Jaguar XJ-S, Houston flood car

XJ-S
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The console is indeed vinyl, and was one of the first things I wondered about, when I first picked up the car from the auction lot. I don’t see any evidence of anything having been placed on top of the console vinyl, so who knows just what the story is on that.

All of these flood cars are different, and I guess the damage depends on how quickly they dried out, or how long they stayed humid. I know in the case of the black Xj-S, it was parked with the windows partially down, and subsequently flooded. It was then towed to the salvage pool, with the windows still partially down, and as a result, received plenty more water from the subsequent rain storms. The wood trim on the dash, as well as the doors, should have lost all it’s veneer, but hasn’t. It’s actually in better shape than in other cars, which have not been flood damaged. The wood in the red car, which was only floor board flooded, is in worse shape. The wood out of my car, will go to my buddy, so he can use it in his red car.

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Well you’ve done a fine job, the car(s) have cleaned up nicely. I’ve got a complete service manual for XJS’s so if you need some help let me know and I will see what I can do to assist.

I’ve been tied up on a couple XJ6’s a '74 XJ6 and my latest $400.00 XJ6. it runs, just needed an alternator, and a bit of rust repair. Got a TIG, Sheet metal, paint, a spray gun; and more ambition than brains. How hard can it be? lol

Cheers!
Mark

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Mark,

I’ll take you up on that! I think the hardest bit on both of these cars was replacing the rear calipers on the red convertible, since the exhaust shop never accounted for the fact the rear end assembly might need to come out for service! The black car is the only one to actually have been “cleaned”. The red one is as found, and has yet to have any kind of cleaning done to it… it’s just that clean! I’ll leave any detailing up to my friend… he likes to obsess on minute cleaning details, and will spend hours just cleaning up his truck.

Old cars, especially old Jag’s are all about time… some money but mainly time. I invested in a turbine sprayer last year… purchased it from a fellow who was doing cabinet work, and he was getting rid of it, because he said it made the cabinets look “artificial”… he explained that the finish was too perfect. That said, I purchased it. I have so far used it for over a dozen cars, and it never ceases to amaze me. Yes, it sounds like a vacuum cleaner, but fish eyes and moisture are no longer a concern, and it lays down metallic colors perfectly.

As far as welding, that’s a skill that I need to master, but usually rust isn’t a problem down here… I can get by with welding a rocker panel on a car, or a floor patch, but would like to get to the level of being able to weld up a lower panel on a door, or quarter, and have it come out smooth.

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But…does it run???

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Wiggles, both cars run very well… no complaints. The black car, the worst one, is actually a bit smoother than the red one, but I attribute this to it having been used on road trips and the such. The red car was someone’s garage queen, and from what I’ve been able to determine, hardly, if ever left it’s gated, country club community.

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WOW !! thats incredible, the black car looks fantastic! That must have been a hoot to crank it up , smoke and all! I cant believe its the same car. really impressed! will you be selling it? or hanging on to it for a while?

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Bob,
Yes, it was a bit more than a hoot… it was like a 4 wheeled fog machine, and managed to send it’s “fog” across the property, and onto the rural highway… Perhaps I was a bit too generous with the ATF I dumped in the cylinders…

The black car will be driven extensively in the country, to make sure everything stays working, and will ultimately receive a standard transmission, and will become the stablemate for my Westminster blue, 1989 convertible. I wanted to originally convert the '89, but the car just drives so well, and when the black one showed up, I figured that it would be the perfect “mule” for the transmission swap. I never figured it would be as sharp of a car as it is. I think it’s safe it and the blue one, will be with me for a long time to come.

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The easiest way is to drop the whole IRS cage. Service it (because nobody ever does) and do the brakes while you’re at it. Rock Auto is a good source for brake parts cheap. Drilled and slotted Stoptek front rotors for under $100.00. These make a huge difference. I’ve got them on my '88 XJS, '74 XJ6 and the '85 XJ6. wonderful upgrade! I have a line on the rears, but not so cheap. I ran into the same issue when the PO decided to have the exhaust “Fixed” by welding the IRS over pipe to the silensers which was welded to the pipe from the CAT. Essentially it all had to be cut out, and redone. UGH

If you haven’t taken these out in the past, let me know and I’ll share pointers that I’ve gotten from the other gents in the XJ forum. The really handy one is the tool for the radius arms that are usually rusted into place.
Let me know if I can help

Mark

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Mark.

