New XJ6 owner, finally took the leap

XJ
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Hello, everyone. I’ve admired the SIII Xj6s ever since they came out, and today I finally parked one in my garage. I’m hoping to learn a lot from everyone here, and I’m sure I’ll need to lean on y’all a little to get this cat to where I want it to be.

I’m in Albuquerque, the car just arrived this morning from Spokane, WA. It’s a Chevy conversion (350, not sure about the tranny yet, probably TH350), and it runs and drives well, quietly and smoothly (or, at least, it did for the ten minutes I drove it around the neighborhood.) Although this setup probably isn’t to the taste of everyone on the board, the car was cheap and does have some rust, particularly around the windshield molding, along with some interior issues. It also has a whopping one window that is responding to it’s switches, and although the blower motor is working great, I don’t seem to have heat in response to either the dial or the slider (not sure what that’s supposed to do just yet…), and I’m sure I’ll find more issues as I get into it. I’m not looking at this as a restoration candidate – it’s going to be a (daily?) driver, and it’s going to live outside, so it’s actually in the condition I was hoping/expecting it to be.

This is my first British car, although not my first time working on one. My taste, otherwise, is orphan American cars from the early '50’s – I have a '53 Kaiser Manhattan, '52 Nash Ambassador, and '51 Hudson Commodore, all running and driving, none of them perfect. Consequentially, I’m really pleased at the parts availability for the XJ6, and expect to get to know some of the vendors in the next few months as I work to get this cat acclimated and back on the road.

I thank you all in advance for patience with me as I learn about this curious car, and forgive my blasphemy if I ever compare it unfavorably to cars that are more than a generation older. I’ve been lurking a little on this board since I decided to take the plunge and it seems like a very knowledgeable and active community, and I’m excited to finally join your ranks.

2 Likes
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Welcome aboard. Most here have accepted me and my kind. GM power. Known as lumps. There is a forum here for us. Sparse lately!

You might fid that the jaguar is more like your older USA cars than you think!

From the old days, I am familiar with the Hudson and the Nash. The Kaiser only slightly. Although, I did participate in the rebuild of the Continental engine in one!!

Is the V8 a carburator engine or the more sophisticated fuel injected version?

If the transmission has three forward, it is likely the popular old tech 350. if it has OD as well, a 700R or later… What year is the car?

Pictures are easy to post here, and we delight in them.

CAVEAT: The interiors of these cars do not take kindly to hot sun!!

Fixing the windows is a good start for a small victory. Remove clean and lubricate. Jaguar mantra applies here.

Tools:

Two small pans.
flat blade screw driver
Pozi driver, small

Process:

Remove the lid from the center rest. Known as the cubby.

Remove the lid over the shift lever. Known as the ski slope. Put all the small screws in pan .
Slip the four rockers out of their slots. Keep in order, or mark. Lf, rf, lr, rr.

Remove the connectors.

Take the switches to the bench with one driver.
Work over pan 2. Teeny parts can be easily lost.

Depress the rocker from the pivot on the side of a switch. Now, you can remove it and expose the inner workings. Clean the contacts. a dab of dielectric at your discretion.

In Jaguar manual language. assemble in reverse to the diassembly…

Almost universal cure…

Carl

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Welcome and congratulations on your purchase. I have a Series 1 I’m doing a rolling restoration on, but regardless of the Series, they are wonderful cars. Sorting them out is just part of the enjoyment. Then drive with a big smile on your face.

Jeff H

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Actually, pull the female clip of the cubby, remove the one screw in the top of the ski slope and pry out the 5th switch first. It fouls the frame.

The slider does NOTHING. It slightly biases warmth to the feet. Everyone has it set to the right.
The S3s are beautiful cars, and drive great when pushed too. Enjoy!

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My cubby is missing the female clip. Seems to matter little

Some time ago, Doug explained the slider as a trimmer. Mine has been full red for years. I never charged my AC!!!

