Sadly, I'm having to let my Jag go to a new owner...
This is a tax exempt 1976 Series 2 Jaguar with the 3.4 litre engine in old English white paint and a red cloth interior, auto box and power steering and brakes.
It has only had two owners from new, and I have the contact details of the original owners. In 1989 because of a failed fuel pump it was parked in a damp barn and that's where it stayed for the next 29 years. It still has the 89' tax disc in the window.
At this point a couple of local guys took it on as a project, paying £1800 for it, but after discovering the extent of the welding that it required, (the barn wasn't watertight) decided it was too much work for them and popped it on ebay instead of restoring it.
That's where I found it..... I won the auction for just £740!
As you'll see from the photos below, it was in pretty poor shape, but the door seals had held their integrity and the interior had been kept dry and preserved. When I first opened the door it smelt of old jag: not of wet dog! Even the headlining hasn't sagged
I was suspicions of the low mileage but every fastener and screw I've since undone has come off easily and has been complete with its star washers and factory nuts/bolts/fasteners. I'm 100% convinced that the mileage is accurate and this car hasn't been subject to any previous repairs or been taken to bits in the past. The interior is in period condition and everything works, including the AM/LW radio. You have to see it to believe it. I think time-warp is the expression that folks use. The drivers seat bolster looks exactly the same as the passenger seat's bolster and the only wear is, bizarrely and unusually, in the rear where there's a period set of fasteners for a child seat, and some kick-marks where there's been a child seat fitted in the 70's and (presumably) the first owner's child spend a lot of time in the back seat.
In the interest of 100% complete honesty, I saw this as a fun project that would teach me how to be a better welder than my current skill level which was at best: Beginner.
My expectations were that I'd complete the welding and perhaps have to do a few localised blow-in's on the paint and then be able to enjoy the car as a daily runaround, so I started by cutting out the rot that had set in on the outer sills. This task grew arms and legs and lead to me replacing the inner sills, the outer sills, the front floor pan sections, the front and rear valences, both full rear quarters, both rear jacking points, etc, etc... it became a much bigger job that I had anticipated. At least now I'm better with the Mig welder!
About half way though I decided to try to save some time on the front wings and instead of repairing the original wings I had a set of new fibreglass units made to order at great expense. I now regret that decision because I couldn't get them to fit very well and the panel gaps are a little off. I have a good friend who is a panel-beater by trade, who says he could have makde them fit a lot better, but of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing! The good news is that the wings wont ever rust, being GRP.
Because of the extent of the repairs, I felt I couldn't just blow-in the repaired panels and instead resprayed the whole car in the original colour of old English white. Again, in the interest of 100% complete honesty, I didn't manage to achieve a prefect job but as a daily driver, it's absolutely fine. The paint laid down fine and looks ok, but I can see small flaws in the prep beneath: Where I've welded on one of the rear quarters there's a short section where you can see where I've done it if you get super close to the panel. Most folks would never notice though and I'm probably being over critical. I painted it myself in my garage and there's one run in the paint that no one would see unless i pointed it out to you: If the prospective buyer can find it, I'll hand over a case of beer! hows that for a challenge? If I was keeping it, I'd have a panel beater or bodyshop adjust the panel gaps to make it look better in close-up photos.
Mechanically, I've replaced all the usual suspects: every rubber coupling and every UJ, balljoint , track rod end and droplink, rebuilt the handbrake calipers with new pads. Rebuilt all 4 brake calipers with new pistons and seals and new brake pads and discs. I rebuilt the brake master cylinder, filled the reservoir up with dot 5 fluid and bled the system. I dropped the back axle off the car, stripped it, replaced everything replaceable (including the shock dampers/absorbers) put it back together and bolted it back on using new mounts and bolts.
At the front I removed the radiator and flushed it (it was pretty clean inside and still had brightly coloured antifreeze with no sludge) I then pressure checked it before replacing it with new hoses. I've ditched the old brake lines and replaced all of them new Copper-Kunifer alloy pipes and new unions. I also dropped the pan from the auto box out of curiosity but it looked mint inside, so I just replaced it with fresh fluid. It shifts beautifully and the kick-down works fine.
I bought a new (old stock) exhaust system to replace the original corroded unit. It didn't come with the chrome exhaust tips so I made some out of some stainless steel tubing. They're just bolted on and easily removed if you wanted to go back to stock.
I fitted new plugs, points, condenser, coil, ballast resistor and dizzy cap, flushed the old oil, fitted a new filter and filled it with Castrol classic 20W-50 and it fired right up. I balanced the carbs but it had an intermittent problem with the idle which I suspect is the Auxiliary Enrichment Device playing up so I bought a manual choke conversion kit for it and fitted that instead.
I'm proud of the work I've done to save this car from the scrap heap. Realistically, I've done way too much work for what it's actually worth. I'm at the point now where I cant afford to throw any more money at it. If that wasn't the case, I'd treat it to a set of new bumpers (these are pitted with rust) and a set of period alloys
I'm not sure who will buy this car. Hopefully someone who sees the appeal of a 2 owner car with 9000 miles on the clock and with a valuable number plate. If I didn't need the money for another project I'd keep it, but regrettably I've massively overspent on it and I need to claw something back or I wont be able to finish my other project
It does come with the original steel wheels and tyres but they've been sitting in a barn since 89' and although they do hold pressure and have loads of tread on them, I wouldn't recommend using them as they have some cracks on the sidewalls.