HAHA! We think alike! I just received my drilled and slotted rotors (StopTek) last week, so once I have the black one in the air again, it’s getting those, along with new brake hoses, pads, etc.

Yes, RockAuto is great… I’ll probly get a Christmas card from them this year, as I order most everything, for all my cars from them, and you can’t beat their prices! I just returned over $500 in cores I had laying around just today!

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I put drilled/slitted rotors on my E: not because they stopped better—there was NO measurable improvement, in stopping power over standard rotors—but because they were cheaper.

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Wiggles,
I have a customer who has a Toyota Seqouia…every 5K miles, it needed brakes. This is evidently an issue, as the truck is too heavy for it’s stock brakes. I installed drilled and slotted rotors on it, and so far, 30K miles, without an issue. Like you, I bought them for my XJ-S, mainly because I had store credit I needed to use.

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A turbine sprayer…
Hmmm… Interesting… water / condensation. That is an issue. I put in an A/C evaporator between the compressor and the tank (mounted on the wall) in order to contend with the water issue. It appears to work; but I still have dryers in place. I killed one of my 90 degree cut off tool due to water. In the air hose. It was HF, so not a big deal.

If sheet metal is all you’re going to use a welder for, then I’d pick up a 200 amp inverter TIG / Stick. I’ve got an AlphaTIG 200x it was 800 bucks on amazon. I’ve used the hell out of it. for the first 6 months of ownership, I spent about 90 minutes just practicing welding. went to the local steel scrapper, and picked up bits of steel to practice on, then I moved to aluminium, and then stainless.

Panel repair before welding.
I use to use flush mount rivets for panel repair before I knew how to weld.
I use the bead roller to put a recessed edge on the patch, then drill the rivet holes hold the metal in place with kelco. Make sure everything lines up. Then remove the patch, coat with rust preventative, and seam sealer (on the back), put the panel in place with kelco’s and rivet it in place. I used a bit if filler over the rivets and the seam. It worked reasonably well. Filler was a bit thick at 3/32” but you piss with the the cock you’ve got.
In some instances, I prefer this method over welding because of rust prevention

Once I picked up my TIG welder, I spend a shit load of time prepping, cutting filing, sanding to get an exact butt match. hold with maginets. And weld in the new panel. More often than not, I don’t need to use filler metal; and if I do, I use .045” ER70S6 flows nicely. Downside to welding, is if I don’t have access to the back panel, the welded area is much susceptible to rust at the weld joins. I tried welding Stainless instead of cold rolled steel sheets. That was an epic fail.

For body work, stay away from MIG. The welds are too hard, it’s too hard to control the amount heat and filler material, The welds tend to crack with a little tappy tap tap of a body hammer.

Handy tools
A break (which I don’t have)
Bead roller
Shrinker stretcher, (works great for fixing rusty a and c pillars.
Body hammers,
poly mallets (different shapes)
Leather sand bag
(or an English wheel)
Metal files, and 2” angle grinder a dremel kinda works
bits of steel pipe different diameters (to use for shaping radius)
electric sheers & a band saw.

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Damn near spit Monster allllll over my keyboard!!!
:heart_eyes::joy::joy::joy::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::joy:

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Sorry about the keyboard for some reason I thought that was a private message. Yikes I hope I don’t get kicked off the forum for swearing sorry.

I’ll pay closer attention next time.
Mark

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LOL! Love it! I have a Bentley S3, that needs rear wheel arches, but I’m not even going to attempt it without plenty of practice. I have used lead to finish off panels that were patched or replaced, and have never been unhappy with the results., especially on 50’s and older vehicles.

The turbine sprayer has been a blessing, as previously stated, I no longer have to worry about moisture, or oil contamination. I now use my compressor only for running air tools, sanders, etc.

