My 1999 xjr :)

[Phoenix07]

Hi!
I've bought a 115k miles 1999 xjr 4.0 a few months back.
The previous owner did some poor welding repairs to it as it failed its mot on the rust, so now I have it at a friends garage to have some proper rust repair.
Mechanically the car seems spot on, drives like a charm, just drove it through france and germany through the motorways and its faaaaaast
Its always funny when other drivers of bm's and audi's look at me and think I'm driving an old and slow car and then i press the pedal and leave them eat my dust ))))
Despite the poor rust repair job done on the car, it seems like the previous owner spent fortunes on the car on its mechanics, so hopefully it doesnt need a lot more work.
The car basically wasnt droven since late 2012 i believe as the previous owner moved to another country.
The only thing I did on the car when I bought it was a Terraclean and now its at my friends garage to have the rust properly repaired and it will have a service also, with oil change, new filters, etc..
Going through the receipts on the car, here its the jobs it had done in the last years:

2006
Oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plug
Ecm module + reconfigure ecu

2007
82293 miles
Brake discs & pads

2008
90208 miles
Oil filter, oil gtx magnatec oil
Front vallance and brake ducting
New super charger belt, idler bearing and tensioner (tensioner drive, belt drive, pulley idler, bracket idler)
Alignement
Welding, replace four timing chains, four chain tensioners and slipper guides, rubber gaskets and seals, replace relay and water thermostat
(Brake fluid, 2x secondary timing chains, 2x primary timing chains, 2x upper tensioners, 2x lower tensioners, cam cover rubber gaskets, 4x spark plugs cover gaskets, relay twin fan, water thermostat)

2009
94137 miles
Oil filter, oil magnatec oil
New water pump, thermostat

2010
98450 miles
Service, Front brake pads, oil filter, 5w30 oil

2011
104127 miles
Service, new rear lower damper bushes, new front n/s wheel bearing assembly, oil filter, castrol gtx magnatec


2012
111023 miles
Service, new o/s/f wheel bearing, front and rear brake pads and discs, brake fluid change, oil filter, spark plugs, accelerometer, castrol gtx magnatec
New Alternator

I'll put photos of the car soon.

[Phoenix07]

The day I bought it:












On this last photo you can see those areas over the wheelarches "painted black", its where the previous owner did some type of fast rust repair on it to pass its MOT. Now im have this properly repaired in my friends garage, cutting all the rusty areas out completely.
The following photos on the next post will be the car under restoration.
Cheers everybody

[Phoenix07]

And now my jewel is in a friends garage being restored from the rust issues
The guy is an excellent mechanic and usually restores a lot of classics, at the moment he has an old lotus being restored also.



















And thats it... once my jewel is properly restored, polished and waxed I'll put more photos

[Phoenix07]

Few more

[tobinen]

Tiny thumbnails but I look forward to your body repairs. Great cars so I am led to believe

[Phoenix07]

Most of the welding is now done.
Next step will be painting the car and undersealing it.
Welding job pics:

[Phoenix07]

Regarding the pics being tiny i believe if you click on them it will show full size.

[Phoenix07]

P.S - just look some of the rusty bits that were cut off...



Hopefully all the rust was completely cut off and it wont return

[Phoenix07]

Update: all welding done, car will be fully repainted now and undersealed. All restored to original spec

[cornershop]

Digging up an old thread

How many hours were spent in the frontninner wings? I’m looking to buy an xjr, and have seen a few with issues here.

Great work btw, Are you/bodyshop man in the UK?

[mickrick]

Great thread!
Looks like my 98.

[TheD]

Very nice and well done. I still miss mine. Badly

[Phoenix07]

The renovation continues now. Had to stop it for 1 year as my friend who owns the garage had a lot of other cars to sort. I dont mind, now it should have their full attention
. Welding repairs + full paint job + replacement of a few bits (new rear bumper mount guides, new rear view electhrocromatic mirror, new fog lamp, etc
. He asked me if i want to keep the vinyl stripe or not. Not sure, opinions please

Edited by Phoenix07 on Wednesday 10th April 15:51

[Phoenix07]

Edited by Phoenix07 on Wednesday 10th April 15:48

Edited by Phoenix07 on Wednesday 10th April 15:54

[tobinen]

Great. I look forward to progress and end result.

[jas xjr]

That is going to look lovely. I drove one for over ten years or so. Miss it so much. Mine is the same colour but rusting away on the drive.
Yours will be a well sorted example,very envious

[mickrick]

I'm back at sea next week, so mines going in to a friends garage to have a bit done. Well, I hope it's a bit! The front sill has holes both sides, just under the bottom rear of the front wings.
I've asked him to take the wings off, as I suspect something could be going on at the bottom of the inner flitch. No signs of anything, but it seems strange to me that the inner sill has gone where it has.
Also it's had a nudge in the rear at some point in its life, so back bumper off to see what's going on there.
Bit of rust on nearside wheel arch, and a blister below the corner of the back window, so glass out I think.
Lots of mechanical stuff to do, but I can do that. I think it's important to address the rot issues first. Keep the old girl sound.
I absolutely love driving this car

[Phoenix07]

The work continues.. they found more rust under the windows rubbers and plastics on the right side of the car. To be sorted also. Next step will be finishing the full paint job and then to the underside of the car for rust removal and underseal

[Phoenix07]

[Phoenix07]