This is a tax exempt 1976 Series 2 Jaguar with the 3.4 litre engine in old English white paint and a red cloth interior, auto box and power steering and brakes.
It has only had two owners from new, and I have the contact details of the original owners. In 1989 because of a failed fuel pump it was parked in a damp barn and that's where it stayed for the next 29 years. It still has the 89' tax disc in the window.
At this point a couple of local guys took it on as a project, paying £1800 for it, but after discovering the extent of the welding that it required, (the barn wasn't watertight) decided it was too much work for them and popped it on ebay instead of restoring it.
That's where I found it..... I won the auction for just £740!
As you'll see from the photos below, it was in pretty poor shape, but the door seals had held their integrity and the interior had been kept dry and preserved. When I first opened the door it smelt of old jag: not of wet dog! Even the headlining hasn't sagged
I was suspicions of the low mileage but every fastener and screw I've since undone has come off easily and has been complete with its star washers and factory nuts/bolts/fasteners. I'm 100% convinced that the mileage is accurate and this car hasn't been subject to any previous repairs or been taken to bits in the past. The interior is in period condition and everything works, including the AM/LW radio. You have to see it to believe it. I think time-warp is the expression that folks use. The drivers seat bolster looks exactly the same as the passenger seat's bolster and the only wear is, bizarrely and unusually, in the rear where there's a period set of fasteners for a child seat, and some kick-marks where there's been a child seat fitted in the 70's and (presumably) the first owner's child spend a lot of time in the back seat.
In the interest of 100% complete honesty, I saw this as a fun project that would teach me how to be a better welder than my current skill level which was at best: Beginner.
My expectations were that I'd complete the welding and perhaps have to do a few localised blow-in's on the paint and then be able to enjoy the car as a daily runaround, so I started by cutting out the rot that had set in on the outer sills. This task grew arms and legs and lead to me replacing the inner sills, the outer sills, the front floor pan sections, the front and rear valences, both full rear quarters, both rear jacking points, etc, etc... it became a much bigger job that I had anticipated. At least now I'm better with the Mig welder!
About half way though I decided to try to save some time on the front wings and instead of repairing the original wings I had a set of new fibreglass units made to order at great expense. I now regret that decision because I couldn't get them to fit very well and the panel gaps are a little off. I have a good friend who is a panel-beater by trade, who says he could have makde them fit a lot better, but of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing! The good news is that the wings wont ever rust, being GRP.
Because of the extent of the repairs, I felt I couldn't just blow-in the repaired panels and instead resprayed the whole car in the original colour of old English white. Again, in the interest of 100% complete honesty, I didn't manage to achieve a prefect job but as a daily driver, it's absolutely fine. The paint laid down fine and looks ok, but I can see small flaws in the prep beneath: Where I've welded on one of the rear quarters there's a short section where you can see where I've done it if you get super close to the panel. Most folks would never notice though and I'm probably being over critical. I painted it myself in my garage and there's one run in the paint that no one would see unless i pointed it out to you: If the prospective buyer can find it, I'll hand over a case of beer! hows that for a challenge? If I was keeping it, I'd have a panel beater or bodyshop adjust the panel gaps to make it look better in close-up photos.
Mechanically, I've replaced all the usual suspects: every rubber coupling and every UJ, balljoint , track rod end and droplink, rebuilt the handbrake calipers with new pads. Rebuilt all 4 brake calipers with new pistons and seals and new brake pads and discs. I rebuilt the brake master cylinder, filled the reservoir up with dot 5 fluid and bled the system. I dropped the back axle off the car, stripped it, replaced everything replaceable (including the shock dampers/absorbers) put it back together and bolted it back on using new mounts and bolts.
At the front I removed the radiator and flushed it (it was pretty clean inside and still had brightly coloured antifreeze with no sludge) I then pressure checked it before replacing it with new hoses. I've ditched the old brake lines and replaced all of them new Copper-Kunifer alloy pipes and new unions. I also dropped the pan from the auto box out of curiosity but it looked mint inside, so I just replaced it with fresh fluid. It shifts beautifully and the kick-down works fine.
I bought a new (old stock) exhaust system to replace the original corroded unit. It didn't come with the chrome exhaust tips so I made some out of some stainless steel tubing. They're just bolted on and easily removed if you wanted to go back to stock.
I fitted new plugs, points, condenser, coil, ballast resistor and dizzy cap, flushed the old oil, fitted a new filter and filled it with Castrol classic 20W-50 and it fired right up. I balanced the carbs but it had an intermittent problem with the idle which I suspect is the Auxiliary Enrichment Device playing up so I bought a manual choke conversion kit for it and fitted that instead.
I'm proud of the work I've done to save this car from the scrap heap. Realistically, I've done way too much work for what it's actually worth. I'm at the point now where I cant afford to throw any more money at it. If that wasn't the case, I'd treat it to a set of new bumpers (these are pitted with rust) and a set of period alloys
I'm not sure who will buy this car. Hopefully someone who sees the appeal of a 2 owner car with 9000 miles on the clock and with a valuable number plate. If I didn't need the money for another project I'd keep it, but regrettably I've massively overspent on it and I need to claw something back or I wont be able to finish my other project
It does come with the original steel wheels and tyres but they've been sitting in a barn since 89' and although they do hold pressure and have loads of tread on them, I wouldn't recommend using them as they have some cracks on the sidewalls.