James Bondo - the Jaguar that politely sneers in the face of destruction

Build thread (ish)!

Road trip to pick up the 2000 Jaguar XK8 from PimpM3 is documented here

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/rent-and-drive-ready-for-the-morning/175975/page1/

As a reminder, from a distance it looks lovely

But it has the interesting distinction of having used two lives so far.

The first brought it to PimpM3.  No pictures yet but a left rear impact that led it to a CoPart auction.  The second was hurricane damage the took the windshield and damaged the left front fender (repaired, albeit with some less than stellar paint prep) and some wrinkles of distinction in the hood.

First up, a good thorough cleaning and then building the triage list of things to do.  Will be a Covid-WFH-DD so nothing too crazy planned.  Tensioners and fuel pump already done so hopefully it will be as reliable as a 20 year old Jaguar can be.  It's already shown signs of being a little crazy.

First part of cleaning, take it apart and see what's there.  

We have a spark plug shoved into a tube back near the fuel tank/spare tire well.  No idea.

Some random unconnected wires near the battery

And a trunk floor that turns out to be a piece of chip board covered with Amazon box covered with black felt.  I wonder if PimpM3 will own this masterpiece?  :-)

If that's all of the surprises I find I will consider this a major win!

I hate to admit it but the abomination that is the trunk floor was my creation.  The car was missing its trunk floor when I purchased it.  I made the current one out of some scrap I had laying around and some cheap carpet.

I have no idea about the spark plug.  It is both frightening and appalling at the same time.  Kind of like the jags electrical gremlins.

Here is the oldest picture on my phone of the jaguar.  We took it on the ferry on a trip to fernandina.  This was pre hurricane damage.

Poor jag.  Stupid hurricane!

Despite her many issues she was an awesome ride for $2300.00.  I am glad she went to a good home!

I was just giving you a hard time about the trunk floor.  It was good enough to look legit until I took it out.  When the carpet lifted and you could still see the Amazon tape applied to the cardboard was the best part.

It brought us back home alive and on four wheels.  Trip total and the extra driving is 300 miles so far.  We're very happy with it and glad we got to visit for a little bit.

It was good talking with you guys as well.  I can't wait to see you restore her to her former glory.

The car was very clean (and freshly washed!) when we picked it up.  First step is always a bonding session for SWMBO.  First thing on Day 1 she was out there in attack mode.

Top was scrubbed and Raggtop protected, seats were bathed in Elephant Wax.  They completely soaked up the first application so a second was applied and then just let it sit without trying to wipe any off.  By Monday night all of this shine was gone as it too soaked in.  Headliner was scrubbed - still needs some work but looking a lot brighter.  Carpets powdered, scrubbed, and vacuumed.  A lot of the "20 year old convertible in Florida" mustiness that I can't smell but she can is now gone.

Now the real work begins.  The list, sure to grow

1. Right wiper

2. Reassemble wiper stalk (end cap and some piece fell out during the cleaning)

3. Reprogram key fob

4. Get the lighter working

5. Reinstall the dome light console and see if the Homelink still works

6. Fix the glove box latch

7.  Oil change just because it's been a while

8. O2 sensor

9. LF wheel speed sensor if it doesn't heal itself soon

10. Bleed brakes to get rid of some of the initial travel

11. top hydraulic lines 

I forgot until I looked now that you can see the wiper stalk parts sitting in the tray under the radio :-)

Have you done a burn out yet?

I tried but it crept forward and I think the traction control decided to wake up at that moment.  I'll make it happen.

Jag life 

Don't worry, give it a couple minutes and half will self-extinguish.  But will they return?  A mystery only Lucas himself knows....

Came here just to say James Bondo is by far the best car name I've ever heard.  Too funny!

"Fix the cigarette lighter" - Jake Blues

In reply to glueguy (Forum Supporter) :

Hey, Lucas lamps that actually illuminate, what a concept.

