so I've done that. But one of the MOT advisories on the car was for the clamp being absent, again these are NLA so any feedback on a solution is appreciated.
List of jobs seems to be getting smaller but a few have been added, notably..
Alignment as inner edges on front tyres worn
New discs and pads as discs have a lip
Realign rear bumper
Work out how on earth I adjust the internal clock
Fit bits of trim I'm collecting this week
But most importantly, drive it. Some more pictures, this car is a reminder of "tgry don't make them like they used to"...
Under bonnet lights. They still work....
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skwdenyer said:
Re the battery, an ebay saved search may turn one up. Equally there a few people on eBay advertising that they’re breaking XJ40s - get in touch and ask them for a battery clamp.
I don’t remember; is the tray open underneath? If so, you can buy a simple adjustable “luggage strap” to retain it.
Re the carpet, after peeling off the tape you’ll be left with an adhesive residue. There are commercial adhesive removers out there, but as a DIY measure you can try dabbing with isopropyl alcohol (don’t drench the carpet) to loosen it, then use a non-scratching scouring pad to work it away. Distilled white vinegar can also work, depending upon the adhesive. Obviously try first on a hidden area
Another approach that can work sometimes is to use parcel tape. Just in small areas - a few inches at a time - but it can sometimes pull the residue off (or at least some of it).
Some people swear by “Goof Off” but I’ve never used it: https://www.onbuy.com/gb/p/goof-off-pro-strength-r...
Thank you. I don’t remember; is the tray open underneath? If so, you can buy a simple adjustable “luggage strap” to retain it.
Re the carpet, after peeling off the tape you’ll be left with an adhesive residue. There are commercial adhesive removers out there, but as a DIY measure you can try dabbing with isopropyl alcohol (don’t drench the carpet) to loosen it, then use a non-scratching scouring pad to work it away. Distilled white vinegar can also work, depending upon the adhesive. Obviously try first on a hidden area
Another approach that can work sometimes is to use parcel tape. Just in small areas - a few inches at a time - but it can sometimes pull the residue off (or at least some of it).
Some people swear by “Goof Off” but I’ve never used it: https://www.onbuy.com/gb/p/goof-off-pro-strength-r...
Edited by skwdenyer on Monday 29th April 02:57
Ref the battery clamp, I've already contacted a number of people breaking them and it turns out it's a part that sells out immediately. Will continue to monitor though.
Ref the carpet mat, the tape that's here is proving quite difficult to remove without further damaging the fabric, but to be fair I've not really tried too much since the last update.
Update time, with young kids, a full time job and trying to sort out a very broken BMW 440i I've not had much time to update the thread.
Anyway, onwards.
Front indicators were a little cracked and looking past their best. It turns out they are still available to but new, so a nice easy and fairly inexpensive fix on this one.
Next up, rear bumper. The ends of the bumper were splayed out a little as they meet the rear wheel arch, and although still attached it really bothered me. So I set about removing the bumper which was easy enough, they are made of quite thick grade steel and they bend easily if they are hit. I'm no expert in this area, but I managed to manipulate the sections so they sit a lot better. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for a car at this price point. I also treated the rust that was starting to form on the inside of the bumper and put it all back.
Next up, boot lid liner. The early XJ40 only came with a hardboard liner which looks awful and is a bit of an after thought.
I was also missing a part of it that includes the boot light.
I found that later XJ40s use a far nice set up with fabric, so I obtained one of these in a similar shade to the rest of the boot trim. Only down side is that not all the fixing holes line up and the light is in a different location. I used some wire and solder to sortvthe light and gathered some fixings from the hundreds I have in my garage and am very pleased with the end result.
Finally, boot latch. The bootlid had been sitting proud of the rest of the bodywork since I got the car, I managed to locate the issue to the latch sitting too high, but rvery time I adjusted it, it wouldn't stay put. This troubled me far more than it ought to.
Last week, by chance I was with a customer at work who specialises in Jag parts and he suggested I try another latch which he had. I swapped them over, and it worked. Bootlid lines up nicely and opens and closes like it should. Another great result! Turns out the old latch was falling to pieces when it shouldn't really....
Anyway, onwards.
Front indicators were a little cracked and looking past their best. It turns out they are still available to but new, so a nice easy and fairly inexpensive fix on this one.
Next up, rear bumper. The ends of the bumper were splayed out a little as they meet the rear wheel arch, and although still attached it really bothered me. So I set about removing the bumper which was easy enough, they are made of quite thick grade steel and they bend easily if they are hit. I'm no expert in this area, but I managed to manipulate the sections so they sit a lot better. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for a car at this price point. I also treated the rust that was starting to form on the inside of the bumper and put it all back.
Next up, boot lid liner. The early XJ40 only came with a hardboard liner which looks awful and is a bit of an after thought.
I was also missing a part of it that includes the boot light.
I found that later XJ40s use a far nice set up with fabric, so I obtained one of these in a similar shade to the rest of the boot trim. Only down side is that not all the fixing holes line up and the light is in a different location. I used some wire and solder to sortvthe light and gathered some fixings from the hundreds I have in my garage and am very pleased with the end result.
Finally, boot latch. The bootlid had been sitting proud of the rest of the bodywork since I got the car, I managed to locate the issue to the latch sitting too high, but rvery time I adjusted it, it wouldn't stay put. This troubled me far more than it ought to.
Last week, by chance I was with a customer at work who specialises in Jag parts and he suggested I try another latch which he had. I swapped them over, and it worked. Bootlid lines up nicely and opens and closes like it should. Another great result! Turns out the old latch was falling to pieces when it shouldn't really....
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