my cheap barge

[samuelellis]

So for people who have seen my build thread of my mondeo on here will know that it has next to no practicality (thread - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Because of this me and our lass have spoken about getting a nice bargain barge for times when we need to carry more than just us two, So poking round auto trader has found this, i pick it up on Saturday (its on a private plate that an old owner did not want but it is a 2000 model)













Not a bad car for less than a couple of grand, its only the 3.2 litre v8 but it goes well enough. now as the modern parlance goes

See man driving a British whip

[samuelellis]

Yea we were shocked at the amount of car you can get for the money

[samuelellis]

aspirated said:

samuelellis said:

See man driving a British whip

Let's hope you don't tint the windows and lean back whilst driving...


So much car for the money

Wondered who would get that reference, i found that music video a few days ago and could not help laugh at how stupid it was

Fuel economy is not the biggest issue because its only really going to be used once or twice a week and for special occasions.

In regards to the gearbox it seems fine but like anything mechanical things wear so it will be a time will tell thing

[samuelellis]

is it bad ive already ordered the first bit of trim for the jag to upgade it and i dont even have the car yet?

bagged an armrest with built in cup holders that needs a bit of repair for next to sod-all as this was not an option specced on the car when new

[samuelellis]

yep it needs an underbonnet toolkit as well, it is on the list of things to get, i just could not turn down the cup holder arm rest as i bagged it for peanuts as it needs a repair

[samuelellis]

GC8 said:

Needs more speakers.

innit blud, i am going to fit a hifi to this but nothing as mad as the mong-deo, it will still be big but not stupidly big

Ecurie Ecosse said:

samuelellis said:

yep it needs an underbonnet toolkit as well, it is on the list of things to get, i just could not turn down the cup holder arm rest as i bagged it for peanuts as it needs a repair

Indeed. I found the cup holder arm-rest most useful.

now the darker interior in that looks lovely, especially around the gearstick. I have to admit im not really keen on the cream leather surround that mine comes with so im thinking of replacing it with something like this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XK8-XKR-Gear-Sele... but that is something to worry about later once i have run the car for a bit.

I hope the weather is as nice when i go pick it up on Saturday as the car sales id on some lovely wafting country roads, perfect jag locations

[samuelellis]

And its home








Shame it is missing the jag toolkit that lives under the bonnet but im sure i can find one on ebay cheap-ish

[samuelellis]

She was waiting for me to get out of the way so she could take a picture

[samuelellis]

yea the recess is empty and no flap so i assume its gone missing at some point in the cars life

ah well like i said, ebay for it.

I got really really lucky as it only just fits in the garage





as you can see by only just i mean only bloody just, before anyone asks what the cable going into the back of the car is i have put the battery on my big ctek charger, does not need it really but it helps condition the battery and keep it in good nick

[samuelellis]

Yep the wall is getting padded at some point soon

[samuelellis]

OK it is a little bit of a mis match when you consider that the new price would not be that far off what the house is currently worth but ah well, if any of my neighbours want to say something then they really must have shallow lives

BTW did you use to post on talkaudio as i think i recognise your username from talkaudio

[samuelellis]

Shaw Tarse said:

samuelellis said:

Yep the wall is getting padded at some point soon

You need all your walls padded!

your not the first person to suggest that, not because i bought this car - just in general

[samuelellis]

jamiebae said:

Indeed

Have you had a haircut yet?

Nope its longer now

[samuelellis]

So like any old car no matter how well looked after it is i have a list of jobs to do, in no particulair order

1. A service - just for piece of mind
2. Flat and buff the paintwork and then protect the paint, no bad marks, just the usual scratches you would expect over time
3. Couple of bits of brightwork could do with replacing
4. Headliner dropped inside (known issue with these cars, can get a replacement for reasonable money, plus gives me chance to add some sound-deadening to the roof and run cable for front and rear dashcams
5. Couple of blown bulbs on instrument cluster
6. get it waxoyled or equivalent to keep any rust at bay
7. Sort out the new armrest with cup holders i bought and fit it
8. Stereo system design and fit


So considering its a 14 year old car, not really a massive amount to do and most of them are upgrades

[samuelellis]

Yes i am 5 years old so i always laugh at this sign

[samuelellis]

So i have been thinking about the best way to attack the audio in this car and it has a few issues

1. They dont make a facia adapter for it
2. A modern headunit would stand out
3. The stock headunit does not have bluetooth so it cant talk to my phone
4. The stock headunit turns its volume up as the car acellerates (this annoys me)


So i have a couple of options, either replace it or live with it.

However i have been doing some reading round and believe i have found a 3rd way to do it. The car has a CD changer in it so I figured it must have a stereo signal going from the changer to the headunit. Some more research found that the headunit and changer are made by Alpine and use the AI net system so adding an aux in should be an off the shelf part BUT unfortunately they changed it slightly so if it does not sense the changer it just shuts down the audio. However more web research brought me to this link - http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-... and this suggests how to tap into the left and right channels in the cd changer and this link tells you how to switch between aux in and changer - http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-...

So that in theory should give me an aux in, now once i have the aux in but what to connect it to. I have done more research and come across the Fusion BT100 that is just a straight bluetooth to line out device - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxFgfABO1LU

So that will mean that i have the ability to switch between the cd changer and a bluetooth aux in. This will allow me to use a tablet/my existing Samsung s2 mobile for music/internet radio/nav etc

So the next step would be to stop the headunit turning itself up when accelerating, then just feed the high level out to a high level to line level converter so i can run amps.

So first step is to buy a cd changer off e-bay so i can test the theory without damaging my existing cd changer

[samuelellis]

My google-fu failed me and about 10mins after i posted that i did actually find a facia adapter and a wiring adapter (curse you google, spend weeks looking and then find what i want 10mins after saying it does not exist)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XJ8-98-02-Car-CD-...

So the change of plan now is to order one of those and get it hydrodipped to match the wood on the dash

Then either
-use my spare JVC AVX44 - this would give me the ability to feed a reversing camera to the screen in the headunit
-Get something like a pioneer 80 PRS - this will give me a lot of control over the sound
-Go oldskool and fit a becker unit/pioneer p77 that may fit the style of the dash more and then just use a fusion bluetooth to phono out adapter to give me mp3/video etc

[samuelellis]

yep the fact that a fascia adapter is not curved is a bit of an issue but the picture on the one above looks ok

The headunit i am considering is the following one i had as a spare

A becker Trafficpro - should fit in with the look of the car and im sure with some filler work i can make the fascia adpater curved enough to fit the look of the dash

[samuelellis]

Bugger



Test measured with a Samsung 7inch tablet but forgot that the Hudl has a far bigger surround, plan was to pull the headunit out and replace it with a tablet built into the dash but thats a no-go

So my options are either a mount where the center vents are



Or get super sneaky and use the fact that the OEM unit has a tape deck to my advantage and fabricate some sort of bracket that holds the tablet inplace using the tape mech.

[samuelellis]

So today i went to a car show held by a car audio distributor, they were clearing some stock out cheap so i did the only logical, sensible thing someone who is watching the pennies can do to keep his spending under control

I bought the Jag a prezzie











Just a little 10inch sub for the front footwell, this is the baby brother (one model range down) to the 15inch nutter specials that are going in my ford so it should do the job and only ned a tiny enclosure so passenger footwell space should not be too badly impacted