Carl

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Hi John, welcome to the Jag group, if you have any questions
or comments your always welcome, this is a nice group, have
been a member since about 96,when I had an XKe.
Maybe we can get together about anything, and I also live in
Albuquerque.
Walter

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It always fails. They’re the same as in some dryers, just black. Still in use today… ie the MX 5. They give the cubby a very satisfying feel when closed. The replacement was much more of an improvement than I would have thought! Not existential of course.
Absolutely correct about the trimmer nature of the little slider and it being set to the red. No AC function either… but not as hot here!!

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Thanks for the warm welcome! After futzing with it a bit, I’ve got the windows working (we’ll see whether or not that’s a consistent thing), and I’m pleased to report that these window switches work on the same principle as those in a 1971 Lincoln Continental, except that they’re far better designed and easier to clean!

If any of you ever get the chance to clean window switches on a Lincoln of that era, I strongly recommend that you pass that opportunity up. You’ll die happier.

To answer Carl’s questions, I do believe I’ve got a Rochester Q-Jet on this thing, although I might be mistaken on that (I’ll do more research), and I’m guessing that it’s a TH350 trans, I only felt 2 shifts (and they were quite nice!) but didn’t get it going all that fast, so O/D is still possible, I suppose. The car is a 1986, and given the mildew on the wood next to the shifter, I’m guessing these interiors aren’t really wild about the wet, either!

According to the speedometer I haven’t yet gotten the car above 30 mph, but those must be Imperial miles as I’m quite sure I was doing 40 (yes, I’m joking). The tach seems to be in the vicinity of accurate, if a somewhat unreliable narrator, and I’m guessing that the sending unit in this Chebby is not quite calibrated to the gauge, which settled at around 100 C but the radiator and upper hose didn’t feel that hot to the touch – I’ll confirm this week with an infrared thermometer.

Walter, I would definitely be interested in meeting up at some point, nice to see that I’m not the only person in town on this board!

For everyone else, I appreciate the responses and kind words. I will post pics at some point, although the car isn’t going to win any beauty contests. But I’m quite smitten with it thus far, so can’t beat that!

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The electronic tach if a 1986 should be accurate in itself, but who knows about the transducer.
Make sure the thermostat is opening if the radiator is cold while the dial shows hot!
There is a not very active #lumps list for the converted cars you will want to check out.
Oh, and welcome.
David

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Thank you, David. The hose and radiator were hot, just not as hot as I normally experience with a car at close to 100 C, so I’m currently thinking it’s a matter of calibration – either the gauge or my hand! Also, the temp rose to a point and stopped, so thermostat appears to be doing something. I’ll check out the lumps list and see if there are any tips there as well.

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**
The infrared thermometer will put you wise, John …:slight_smile:

As an aside; an extra sign of a functioning thermostat is that the engine will reach operating temp in some 5 minutes of driving. Taking more than marginally longer it is suspect…

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

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I’m thinking that the thermostat failed more closed than open so not enough goes through the radiator (or something is clogged). But it’s just a possibility to keep in mind, even less probable when temperatures stabilize. Good news, the sender is cheap.

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John:

  1. Not sure if the temperature sensor in the SBC is compatible with the Jaguar guage. It may take an adapter to fit a Jaguar sensor in the SBC.

  2. It did take an adapter to fit the Jaguar oil pressure sensor to the GM engine block.

  3. A modification is needed to match the tach and the GM pulse. Eight for six.

  4. Might need to climb under and see if the transmission has an electric transducer for the speedo. If so, it will take an electonic adapter to match. O’wise the speed will read off a bit.

  5. While down under, do some preventative maintenance. Find the braided ground strap. On the right side at the point that the transmission joins the engine. Removes, clean and lube. Saves you from many electric gremlins… PO may have fixed that with ground from batter - direct to the engine block!!

Kudos on the widow switch victory!!! I think we had a 71 Lincoln around here for a short spell.
A disgruntled guy gave it to my son. Got tired of the Cranking issues. Worn linkage to the neutral start switch fixed. cranked fine, ran fine.

