The Curfew XJ-S - V12 manual
Discussion
British Beef said:
Great car & project, you are a brave man!
4 pages in and no photos of the engine..... share a few snaps of the beast within!!!
Thank you, brave or foolish? If its foolish then I'm probably the biggest fool going given how many Jags I seem to buy 4 pages in and no photos of the engine..... share a few snaps of the beast within!!!
I just had a scroll through and realised I've only taken one or two photos of the engine, as mostly I've been videoing it running.
Just trying to get a photo to upload to my computer now, will edit this post when it does....
Edited to add the photo
Edited by lukeharding on Sunday 8th December 13:09
Now that's a full engine bay! 
Not a surprise that the car is ropey and that they painted over lights etc - been around a few movies/tv cars (even owned a movie car for a while) and especially back in the day, the cars were made to look nice on camera - which did not equate to looking nice in the flesh! Ha ha. Looks like you got away with only a few things - and you can thank HD TV for that, since they have to take a bit more care now.
Expanding on what you said above, this being one of three used for filming it might have been a 'hero' car used for tighter shots. Hence it being a little better looked after in the visual department. I bet if you parked next to the other two, they would look a bit rougher - likely because of only being used for sliding around in wide/distance shots where they were not subject to the same scrutiny as the hero vehicle.
PS - I'd be keeping those bonnet lights as well...especially if you're going for a racer look. Makes it look like they were fitted for a 24hr race or something!
Not a surprise that the car is ropey and that they painted over lights etc - been around a few movies/tv cars (even owned a movie car for a while) and especially back in the day, the cars were made to look nice on camera - which did not equate to looking nice in the flesh! Ha ha. Looks like you got away with only a few things - and you can thank HD TV for that, since they have to take a bit more care now.
Expanding on what you said above, this being one of three used for filming it might have been a 'hero' car used for tighter shots. Hence it being a little better looked after in the visual department. I bet if you parked next to the other two, they would look a bit rougher - likely because of only being used for sliding around in wide/distance shots where they were not subject to the same scrutiny as the hero vehicle.
PS - I'd be keeping those bonnet lights as well...especially if you're going for a racer look. Makes it look like they were fitted for a 24hr race or something!
lukeharding said:
British Beef said:
Great car & project, you are a brave man!
4 pages in and no photos of the engine..... share a few snaps of the beast within!!!
Thank you, brave or foolish? If its foolish then I'm probably the biggest fool going given how many Jags I seem to buy 4 pages in and no photos of the engine..... share a few snaps of the beast within!!!
I just had a scroll through and realised I've only taken one or two photos of the engine, as mostly I've been videoing it running.
Just trying to get a photo to upload to my computer now, will edit this post when it does....
Edited to add the photo
Edited by lukeharding on Sunday 8th December 13:09
lukeharding said:
waftycranker said:
Why did you buy it if you are planning on changing the looks? Surely the whole point in buying this is that you have to car from The Curfew.
I love the muscle car looks. Flared arches and green stripe are great. If it were mine I’d replace the fuel tank and get those side exit exhausts working.
Lets be honest, its not as if this is an iconic movie car where changing it will damage the value. I want to improve it and make it into a car worth using whilst retaining its character. The flared arches are great, but the green stripe makes it into a poor replica of a Group 44 racer. The problem with those side exit exhausts is that with the current placement you'd have to cut through the sill and everything else to make them viable, or reroute them out and under the sill which would make them sit very low on an already low car. (or at least part of them would). I might try and create ones like on an actual Group 44 racer but it remains to be seen. I love the muscle car looks. Flared arches and green stripe are great. If it were mine I’d replace the fuel tank and get those side exit exhausts working.
Edited to add - fuel tank is already being replaced
Edited by lukeharding on Sunday 8th December 11:00
waftycranker said:
Fair enough about it not being iconic as something like the Bullitt Mustang or Luther’s Volvo(!). I jumped ahead on the forum and missed your thinking on what to do with it. On second thoughts I probably wouldn’t both with keeping the side exhausts either, at least in that guise. Maybe have side exit ones like the original HKS Skyline. Love that green interior though, and the strip lights on the doors!
I like the green interior and I may keep it for another car, as for this car I think it needs to reflect on the exterior a little more. The light strips are cool on one hand, and very tacky on another 
, plus they're all operated individually from little boxes in the door pockets. 
DanG355 said:
Lister 7.0 litre conversion on the way then?!
Nice project - I'd keep the arches but lose the bonnet lights. Not sure about the side exhausts - I know they are fake but like the idea of real ones. Whatever you do with it it'll be interesting to follow.
No 7.0 conversion on the cards for this car, although its good to note that 7.0 isn't the max size for the engine, and there are at least a couple of 8.5l ones in existence... Nice project - I'd keep the arches but lose the bonnet lights. Not sure about the side exhausts - I know they are fake but like the idea of real ones. Whatever you do with it it'll be interesting to follow.
now that would be fun one day!I like the idea of side exit exhausts, just not these side exit exhausts.
The lights I still haven't decided on, it depends how useful they are mainly.
Another boring update. We now have front indicators! Obviously as most of the front bumper has been removed so were the front indicators. The pair going on now have been robbed from one of the project cars and fit well enough for the moment. It isn't the prettiest set up, but will do for the time being and allow me to get the car on the road.
lukeharding said:
J4CKO said:
This thread is way better than the tv show the Jag came from !
Thanks, although I'm not sure its a big compliment if you didn't like the show! Its going to be a busy week, but I'm hoping to have something exciting for everyone by next week - but I'll keep schtum for now But will keep watching this
SweptVolume said:
J4CKO said:
that green interior is magnificent!
Agree. That's the nicest coloured leather I've seen in a long time.In the late 1980's I was selling new VW AUDI in the old VW Export showroom in Baker Street London when a young middle eastern lad came in to order a new Golf GTI and as a part-exchange he had an XJS manual with a beige cloth trim (nice) and which was only a few months old. He had spent his whole year's allowance on buying the car and was spending an even bigger fortune on paying for a month by month insurance (since he was under 20 years old). No Jaguar dealer would even bid for the car since the factory manual option was never ordered by 'normal' buyers and they saw no opportunity for reselling it. In the end we did a straight swap: the Jaguar for the Golf with a years insurance paid and a full tank of fuel. Some 'business man' he was though his family were very wealthy, of cause, with loads of youngsters living and studying in London who also came to me for various cars. The family name: Bin Laden. The XJS lad's first name I do not recall!
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