In reply to glueguy (Forum Supporter) :

In for the Lucas refrigerator / warm beer jokes.   That is a beautiful car, good luck getting it sorted.  You are a brave, brave man!

TurnerX19 said:

In reply to glueguy (Forum Supporter) :

Hey, Lucas lamps that actually illuminate, what a concept.

I think it's showing its inner Volkswagen.

LKQ score! Too hot and sweaty to detail at the moment. 
 

Is that a 3 gauge pod replacement for the Bobo navigation system i see poking out?

I hit the LKQ Jackpot.  I hadn't been searching for XK8 parts much beyond FB Marketplace and CL.  I checked my local LKQ inventories and what do you know, a 98 XK8 placed on the lot two days prior.  I grabbed a toolbox and headed out assuming the worst.  When I got there, the headlights, bumper and top pump and latch were gone, but everything else was untouched, and it was the matching interior color code.  It had an oil change sticker showing it was due 9/1 at 137k.  I assume timing chain tensioners broke and it was scrapped, but it was the nicest car I've ever seen at a pick-your-own lot.  The top was in excellent condition, the leather seats were almost completely without cracks and tears, etc.  The hood was missing clearcoat, but the rest of the body was dent free and mostly shiny.

There was no trunk floor so I'll keep rocking the homemade one for a while longer.  All told I spent $118 before taxes and environmental fee.

cowl piece under the wipers to replace the one cracked by the tree: $11

wiper regulator, all arms and motor:  $15 - I was going to dig into this to be prepared to fix the unattached right wiper and figured I would learn on this car.  Once the trim piece was removed, 4 bolts and a connector had the entire assemble out in about 5 minutes.  No matter what I find I now have an entire replacement for $15.  Oh, and the wiper arms were so nice I took those too in case they are worth swapping, $12

glove box to replace the broken latch, $15

armrest with fully intact leather to replace the current one with cracks right at the elbow, $7

A pillars to recover and swap in, and two door edge felts - I couldn't remember the condition of mine, and these were mint, $16 for all (4 @ $4)

I snagged the three gauge cluster to replace the broken nav unit, $27

the wood dash - it's real wood here.  Unfortunately the passenger side airbag cover was very cracked.  Every other piece was perfect.  I got the center to match the gauge cutouts, the speedo bezel, and both AC vents.  The set (including the airbag piece) sells on eBay, etc. for $300-500.  LKQ price for the entire set - $9

cigarette lighter/12V port to replace the corroded one, $6 

The only thing I didn't do was get down under the back to see if it too has a spare spark plug or what the line actually do.  I still may go back planning to get under it still.

In reply to glueguy (Forum Supporter) :

SCORE !!! 

Started to tackle projects:

1.  Worn front strut bushings.  Common failure on XK8.  Thanks to LKQ I enacted a temporary fix!

I promise I'll fix these for real....later.

The right side wiper was inoperable, dating back to the hurricane tree.  Took the cowl panel off and found a good piece of the original windshield still sitting there

Found the linkage popped off its socket

Replaced the cowl trim with one from the LKQ trip.  It didn't have the cracked vent piece.  I also used the two arms from the donor car since they were marginally better.  

Next I took a wire brush attachment on a Dremel and cleaned out the corrosion in the lighter port and got it to work without needing a replacement.  That will allow phone charging and more music choices via plug-in FM modulator bridge.

Awesome score on the junkyard jag!

I've done a bunch of work so far and have been taking picture but not updating.  So let's get back to it.

Car came with the optional navigation.  This included no disc in the trunk unit, some screen damage, and no functionality.  It glowed a sad, dim orange when powered on.  Thanks to the LKQ score I got the base, and much more desirable classic style three gauge pod.  The wood is a different color but not as bad as this picture looks.  I have the matching driver piece but the airbag cover was a cracked mess in the donor car, so one will be a different wood no matter what I do.

There is a company that supplies a wiring kit to make these functional.  I'll get to that at some point.