Vince's XM...213k and slowing....

[Citroenmad]

Even professional detailers started somewhere ...

I have no idea where i would even find a good detailer around here, when our cars have been machined polished in the past it looks like a fine sandpaper has been used, not a polishing pad. Full of deep swirls which make the car look unsightly. Body shops are by far the worst for doing this.

Sure there are valeting places around here, but most are attached to a hand car wash which use gritty sponges etc. There are mobile ones ive seen but they dont appear to actually use a hose pipe, as they clean them in carparks.

There is good money in detailing, so i believe, especially if your good and get know.

PM'd

[vince]

Cheers Chris,

teh main pitfall with swirls is going in gung ho and thinking the paint will just take it... often it wont

Start with the finest cut pad and polish combo and work slowly, speeding up and going with a deeper cut if necessary. Often you find you dont need that much on it if the car is kept regularily clean.

I did a car once with a wool mop (heavy cut) and T Cut as nothing would touch it...it cut through most of the crap and then refined it upwards..kind of in reverse but it was worse than anything most people have ever seen and ended up being sold the next day by the owner for the full asking price and no quibble at around £500 above market value

[vince]

Its glorious outside A weekend off and the weather is great, Ive cleaned out the Xantia interior this morning and fitted my new replacement spoiler which is in good shape, and the car is ready for a trip somewhere....

Im going to take Jack out to the park he likes in a little village called uppermill....be a nice drive out for the Xantia....and me of course

[vince]

Well...another job finally done

For literally over a year ive been meaning to get round to replacing my side rubbing strips on both front doors as the strips that hold the clips on on the rear faces had rusted and twisted the trims so they didnt sit flat against the door....Annoying to say the least.

The problem i had was that mine had good chrome strips and replacements didnt...that plus they werent for TD so had the wrong badges on them....but then.....

A visit to my local Citroen Indy Paris Autos in Stockport turned up a replacement set for a mere £5. The chrome was shot but a couple of minutes of messing around discovered that the chrome strips are easily changed over and the badges also pop out too....10 minutes a side and the new trims are in place looking good....result

[vince]

Someone needs to cure the curse of the bank holiday weekend.

The car has been faultless for literally months and is in fine fettle overall. Ive spent all week cleaning it up ready for a visit to my dads next weekend for his wedding. Today for no reason at all, the weather is blazing and the rad fans wont come on Ive checked the fuse and the switch on the rad thermo switch and they are ok. So its going to be off with the grill to check the relays and if ive got one on the shelf ill change the rad thermo switch aswell to rule it out. If that doesnt show anything i'll be stumped. Im sure its a connection problem somewhere but trying to follow the wiring to an earth point seems impossible......and im hopeless with electrics.

I have little patience for non sensicle faults...ie you dont drive a car for a week and whilst parked up doing nothing it develops a fault all on its own.

I dont mind breaking stuff by accident or abusing a car and it throws a wobbler on you as you kind of deserve it but i treat this thing like a baby when i use it and give it time and affection....then it rebels anyway

Damn cars....who in their right mind would have one.

Rant over

[vince]

Well just been at it and come up with nothing.

Checked all fuses relating to the fans, all good. Removed the grill and removed and checked the 3 relays between the fans...all very clean and good contacts. Couldnt see any breaks in wiring so ill change the thermo switch over and if that doesnt do it then ill have to book it into the garage next door to work and get them to check it over.

[CitroJim]

Vince,

Sorry I was very preoccupied last evening with an AC Cobra kit car

The thermoswitch is far and away the most likely culprit. Known to fail very frequently. In all the cars I've had with them, most have been failing or failed...

[vince]

Nice one Jim, been out today to a stately home/park with the family. On entry to the park stuck in the queue of traffic the needle got up to around 105 degrees At that point i started to knock the engine off everytime we stopped in traffic so it didnt boil. I hate cooling issues.

I will try to get a switch tomorrow whilst at work (yes im working) and see how i get on.

AC Cobra kit car....I have a tremendous weak spot for them....they sound glorious and look the part when done properly. Was it on halibrand replica wheels and running a V8? Chevy small block? Who's is it Jim?

[lexi]

Great fun the Cobra replica with V8........until you get a shower of rain.

Then you best alter your driving style to "old woman" mode

[DickieG]

AC Cobra kit car....I have a tremendous weak spot for them....they sound glorious and look the part when done properly. Was it on halibrand replica wheels and running a V8? Chevy small block? Who's is it Jim?