Carl

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That’s funny, Carl – I also had to replace the neutral safety switch on my '71. Cranked fine but started seeing smoke rising from the steering column while cranking!! I had forgotten about that…

To everyone else, thanks again for all the replies. After a little more investigation, I do believe that my thermostat is working and is set at somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 F (Chevy engine so using freedom units instead of centigrade), engine temp rises consistently to thereabouts and then stays around there at idle in the driveway. Will need to drive more to see if cooling system is working otherwise.

And I’m taking a deep dive into the various threads on cabin heating/cooling, starting to diagnose why I don’t have heat (even when engine is confirmed fully warm). I’ll try to glean as much as I can from previous questions/answers, but one quick question I have for y’all: my setup, despite being non-standard, retains the heater control valve coming from the manifold with a vacuum tube (looks like GM used them in the early '70’s), as well as the stock heater control valve on the firewall. My heater hoses are not getting as hot as my radiator hoses – warm to the touch, but not hot – but from what I’ve read it looks like both of these heater control valves are default open, allowing coolant to flow through, right? If that’s the case, they would also tend to fail in the open position, wouldn’t they? My firewall heater control valve seems to be seized – I can’t move the arm with my finger and there’s plenty of corrosion there – but if I’m understanding right that shouldn’t impede the flow of coolant. Am I missing something?

And, yes, it blows out the center vent when turned to auto and 85 (more freedom units!), so I probably have issues on the control side as well, but I thought I’d make sure there was hot coolant first.

Thanks again to everyone, this forum has already been stunningly helpful!

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**
The model year is essential, John - it tells which type of set-up you have; to pursue cabin heat/cool is otherwise futile…:slight_smile:

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

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Wow, thought I had provided that in my initial post, but I sure didn’t! 1986 car, Chevy motor of unknown provenance.

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John:

Fahreheit in USA Celcius in the rest of the world/ Freedom? centigrade? 180 F is about right for that “early” SBC.

Good thing you are not in CA. Subbing a carb engine in an EFI car will not pass the SMOG inspector.

It seems that you have the original heater valve in the engine bay. If the pin is stuck, it is not working! Mine has a replacement all plastic sans pin unit. Works perfectly. Feels good nowadays around here. A bit “chilly”. I changed the valving a bit. That detail for another day///

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John.

Look around the block for a number. On line might ID the engine. Or a picture in the Lump list as well as here, and we might get you close.

But, there has been so much mix and match, that the exterior may not reflect the interior.

Best guess, mid 70’s 350 CI! .

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Hi, Carl. Thanks again for the response. Yeah, my friends and I call units we use domestically that are not commonly used elsewhere “freedom” units, just poking a little fun at ourselves. As for passing emissions, this '86 cannot be registered in my county of residence… until January 1st, when it becomes 35 years old and emissions exempt (me buying this car at this time is not a coincidence). I am currently pulling apart my cooling system, have verified that the heater control valve on the SBC is open with no vacuum attached (by blowing through it), so I’m capping the line that was going to it and am about to go pick up the plastic valve from my local parts store to replace the original Jag unit on the firewall. Also noticed today that my coolant reservoir is plugged somehow, not allowing coolant in or out (noticed b/c my upper radiator hose was collapsed from vacuum!), so I’ll be mounting an aftermarket reservoir. Possibly, hopefully, with upgrades to this system I’ll have heat, but I’ve also spoken with Gary at Jag-aire this morning about maybe going to his manual control system if this doesn’t fix it – given that I don’t plan on fixing the A/C, I’m not sure that the automatic control system is going to work as planned anyway.

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Yeah, I’m also guessing mid '70’s engine. I believe it was installed used, and the heater control valve on it has probably never been removed and tracks to that era. Also, doesn’t seem to make much power, but it’s smooth, not leaking or smoking and makes decent oil pressure, so it’s a keeper!