New lover introduction

The Pirellis were original and fine other than they always used to flat spot and needed to be REALLY warmed up to get a grip in the cold. They were good for maybe 13 to 15,000 miles.
We switched to Michelins in the mid 1990’s and never looked back.
The Michelins were SOFTER and the side wall a little rounder looking but the ride became a Lincoln town car for New York roads…They are good for 35 to 40,000 minimum.
Good luck either way.
Just remember if you run out of gas hit the button on the dash board :slight_smile:gtjoey1314

Jay:

I think my car was delivered in nearby Vallejo! Has the Leaper. I like it. Hood ornaments an old USA tradition. If any unlucky ped gets into contact hard enough to reach the leaper, it matters none, a goner. Silly politicos; if only I could find a suitable ornament for my Jeep!!!

My car came sans side stripes. OTH, I almost bought a nice 88. Pristine, except for the badly dinged doors!! Dealer and I never agreed on the price.

Congrats on finding a really nice example. As a SOCAL car, rust is probably not present. Mine only has one teeny patch. It has not grown since I got the car in 2001 ! One of the most liked cars I have owned or driven since 46!!!

I chose B.F. Goodrich. A T rated touring tire. Plenty enough for me. Earlier, not so much. I used to love speed… 100 mph for long stretches, exhilerating!!!

Have a look at the belts and hoses. Age gets to them.

Water in the engine bay? not a great idea. corrosion of electrics a big issue.

Enjoy that great car…

Carl.

I can’t find the slightest hint of rust on the car. The main problem is the UV exposure on the interior. The leather is very dry, and the seams split in several spaces. Hopefully, the Leatherique will restore some suppleness. Then I’ll take it to the upholsterers to see if they can restitch the seams.

The side moldings are pretty degraded, as well:

All that exposure must have happened early on. The tires show absolutely no sign of drying or cracking. The PO moved to Singapore 10 years ago and his good friend had been storing it inside since then. That friend of the PO has been incredibly helpful; digging up old service records and he actually took the car in for AC service (Freon to R134 conversion) after I bought it before it was shipped, no charge to me.

The service records are quite complete. Just waiting on the one from the work that was performed a “year and a half to two years ago”. Same mechanic since January 1997. Jaguar dealers (Palm Beach Motor Cars and Jaguar of Thousand Oaks) from '88 - '94.

Aha!!! Thousand Oaks. It gets real hot in the summer there!!! , Decades ago, we lied about 20 miles east of there. Granada Hills, CA.

Way back when I bought a 56 VW beetle. it’s seats had split seams. A local upholstery shop, circa Sepulveda, Ca. Stitched them back. He told me the original thread was cotton. he used rayon. should last as log as the car…

Years before, my 50 Chevrolet had after market covers. The PO in Germany had fit them. Lousy ft!!! The shop down the street from my folks home in El Paso, Texas refit them, cut and stitched. Nicely done…

Covers were always added. Why to hide nice upholstery??? Me included?

Carl

My cars are just the opposite, Doug. My 1986 car cirrus grey,

built in July1985, was sold new by the dealer with side moldings, leaper, and incorrect (from the dealer!), rear window brake light. My 1987 crimson car was sold new in 1987 by an independent dealership with no leaper. Go figure… PS Don’t let the fake New Jersey number plate fool you. It was used in a TV movie several years ago…

Hey GT Joey, whereabouts from NY are you located? I now live in Southern California, but grew up in Queens, where my father resided till his passing five years ago. In 1991, we bought a near perfect rust free 1986 XJ6 here in Southern California and had it shipped to NY where he kept it in an indoor garage. I visited several times a year, during which time I enjoyed driving that car along Queens Boulevard and the BQE. As for your comment about tires, for years we used only Pirelli 21570R15 P400 and P4000, but several years ago, a club member suggested I go to Costco and purchase a set of Bridgestone 21570H15 for our '87 car on sale at the time. The ride is smoother, and at freeway speeds I actually get more than 20 MPG. Since I have no plns on driving over 118 MPH any time soon, I’m ok with the lower speed rating…

That as fine if you haven’t already done that once :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

Jay,

back in the 1960s and 1970s European car interiors were like Ford Ts used to be: black, black or black. During this period Jaguar stood out with wonderful color combinations (even more so quasi-handmade Daimlers). Unfortunately, mixes of different materials (leather, vinyl, fabric, wool, plastic) showed different signs of aging resulting in a whole bunch of similar colour tones - which may explain what you find in your cabin.

You can do a lot about leather with “patina” and the leatherique products will help you get an awful lot further. You should be able to fix the front seat side bolsters with a nice result. One thing the products can’t do, though, is restoring shrunk leather as it often occurs on the upper edge of the rear bench. As grey SIII interiors are still quite plentiful I’d recommend to start with a leatherique treatment - if anything else, your hands will get soft which your special someone will appreciate. If this doesn’t help - the Jaguar, that is - continue to check the bay for a good used interior. Maybe David Boger can help you out on the spot.

Wood typically suffers from lacquer delamination, giving a yellowish impression along the edges. On my car it was an easy job to remove the lacquer with a hot air gun, a blade and some care. Stain, put on new varnish, sand, new varnish, repeat …

As for tires: as long as you use the 15-year-old originals only on dry tarmac there shouldn’t be any particular risk, but beware of wet roads. They might feel much like slushy snow …

The bad thing about tires is that good original tires are pretty expensive and still different from what you’d expect for the price. Most modern tires are really van tires and built for a different setup than a low sports sedan. With our usual low mileages I wouldn’t look at typical wear anyhow. If you care for tire tests rather look at noise and braking dry and wet.