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Depending on which S3 you have, you’re right, the wheel arches look a bit daunting. Especially on how much of the wheel arch needs replacing. Looking at pictures of the S3 and the wheel arch, it appears these wheel arches were hammer and dolley’d, to me, they don’t look like they were pressed steel. If it’s just the flair that needs replacing, I’d make a contour gauge wood, or plastic. Cover the area you’re gonna cut out with masking tape. Take the tape, and transfer it to poster board for a template. Cut the rust out, fine tune the poster board template to match what’s cut out. Then transfer to the sheet metal. I always try to weld on either a seam, or heavy contour (like the lip of the wheel arch) because those bits are less likely to warp (horribly). I also try to back my weld with 1/8” piece copper or aluminum, (if I can get to the back) heat sink putty works well to isolate the heat. I use to do this with Oxy Acetylene torch, and bronze filler wire. Didn’t rust, didn’t require as much heat, and being soft easy to shape. It’s a bitch when working around glass. POP! CRACKLE CRACKLE! Hmmm… Looks like I’ll be replacing the back window now… FM T(squared)!

Turbine sprayer, I have to say I’ll have to look into it. Now moisture? Even in Texas? Humidity? Condensation? Do you use a regulator? It sounds cool!

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A good quality weld through primer will take care of the rust. Odd you feel the way you do towards mig welding that’s all I’ve ever used since mid 80s have had none of the problems you alluded to. For the 10 years prior to the mig welder Oxyacetylene was the process.

I always ground both panels to bare metal around the weld area treated with phosphoric acid then sprayed weld thru primer both sides before welding never had any comebacks for the problems you mentioned.

Wayne

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It’s been my experience that weld through primer makes a mess of the electrode. I shoot the patch and surrounding area with weld through, but then prep the edges (1/16") to weld. I’m not a fan of MIG for thin metal (panel patching). Don’t get me wrong, MIG has its place in fabrication, and is great because it’s quick, and much easier when out of position, but for sheet metal, I prefer TIG. I take the extra time to get a perfect fit up, so I don’t have to use filler wire. this way the heat affected area is minimal. Now, In seriously rust prone areas, where I don’t have access to the back, I use silicon bronze (filler) and weld through, which doesn’t make a mess of the electrode because the base material doesn’t pool. virtually no distortion, and tiny heat affected zone. Works slick,

2 Likes
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Sounds like the wire on the mig machine is wrong size, .023 is proper size for sheet metal anything larger and the machine can’t be set low enough for a proper weld.
It it works for you that’s all that matters. I doubt you find many Body shops with Tig welders, maybe a handful of collision shops working on The new F150 or some of the high end cars that use lots of different exotic metals.They’re probably using them on the structural components. My understanding of the low cost multipurpose inverter welders being sold today are DC current and with the exception of a few specialized situations are not the ideal welder for welding aluminum.

Been a while since I did primary collision work so I could be wrong on those statements and welcome any info to the contrary.

reason for edit
sorry should have said DC

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Ur right, most repair facilities use MIG, cause its easier and faster. My fit ups are total butt joints so I dont use filler wire. Unless i keyhole for some reason. When i do use filler i can usually tap the weld nearly flat, not with MIG, the weld is too hard and brittle it ends up cracking, or pushing the base metal into a dent. You cant beat MIG for doing fake spot welds. It rocks!

Gas welding is becoming somewhat of a lost art, which is a shame. I still use my gas kit i still use just to keep my skills up.

Its a true test of my patience after TIG or MIG. I use it mainly for heating and cutting thick stuff., or gouging holes, like for my vice in 3/8" plate‎ workbench top.

My welder is an inverter and pretty feature rich, it has 2 and 4 T (start), pulse, ‎does AC, adjustable frequency as well as wave patterns. AC for aluminum and magnesium along with the frequency control for “cleaning”
It also has up and down slope for 2T or scratch start. as well as pre and post flow. And will strike an arc at 5amps.

Ive even welded copper with it. Not braise, weld. Used romex electrical wire as filler, an argon helium mix to get a puddle. End result was less than stellar, cause the weld was really soft. Ended up doing it over with silicon bronze filler.

‎I guess my point is this, MIG TIG Stick, Gas are just tools like a spanner in a toolbox…

Cheers.