What Mark Lee says, plus not only changing the coolant. If it has been standing around with same old for a long time, a radiator cleaning might do wonders.
A beautiful car indeed 
Love the color
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Thank you for the thorough response!
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I just want to make it perfectly clear: in absolutely no circumstance, should anything be sprayed over any old undercoating. You’re just inviting disaster.
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This is very true the most common source for bushes on a XJ is URO parts. I try to shy away from that brand because I’ve found the quality of their parts less than stellar. Living on the wrong side of the pond for sourcing Jaguar Parts, I grow impatient waiting for the bottle with my parts in it wash ashore. So yes, I have URO parts branded parts in my Jaguars - beggars can’t be choosers.
whiteline bushings were a great resource for soft poly bushings; but they’re not doing jag bushings anymore. So at some point in the not to distant future, I will go through their bushing catalog by dimension and source the proper soft poly bushing for the front suspension.
Mark,
you wrote the sunroof drains down the A and C pillars - can you tell exactly where are the holes to put the cable in to drain it?
Thanks,
Cene.
Cene,
The forward sunroof drain hoses empty out inboard of the front fenders (wings) roughly behind the Leaper badge in the area circled by red in the first picture. The only way to access that end of the drain hose is to remove the fender. The rear sunroof drain hoses empty out at the lower rear of the door frames where the hose end (circled in red in the second attached picture) is easily accessed.
Paul
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I see, thanks Paul!
Best, Cene
And you could add, Paul, that it provides for rusting in those areas…
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
Mine has a panel in the wheel well that allows access. The hose just drains into that cavity, then through the holes on the floor of that cavity. I could easily see how debris would clog those holes and trap water in there. I’d consider extending that hose to outside that cavity if I were to use the car in the rain.
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Alright here’s the full details. There is an old tar-based undercoating from one of the previous owners. I was considering the oil-based Krown undercoating for this season as the tar-based stuff is quite old. I was told the Krown would gradually deteriorate the tar-based undercoat, and expose the metal again… To me this sounded good. Long term, I’d love the tar-based undercoating gone as I worry about it cracking and moisture seeping in and then being trapped and hidden from view.
All that said, thoughts on the oil-based Krown application over and old tar-based? If that’s not the right approach, how can I alternatively add more protection to my underbody otherwise?
Don’t even consider it.
It is nearly impossible to apply new undercoat over old.
If there are corroded areas, it’s best to remove the rust and old, compromised undercoat, fo a spot repair, then recoat over virgin, clean metal.
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Second that, Paul - the old undercoat may hide a lot of rust, and the old coat will protect the rust. As a minimum, the old undercoat must be vigorously probed to ensure it is firmly attached - any rusted area will let go of the old coat…
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
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A pillar
there’s a long hose that runs down the a pillar to the front wing just before the door. Notice the rocker panel behind the fron wheels and the front wing has a pretty big gap. that’s not poor panel alignment, it’s where the water drains out from the two hoses that run down the a pillar. keep that clear. There’s an access panel that’s held on with a couple of bolts that provide access to clean the undesirables out. Also is is a great place for rust to take hold.
C pillar.
if you open the back door and look just under the door latch catch, there’s a hole, and hopefully it looks like a rubber grommet. That is the drain for the back corner(s) of the sun roof. the hose coming off the back of the sun roof, is attached to this 90 degree bend then out. Here’s the thing about the 90 degree bend. if you live some place where there’s foliage with needles, like pine or fir trees. These little buggers like to line up like little soldiers right at the 90 degree bend. Get enough and these will clog the drain causing water to back up, and over flow and soak the head liner.
though I haven’t experienced this personally, but if the rear sunroof drain hose becomes disconnected at the joint where the 90 degree grommet (for lack of a better term) meet. and left undetected. water willl pool, right above where the radius arm mounts to the chassis. AND RUST. This is a particuarly bad place for rust to form. This is very much an important component of the chassis. if the radius mount rusts out, then it’s pretty much bust out the welder and weld in new steal, or like most, it’s game over. there is a tell tail sign; and that is if there is any rust visible between the rear of the rear door opening and the front of the wheel arch.
The hose is accessible by taking the back seat out, and faffing about with it. If you need access to the top of the hose that’s attached to the sun roof, that’s a bit more of a faff. The head liner will have to be removed. To do it properly the front or rear windscreen glass will have to come out. My personal choice is the rear. The front windscreens are notorious for shattering. Ok, cracking - in jag terms same difference. it all equates to a really bad day. The headliner is attached to what looks like cardboard, which probably is considering the financial woes of Jaguar in the 80’s. Anyway, @Aristides has an excellent post about the sun roof, headliner. It’s a really good thread.
Sorry for the delay, I just noticed the post.
Sincerely,
Mark
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Mark, thank you for your input, too. i appreciate it.
Take care, Cene
what is the color code?