Enjoy the car - no rust and clean maintenance history is pretty much like winning a lottery these days.

Jochen

75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)

Hi,

Looks fantastic!

Cheers!

The bridgestones are just as good in todays world, I agree…
gtjoey1314

Nice to see the 7" lights on both and the contrast in slim bumpers (dark car) and bulky not-yet-pushed-back Federal (light car)

Actually, Peter, bumpers on both cars are the same US variety. Lighting in the photo of the crimson car gives the illusion of the bumper having been ‘pushed in’, but it is not, it’s the standard US thickness. 7 inch headlights and pepperpot wheels are both items I personally acquired over a period of time to give the cars the ‘look’ I wanted. Though you cannot see them in the photos, both cars also have the rear headrests which were fitted to Sovereign models abroad.

Hi Jay. Welcome to Jag Lovers. Lovely looking car. I like the colour. My first Jaguar was a 1990 silver XJ40.

I thought the great leaper debate had been settled a decade ago. Leapers were installed on North American S III’s and XJ40’s by the importer. After, on X 300’s and later, the leapers were factory installed on NA bound cars. The leaper on my X 300 and my two X Types was/is spring mounted. On the XJ40 it was bolted on. In short, on a NA spec car, the leaper is proper. Only in the nanny state lands, would anyone think the leaper was a safety issue. I have a suspiscion that who ever dreams these things up must be hitting the local brew to the point of hallucinations setting in.

Living in Portland, you have an independent Jag shop on the east side. I’ve driven down to Portland, in my Jaguar of the moment, many times for the All British Field Meet. When down there, I’ve made a practice of stopping in Hood River to see the Western Antique Auto and Air Museum. Love drooling over the lovely old cars and aircraft.

All my Jaguars have been daily drivers and have been very reliable. They are great traveling machines and will suck up the miles effortlessly.

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I did wonder but on a tiny old iPhone it’s tricky. I drilled the telescopic dampers on mine and pushed the bumpers in as lots of white waxy material pushed out. I pushed mine all the way in but I guess you could go half way and put a screw in the holes…There used to be a lister here called Alex Cannara who said he preferred the crash protection to the looks, which was a perfectly fair comment. I just thought if a crash was going to be so bad that the huge steel beams underneath the rubber were not enough protection, then so be it. Hopefully by the time that happened I’d have had years of visual pleasure to compensate. To each their own. The Euro rears had nice fog lamps in too. Plentiful and probably pretty cheap on eBay.co.uk.

Pete

**
The bumpers were fitted to comply with regulations, Peter - withstanding 5 mph ‘crash’ with no damage. In a bad crash it’s the driver’s restraint that protects you - up to a point. Damage to the car is unavoidable…:slight_smile:

Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
**

Jay, Just drive the car…FOX news will be on soon and they will forget about your leaper, bumpers and side strips. :slight_smile:Drive it till the wheels fall off!
Send pictures as the leaves turn…GO GO GO.
GTJOEY1314

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Welcome, bought my SIII just over 3 years ago and have logged about 15k on it. Yes it’s taken some work to get it up to snuff but once I got the belts and hoses sorted I haven’t had any breakdowns.
Also read up on stakedown kits for the tappet guides and get one immediately if you hear any ticking in the engine. I almost waited too long.
I’m at about 107k, engine runs perfectly.

Ps. I drive it foot down all the time. I just love hearing that 6-cyl roar

Any recommendations for a mechanic in the Portland-area? I’m looking at The Jag Shop (I’m guessing that’s who Grahame was talking about) and Consolidated Auto Works.

Finished up the Leatherique treatment. It did help soften up the leather quite a bit, I guess we’ll see what the upholsterer says about repairing the split seams. What’s the going rate for a second hand interior set? I checked out David Boger’s website. Seems like there’s quite a few Jaguar specialty parts dealers out there. I bought some replacement visors on eBay, and some side marker light gaskets. Looks like I’m waiting for door handle gaskets to come back in stock. Still trying to find some replacement fiber washers(?) that go behind the door locks.

Just got done sorting through all of the service records. The PO’s friend came through with the most recent records that weren’t with the vehicle.

Engine replaced at 24534 miles by Jaguar of Thousand Oaks.

“Customer states engine oil leak. Replaced engine Assembly as goodwill gesture. Customer to pay labor at reduced rate and gaskets and fluids.” 23 hours of labor in case you were curious.

Here’s how the miles have accumulated over the years:

10/07/2020 - 67129
11/15/2019 - 67090
04/09/2012 - 65902
05/11/2009 - 65000
06/13/2006 - 64631
04/04/2005 - 64150
10/31/2003 - 62533
11/25/2002 - 60239
11/15/2000 - 57114
10/27/1998 - 50231
05/27/1998 - 49000
01/11/1997 - 42798
08/15/1995 - 39990
12/06/1994 - 37272
07/06/1994 - 36491
03/31/1992 - 25822
01/15/1992 - 24534
12/16/1991 - 24030
03/22/1991 - 18952
12/18/1990 - 18113
06/12/1990 - 16379
07/10/1989 - 13061
09/14/1988 - 8850
08/15/1988 - 8543
03/18/1988 - 6583
10/08/1986 - 67 Original Sale Date

Craig at The Jag Shop has a good reputation. He has worked on a Ferrari, a Lambo, and an XJ220 for me. Good results each time. Tell him I sent ya ! :slight_smile:

Cheers
DD

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Hello Doug, can I please have Craig’s contact to have him answer some few question on my Jag for me?