XJS daily driver
Discussion
I have had the old XJS for coming up on a year now, and am ashamed to say today is the first day i have given it a proper wash and polish so thought it would be a good time to take some pictures and start a thread.
Its a 1990 3.6 manual, just coming up to 174,000 miles and is my main car, so gets used 4-5 days a week. Being a 3.6 manual means that the running costs have not broken the bank (although it has come close at times
) but in normal driving it averages around 26mpg and on a long run i have seen 32mpg, although that was only once 
I have recently given it a full front suspension rebuild with new bushes, ball joints, wheel bearings, steering rack bushes and GAZ adjustable shocks. Last week i also got a 4 wheel geo done at Wheels In Motion so it is now driving lovely. Next on the list of things to do is get the wheels refurbished and get the aircon working ready for the summer, replace the diff pinion seal which has started letting by and replace the cracked headlight which i am currently waiting for in the post.
Sometimes I feel a bit harsh driving it in all weathers as i am sure there are not many truly rust free XJS's like this, but before winter I treated the underside and arches with Dinitrol UB and thankfully the winter has not been too harsh on the old girl. At least it is getting used and I love wafting to work in it, in a sea of old leather and wood.
Its a 1990 3.6 manual, just coming up to 174,000 miles and is my main car, so gets used 4-5 days a week. Being a 3.6 manual means that the running costs have not broken the bank (although it has come close at times
) but in normal driving it averages around 26mpg and on a long run i have seen 32mpg, although that was only once I have recently given it a full front suspension rebuild with new bushes, ball joints, wheel bearings, steering rack bushes and GAZ adjustable shocks. Last week i also got a 4 wheel geo done at Wheels In Motion so it is now driving lovely. Next on the list of things to do is get the wheels refurbished and get the aircon working ready for the summer, replace the diff pinion seal which has started letting by and replace the cracked headlight which i am currently waiting for in the post.
Sometimes I feel a bit harsh driving it in all weathers as i am sure there are not many truly rust free XJS's like this, but before winter I treated the underside and arches with Dinitrol UB and thankfully the winter has not been too harsh on the old girl. At least it is getting used and I love wafting to work in it, in a sea of old leather and wood.
Very nice, OP. The earlier cars look terrific in that bright red.
My XJS is also a daily driver, a 1995 4.0 auto, now on about 175,000 miles. Lots of little niggles, but great fun. I wish I could say it was rust-free, but it has never let me down.
And you just don't get scarlet carpets any more!
My XJS is also a daily driver, a 1995 4.0 auto, now on about 175,000 miles. Lots of little niggles, but great fun. I wish I could say it was rust-free, but it has never let me down.
And you just don't get scarlet carpets any more!
Wow that is in incredible condition and shrugs off its mileage.
Has that interior bee retrimmed? It looks factory fresh.
What a beautiful, leftfield car. Love it. You must get lots of admiring glances from commuters. Or maybe not if you haven't bothered washing it until now, you scruff!
Has that interior bee retrimmed? It looks factory fresh.
What a beautiful, leftfield car. Love it. You must get lots of admiring glances from commuters. Or maybe not if you haven't bothered washing it until now, you scruff!
Thanks for the kind comments everyone
The interior is standard, there is a small tear in the drivers side piping which I will get sorted at some point but the rest is pretty good. The previous owner (a farmer) bought it in 1995 and had it painted shortly after he bought it, so the paint is about 20 years old, but was a very good job.
Looking through the service book the car did 100,000 miles before its 4th birthday so for the past 20 years it seems to have had a fairly cosseted life.
The interior is standard, there is a small tear in the drivers side piping which I will get sorted at some point but the rest is pretty good. The previous owner (a farmer) bought it in 1995 and had it painted shortly after he bought it, so the paint is about 20 years old, but was a very good job.
Looking through the service book the car did 100,000 miles before its 4th birthday so for the past 20 years it seems to have had a fairly cosseted life.
Had a bit of fun working on the old Jag today.
Replaced the diff oil and weepy pinion seal. All went pretty well and thankfully my mate (LewG) had some spare prop shaft bolts as I had to grind two on mine off. I also replaced the broken headlight with a good used one from eBay, and one of the chrome headlight surrounds. Finished off with a new fan / alternator belt as the old one was looking cracked and started to squeal on cold starts.
Tomorrow I need to check and adjust the front wheel bearings as it has been a few hundred miles since I rebuilt the front end and I also have some new hub nut retainers to fit at the same time as the old ones were looking past their best.
What came out of the diff
New seal
Front end after the winter rebuild
Replaced the diff oil and weepy pinion seal. All went pretty well and thankfully my mate (LewG) had some spare prop shaft bolts as I had to grind two on mine off. I also replaced the broken headlight with a good used one from eBay, and one of the chrome headlight surrounds. Finished off with a new fan / alternator belt as the old one was looking cracked and started to squeal on cold starts.
Tomorrow I need to check and adjust the front wheel bearings as it has been a few hundred miles since I rebuilt the front end and I also have some new hub nut retainers to fit at the same time as the old ones were looking past their best.
What came out of the diff
New seal
Front end after the winter rebuild
Edited by AceOfHearts on Friday 20th March 20:16
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