1975 Jaguar XJ Coupe 6.0 V12

[craigjm]

Digga said:

SHutchinson said:

cb1965 said:

craigjm said:

Shopped onto a sporty looking black XJC with no vinyl

Dunlop's

Dunlops all the way. Perfect look for the period of the car.

That looks excellent. Just build that but with your planned fancy modifications.

^THis. And might I say that's a gentleman thug of a car. The kind of car that would cross the road to have a fight and look extremely well turned out at the same time. Utter, brutal beauty!

I am very much thinking this. Savile Row disreputable gentleman kind of image would suit me well

[craigjm]

johnxjsc1985 said:

lots of Vinyl on lots of cars in those days .

Yeah just the fashion. They look quite different without one

[craigjm]

ndtman said:

How about some Pontiac Snowflakes? Now available in larger sizes http://snowflakewheels.com/

I think they would look quite good on a black car with the accents painted in black not gold

[craigjm]

Jim AK said:

Can anyone confirm that Jaguar ceased building these because they couldn't stop the wind noise from the door seals?

Ive no suggestions for what you should do but I'm sure what you do will be right for it OP.

There was supposed to be a coupe in the series 1 and there is a prototype in existence now I'm Australia. They couldn't get the windows to work so it was delayed and by the time it arrived in 1975 the XJS was pretty much ready and that's what killed it off

[craigjm]

frodo_monkey said:

For bespoke wheels, go to Image:

http://www.imagewheels.co.uk

They made some 15x10s for me in Jag fitment for my old race car (see my profile pic) so you can definitely get them wide enough if 1) they'll go over your brakes, and 2) you can find the tyres.

Lovely car though!

That's where the Hallibrand replicas would be from

[craigjm]

This thread has just been featured on pistonheads Facebook page

[craigjm]

So im thinking if I do a piano black veneer then a wooden wheel would be nice and a smaller, thicker wheel than the bus wheel that is on there at the moment. The outer circumference of this wheel is exactly the same as the inner circumference on the series 3 wheel thats on it.



Fits a Momo boss and will see if I can get a growler screen printed onto a plain black centre piece

[craigjm]

Breadvan72 said:

Cosmic wheels? Seen here on an MGB GT. I don't know if these wheels exist in Jag sizes. Maybe too open for inboard discs.

Picture isnt showing

[craigjm]

P5BNij said:

craigjm said:

This thread has just been featured on pistonheads Facebook page

I wasn't aware it had one Craig! I think we should smother it with a D-Notice, we wouldn't want Blighty's best kept classic car secret getting out now would we...

Ive already had three messages asking me if its for sale and to name my price

[craigjm]

I think I've seriously blown the cobwebs out of it today doing 150 miles motorway mileage all in one go. Did it in less than one tank too!

[craigjm]

MarkPhillipson said:

Great car. Isn't it much more interesting keeping an older car on the road than buying a boring new hatchback. One costs quite a bit in parts, garage bills and time but rewards with a great drive and real character while the other costs around a similar amount in depreciation and offers no spark of interest whatsoever.

Exactly.

[craigjm]

RoverP6B said:

Or make a similar 6-speed auto work - might involve a bit of custom machining, though.

Not possible regardless of the machining because all the 6 speed boxes are electronically controlled and the engine management is not able to deal with that

[craigjm]

RoverP6B said:

Custom standalone ECUs?

I've been quoted very silly money just to fit the 90s 4 speeder. I dread to think what that would cost but would make it really good fuel wise and ever better in response

[craigjm]

First set of modifications are on the way...,

I have the piano black wood steering wheel and I've just ordered the Momo boss to fit it. I have ordered an interior mirror that looks kinda period but has auto dimming and home link for my gate built in. Just ordered one new gauge too so I can have a close look at it before ordering the full set. The plan is to have magnolia coloured gauges with chrome rings replicating the originals against the piano black wood.

I think I am starting to come down on the decision that the car will be metallic black and the wheels will be either the Dunlops or Hallibrands shown before. Still unsure on the interior though

[craigjm]

OK so the steering wheel looks like this......



It will have a Jaguar centre piece

The wood on the dashboard is going to be piano black and I want to make the dials look nicer so I am considering some Smiths recreations in Magnolia which against the black (demonstrated by my crap photo editing skills) will look like this....



The thinking being that white dials will look too modern and the original black will look a bit cheap and nasty against the piano black wood. Views and suggestions welcome guys

[craigjm]

P5BNij said:

Magnolia gauges against the piano black dash would be just the ticket.

Didn't someone mention a S1 XJC prototype earlier in the thread...? Is this it, or is it a backdated standard one...?

The series 1 prototype is in Australia. I believe that is a backdated car owned by XJ Restorations that you have pictured. The original is a lighter red.

http://www.xjc.com.au/prototype.htm

Edited by craigjm on Sunday 28th February 17:28

[craigjm]

melhookv12 said:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=3...

Yeah that one is an engine mule whereas the red one in Aus is the original saloon car hacked about to make the first ever coupe. Can't imagine how slow the 3.4 would have been if they had made it!

[craigjm]

Question for the tyre boys who might read this...

The car currently wears 235/55r17 all round. If I go down to 16 inch wheels to get a set of Dunlops what tyre size do I need to maintain the same tyre height so that they fill the arches as much as the current 17s do? Oh yea... and be able to buy tyres with a decent speed rating on them.

Cheers

OK decisions made to this point -

Paint - Mercedes Obsidian Black with no vinyl roof and no leaper
Renew chrome all round and fit front over riders on the rear bumper
New leather interior in red with red seats and door cards, black carpets, black upper doors, dashboard and centre console
Piano black wood and matching piano black steering wheel

[craigjm]

Cheers that's very useful. some good options there.

[craigjm]

My engine isn't running right. All of a sudden it's started stalling rather than idling although when it's on the move it runs fine Along the motorway at whatever speed you want. What could cause that? Starting to annoy me now because been for a long drive today but as soon as you're off the motorway I've had to really anticipate islands etc so that I don't have to come to a complete stop to prevent it stalling.

Help please