I built a Dax one a few years ago and put a Jaguar 5.3 litre V12 with a manual box from a very early XJS in mine, it went rather well and sounded rather plesant as I put sidepipes on it which didn't do very much in the way of silencing. Having sidepipes allowed the car to sit much lower without the risk of grounding but the noise could become rather deafening on long runs so I used to put and earplug just in my right ear I fitted Halibrands as well but didn't bother with wet weather gear as due to the shape of the car its all but impossible to completely stop water running into the car so simply avoid going out when its raining.

Handling was OK as it was Jaguar suspension but even with a limited slip diff using a racing oil to stiffen the diff further it would still spin both rear wheels and fishtail up the road in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears even without dropping the clutch. I fitted the HE variant of the V12 engine but used the shorter ratio diff (2.88 rather than the HE 3.07) as it allowed greater acceleration.

The most important thing when choosing a Cobra replica is to ensure its Jaguar and not Cortina based like the Pilgrim version, Dax, Sourthern Roadcraft and LR Rams were the best choices when I built mine.

[CitroJim]

AC Cobra kit car....I have a tremendous weak spot for them....they sound glorious and look the part when done properly. Was it on halibrand replica wheels and running a V8? Chevy small block? Who's is it Jim?

It's only partially built yet, the tub is still in primer and has yet to meet the chassis. I believe it's Jag-based suspension-wise but it'll only have a Rover V8 in it, albeit fuel injected. A Jag V12 like in your Dax Richard, would have been much more fun....

Can't imagine a Cortina based one. If ever there was a case of spoiling the shop for a ha'peth of tar...

The task of the evening was a trial fit of the engine and gearbox and to mark up where the gearbox crossmember should go. However the Jag diff was unavailable so the job couldn't be completed. It looks though, as if it will have a propshaft about a foot long

This particular Cobra replica is going to have something very special and possibly unique (for a Cobra that is) in the suspension/braking department... For now though I'm afraid I must say no more, I'm sworn to secrecy.

The Cobra is owned by a friend of a forum member...

It's rather interesting to see a car in the process of being built. Quite a contrast to the following day's work - breaking a car!!!

[Chris570]

AC Cobra kit car....I have a tremendous weak spot for them....they sound glorious and look the part when done properly. Was it on halibrand replica wheels and running a V8? Chevy small block? Who's is it Jim?

This particular Cobra replica is going to have something very special and possibly unique (for a Cobra that is) in the suspension/braking department... For now though I'm afraid I must say no more, I'm sworn to secrecy.

The Cobra is owned by a friend of a forum member...

It's rather interesting to see a car in the process of being built. Quite a contrast to the following day's work - breaking a car!!!

Expect to see a picture and explanation in the next month or so

[red_dwarfers]

This particular Cobra replica is going to have something very special and possibly unique (for a Cobra that is) in the suspension/braking department...

Has anyone been breaking a hydractive Xantia/XM recently?

[DickieG]

I believe it's Jag-based suspension-wise but it'll only have a Rover V8 in it, albeit fuel injected. A Jag V12 like in your Dax Richard, would have been much more fun....

I did explore the Rover V8 route and took a couple of test drives but the performance felt rather flat compared with a V12 or a decent American V8 as I feel a Cobra needs at least 300 bhp to live up to expectations, also the firing order of the Rover V8 is different from other V8's causing the engine to have a very different note which to be honest was rather flat after listening to Chevy or Ford V8's. The Rover route is much cheaper however if only with regard to exhaust fitting as all Rover engines have basically the same dimentions whereas American V8's vary enormously so each exhaust has to be custom built to the particular vehicle.

If the Cobra is Jaguar based there's no reason that I can see as to make it worthwhile fitting anything other than the standard (allbeit shortend driveshafts to 'E' type length) as the lighter springs with adjustable dampers can give a surprisingly good ride, after all who complains about the ride from a Jaguar? The ride on my Dax was very good indeed and after giving fellow Cobra owners a test drive in my car I spent many afternoons adjusting the dampers on their cars to give a sensible balance between ride and handling. One very important thing with building a Jaguar based Cobra is to get the suspension correctly adjusted for camber and caster as it's adjustable with shim's, time consuming and potentially expensive but it'll make all the difference as to how it drives.

[myglaren]

A Cobra with green spheres