I bought a JAAAAAAAAAAG! 1995 Jaguar XJR worklog and swear bucket.

And this one didn't catch on fire! Know why? Because it's a JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG



Here we see the Jaguar in its native habitat, the watering hole.







Like all 25 year old British cars it needs love. The sunroof doesn't work, the radio is dodgy, the speakers are blown, the transmission or rear end makes a sound like rumble strips if you stand on it in 1st and into 2nd, the valve cover gasket leaks, the tires are 8 years old, the alternator doesn't charge the battery at idle, the brakes are done but what does work is that Eaton M90 supercharger and it goes like hell for something that weighs as much as a bus. At 120 you can hold the wheel with one hand and read the paper. It'sa proper Jaaaaagg, equipped with the 4.0L AJ16 Jaguar engine and not the Ford V8. Jeremy Clarkson loved it so much he had two of them and at least one was black. I bought it in Texas and shot Playboy models on my friends boat on my first day of ownership.

You'll see more of it here in a couple weeks.

jdogg said:

 I bought it in Texas and shot Playboy models on my friends boat on my first day of ownership.

Pics or it didn't happen 

Love those XJR's. Looking forward to learn how you like living with one. 

This one should be safe.



It definitely gets you noticed on the road and in parking lots, it has perfect classy proportions. It's almost like a restomod of the original XJ from the 70s without all of the 70s British Leyland QC issues.

Nice car! And yes you are right they love the watering hole. 

Oh, you meant shot *pictures of*...  for a minute I thought "well, that's not something I'd put in writing."

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Lol I'm a photographer, shot her in medium format film too.

In reply to jdogg :

Leopard skin for the win!

In reply to jdogg :

Oh you weren't kidding about the models, haha. I just thought it was a Jag Joke. These XJRs seem so cool with the supercharged straight-six.

It really is the business on the freeway. I should have bought one when they were 2000 dollars.

In reply to jdogg :

Great score on a really nice looking Jaaag.  I like those wheels, they really work on your car.

I've been daily driving my own XJR for about a year and a half now.  Wonderful cars,  mines the V-8 variety that you may have seen on here in the "Oh DEER" thread

You're right about one thing, people (even non-car folks) Love the Jag.  SOOOOO many people comment on the classic looks.

That is the one thing I have decided on, I'm keeping these wheels. They are very XJ220-ish and they look good on the car. I did see that Jag in the Oh DEER thread, nice score but I wanted the original Jag straight six engine, even if it's down 50hp from the X308 XJR.

The X300 doesn't convert the rear tires to smoke as easy as the X308 but with a little liquid encouragement (not the kind you drink) it will make nice billowy smoke clouds. Mine is a daily driver though while my other GRM project comes together for the big leagues. You made out on that XJR for sure.

are you going to buy any parts for it from 'JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGGSS'?

if you've ever been put on hold while talking to a jegs csr you would understand

In reply to Dieselboss15 :

LOL hell no. I drive semi truck in the Southeast which means I get to walk into Summit in McDonough GA and get what I need. I bought most of the oil cooler and power steering cooler parts for the Panda Express from that store and the service reps on site actually helped me mock up the whole thing on their service counter with the Probe-specific parts I bought in. I should have got a pic it was burgeoning over into the next reps desk lol but it worked.

jdogg said:

In reply to Dieselboss15 :

LOL hell no. I drive semi truck in the Southeast which means I get to walk into Summit in McDonough GA and get what I need. I bought most of the oil cooler and power steering cooler parts for the Panda Express from that store and the service reps on site actually helped me mock up the whole thing on their service counter with the Probe-specific parts I bought in. I should have got a pic it was burgeoning over into the next reps desk lol but it worked.

wow nice. the thing i hate most going into auto parts stores is getting cashiers that know nothing about cars. you don't see it often anymore but it still bothers me lol.

Parts fairy arrived for this beast. New alternator, valve cover gasket kit, and there's an XJ6 nearby I can ravage for parts.

I'm just seeing this thread now.

So you're a truck driver who sometimes shoots portraits on a Texas Leica?  Is this a paid side gig?

Not quite a Texas Leica but yeah. Doesn't always pay, it's for fun mostly.

Ah, you're right, that's a different model.  Very well rounded individual.

I try to be, there's no excuse for not being properly educated in 2021.

Managed to score some time on my friend's lift to do it all and likely ill do the suspension on the Panda Express there as well.

After a modest drink at the watering hole, here we see the Jaguar (Panthera expensivus) in its other native habitat, the shop lift.



Jaguar, turning owners into mechanics since 1922



The alternator they sent me is for an XJ6 which uses a larger pulley and has to be manhandled to get into its mount on the bottom of the engine. You have to drop something called an alternator suppressor and then move this other hose called an octopus (more on that later) to get enough room to get the alternator in and out. I of course found out about that after putting it in with the wrong pulley and getting everything tightened down. Also, this car has both metric AND imperial bolts and nuts on it.

I figured, a straight 6 with a long hood means tons of room to work on it right? Dead wrong, this is a job I can do on my FWD Ford Probe GT V6 with huge DOHC cylinder heads in about 10 minutes.



Now for the REAL fun part. It has a serious valve cover gasket leak and the whole bottom of the car is coated in oil, so I guess I'll never have to worry about rust. The rear transmission mount is completely disintegrated, I can lift the back of the trans up and down about 4 inches. That's probably not good. It has now developed a check engine light but I have a diagnostics laptop that can pull the code and tell me whats wrong. The rear diff has a small seep, par for the course for a 25 year old car.

The next round of maintenance will be oil change, VCG, rear trans mount, supercharger oil change and whatever is wrong with the CEL. If you're going to buy a money pit, buy one that looks good and has a big ass blower on the side of it.

jdogg said:

... this other hose called an octopus ...

This just brought back a long repressed memory of a leaky connector on the octopus hose on my V8. It's a several hundred dollar, multi-arm hose assembly that seems like it was designed by the guy who normally designs the engine wiring harness - it went everywhere in the engine bay. Fortunately the leaky quick connect fitting was easily replaced with a union and some hose clamps.

Lots of truth here.... British cars do this as a self -preservation, as long as they are leaking, that part of the car does not rust. 

Now for the REAL fun part. It has a serious valve cover gasket leak and the whole bottom of the car is coated in oil, so I guess I'll never have to worry about rust. The rear transmission mount is completely disintegrated, I can lift the back of the trans up and down about 4 inches. That's probably not good. It has now developed a check engine light but I have a diagnostics laptop that can pull the code and tell me whats wrong. The rear diff has a small seep, par for the course for a 25 year old car.

The next round of maintenance will be oil change, VCG, rear trans mount, supercharger oil change and whatever is wrong with the CEL. If you're going to buy a money pit, buy one that looks good and has a big ass blower on the side of it.

Honestly though, that vintage XJR wasn't that bad.  Motor is solid, not a lot to go wrong with it.  Standard euro car stuff.  Trans is GM 4l80E nothing special there.  Outboard brakes, all the sweet XJ looks and feels inside with what I thought was some of the better electronics and setup.  Always loves those beasts.  The harmonic balancer though I do know costs 1g

Yup and that balancer is known to go bad on these cars.