At a crossroad with my XJS
Discussion
I've had my XJ-S for about 18 months now and until fairly recently it's been pretty trouble-free.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, it'll need lots of money spending on it in the near future. I've no idea how much but these are the things that need doing:
-Seat-belt mounting points will need welding
-Top wing rails in the engine bay where the inner and outer wings join need welding
-New steering rack
-Both rear wings full of filler
-Lots of bushes
Things that I'd like to get done:
-Probably new dampers and springs
-Shorter diff
-outboard rear brake conversion
If it was just a normal V12 I'd pop it on Ebay and see what happens, but it's had a lot of money thrown at it in the past (all the AJ6 Engineering tuning bits and a manual gearbox conversion) so I'm not sure whether it's worth sinking £5k? into or not. They seem to be going-up in value, which makes me think I might claw back some of the restoration costs, but not sure that could be counted on.
Any thoughts?
Anyway, to cut a long story short, it'll need lots of money spending on it in the near future. I've no idea how much but these are the things that need doing:
-Seat-belt mounting points will need welding
-Top wing rails in the engine bay where the inner and outer wings join need welding
-New steering rack
-Both rear wings full of filler
-Lots of bushes
Things that I'd like to get done:
-Probably new dampers and springs
-Shorter diff
-outboard rear brake conversion
If it was just a normal V12 I'd pop it on Ebay and see what happens, but it's had a lot of money thrown at it in the past (all the AJ6 Engineering tuning bits and a manual gearbox conversion) so I'm not sure whether it's worth sinking £5k? into or not. They seem to be going-up in value, which makes me think I might claw back some of the restoration costs, but not sure that could be counted on.
Any thoughts?
I suspect that your thoughts of offsetting restoration costs against climbing used values is a bit of "man maths". To my mind, if the car's in good enough nick to get top whack in the classifieds, you're not going to be selling it.
On the other hand, if it's truly depreciation-immune, then you can consider the servicing/restoration costs as simple running costs. Divide them into a monthly figure, and honestly ask yourself whether you're getting that value from the car. Compare this with a replacement vehicle if that helps. (Note: you can go for the man maths here with abandon!)
A specialist should be able to get it through its MOT, leaving you with the decision about upgrades.
My personal view is that the XJS as a vehicle is getting cooler, so if you can possibly justify it, you should probably go for it, and make sure you enjoy your investment, rather than doing it up to flog it off in favour of some dullmobile.
On the other hand, if it's truly depreciation-immune, then you can consider the servicing/restoration costs as simple running costs. Divide them into a monthly figure, and honestly ask yourself whether you're getting that value from the car. Compare this with a replacement vehicle if that helps. (Note: you can go for the man maths here with abandon!)
A specialist should be able to get it through its MOT, leaving you with the decision about upgrades.
My personal view is that the XJS as a vehicle is getting cooler, so if you can possibly justify it, you should probably go for it, and make sure you enjoy your investment, rather than doing it up to flog it off in favour of some dullmobile.
Nice to know another one is being kept on the road. They're getting rarer (and cooler) all the time - especially a manual V12.
Make sure your mechanics have a good poke around when pulling all the rusty bits off. leave no stone unturned and Waxoil everywhenre you can. Eradicate the rust and it should last forever.
Make sure your mechanics have a good poke around when pulling all the rusty bits off. leave no stone unturned and Waxoil everywhenre you can. Eradicate the rust and it should last forever.
sounds like a nice car. let see some pix? 5.3 or 6.0 (or bigger?)? i assume its a conversion as opposed to one of the rare 70s factory v12 manuals?
as you know a V12 Manual is not going to be easy to replace, so you have to ask yourself how much you really like it.
has it been roadworthy in your ownership, or sorned/ project status? i find that when a car is not driven, and just sits there consuming your bank account, its easy to fall out of love with it. needs to be driven to keep the passion alive (Much like any relationship)!
for myself, i think investment value is sort of the wrong way to look at jags. i dont honestly think its that feasible to make some sort to profit with the older cars, as they do take significant funds to keep them in good shape and running well. best you can hope for is to enjoy the ownership and driving experience, and maybe not loose too much, or if you are lucky break even, if and when you come to sell?
as you know a V12 Manual is not going to be easy to replace, so you have to ask yourself how much you really like it.
has it been roadworthy in your ownership, or sorned/ project status? i find that when a car is not driven, and just sits there consuming your bank account, its easy to fall out of love with it. needs to be driven to keep the passion alive (Much like any relationship)!
for myself, i think investment value is sort of the wrong way to look at jags. i dont honestly think its that feasible to make some sort to profit with the older cars, as they do take significant funds to keep them in good shape and running well. best you can hope for is to enjoy the ownership and driving experience, and maybe not loose too much, or if you are lucky break even, if and when you come to sell?
'Just' the 5.3, unfortunately, though it does have all this stuff: http://www.jagweb.com/aj6eng/v12_performance.php
It's always been MOT'ed whilst I've owned it, though a recent problem with the brakes meant it was left standing for a couple of months by which time I couldn't get it to start. £800 worth of re-wiring later and it's running nicely, but the garage who repaired the wiring noticed a few things that needed doing, hence the hand-wringing.
Really need to take some photo's of it, but its always wet and/or dark this time of year.....
It's always been MOT'ed whilst I've owned it, though a recent problem with the brakes meant it was left standing for a couple of months by which time I couldn't get it to start. £800 worth of re-wiring later and it's running nicely, but the garage who repaired the wiring noticed a few things that needed doing, hence the hand-wringing.
Really need to take some photo's of it, but its always wet and/or dark this time of year.....
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