I-Spy Classic Cars-What have you spotted?

[Zelandeth]

I remember one of the tasks we had to do was to try to take up some of the slack in the handbrake for the MOT. The actual procedure to adjust it involves dropping the back axle (no, I'm not kidding). We cheated...got a little length of 15mm copper pipe, cut a slot in the side of it and stuffed it in the end between the cable sheath and the bracket to take up the slack.

I remember us spending a while discussing the mechanism there, coming to the conclusion between us that it was "very clever, but a really, really stupid idea."

That pretty much summed up most of my findings doing work on a friend's Jag XJ6 (which I very nearly bought off him more than once). Lovely, lovely car to drive, but an absolute dog of a thing to work on - even with the 3.2 straight six in rather than the sprawling V12. Suspension wise, I don't know what the engineers Jag were smoking when they came up with the setup on the rear end of that car...

The main thing which put me off buying it - and yes, even so I still regret it - was the astronomical price of parts, even from 3rd party sellers.

What really hacked me off though was that the guy who did buy it proceeded to go and scrap it only a few months later...we know there was nothing massively wrong with it to warrant that either, but sadly this was back when the price of scrap metal had gone through the roof...

£650, this could have been on my driveway...







Well...it was on my driveway a bunch of times, as I borrowed it quite frequently while it was owned by my mate and he had several cars on the go. Longest stint was a couple of months when I was waiting for my 107 to arrive from the factory...Still kick myself for not buying it!

Also, if I'd ever had someone suggest to me that they would consider lowering a Jag ans sticking a sports exhaust on it, I'd have whacked them over the head with the workshop manual. On this thing it really worked though, and it gave the thing a truly menacing stance. Exhaust was only "tastefully" loud as well...even if we never did manage to stop the nearside rear silencer from rattling against the bumper support bracket.

[CitroJim]

Yes, the Jag IRS is supposed to be a lovely setup but any issues with the inboard discs are just a whole world of pain... They make a Xantia heater matrix look easy...

I guess a combination of that and parts prices are the main reason you can pick one up pretty cheaply. Lot of luxury for the money though... And they're lookers too... Love the one that was almost yours Zel, a real classic luxobarge in look and style..

[Zelandeth]

One of the biggest headaches we found with the suspension is that any play in any one of about five different places can give rise to either odd (expensive!) tyre wear, odd "shuffling" sensations through the suspension, or loud and obnoxious clonking noises. However tracking down *where* the play is without simply replacing every single moving part is essentially a slightly weighted guessing game. Not ideal when the majority of the parts are in three figures each, and require a day's worth of time stripping down and rebuilding the offending corner.

The general quality control is pretty shonky on them too to be honest. I can't remember if it was that one or the turquoise one but we found that the steering problem (it felt like the rack had stripped a tooth - there was an odd dead-zone which seemed to appear and vanish at random) turned out to be because the U-bolts holding the rack in place had as far as we could tell never been tightened from the factory...

We've been really lucky in that none of his Jags have had much in the way of electrical gremlins - but we've learned enough to know that any problems with the electrical systems will mean you're in for an absolute world of pain. That one there has I think no less than 8 ECUs scattered through the car, all of which are well known for randomly deciding to throw their toys out the pram at any given moment for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

The heater doesn't rely on water flow from the engine's water pump...instead it is fed from an electric pump buried in the engine bay down by the exhaust manifold, just to make sure that if (when!) it fails, that it's nearly impossible to remove for replacement without taking the exhaust off (bear in mind that there are two cats attached to the downpipe so it's a two-man job to remove - even before any of the studs snap). Have helped change that no less than four times on three Jags. The XJ8 is even worse for access...

His latest one is a 2002 plate I think, and has had electrical issues...he's an electronic design engineer by profession and even he has been baffled by the joys of gremlins on a fully multiplexed car...

Really do miss the green one though. Just reckon that the British Racing Green against the beige leather works perfectly and that the red carpets were the perfect contrast. Couldn't have specced it better myself really...

Anyone who says that the 3.2 is too underpowered for the car by the way is speaking rubbish. It's more than adequate, and scared the hell out of me the first time I put my foot down at 50ish on a dual carriageway to go for an overtake on a damp road and span up the rear wheels...It's more than capable of getting up to speeds capable of getting you into A Lot Of Trouble Very Quickly (TM) quicker than most cars will get you up to 30mph.

Not something I did very often, but every now and then it was mighty satisfying to just boot it when overtaking a slow moving lorry or tractor on an empty country road...

[myglaren]

Those Jags look amazing, much better than the recent ones.

Must remember to stay well away from them though

[elma]

I do like the older shape Jags, particularly the Daimler V8 ones or were they V12? So long since I saw one I really cannot remember. Ever so comfortable as well from what I remember of my friends Dads one back when I was 15. Dark Blue or British Racing Green would be my choice and as nice as it is any colour leather except white or beige, I'm far to mucky for interiors like that.

[CitroJim]

Must remember to stay well away from them though

Same here after reading your latest post on them Zel

[Deanxm]

a spot from today, a used example and used in the winter, with salty roads, the owner has some spheres alright
IMG_3132 by Deanxm, on Flickr

D

[NewcastleFalcon]

NSU Prinz 1000 like it says on the tin! (front wing) not quite the pleasing lines of an Ro80.

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Sweet They allegedly go very well indeed!

[Zelandeth]

80s snapshot turned up in Tesco Kingston yesterday afternoon.

Stuck around for a little bit in case the owner turned up, but they never appeared!

Got a cheery wave from a gent in a Morris Traveller this afternoon as well.

[CitroJim]

Best two cars in the car park Zel!

[Zelandeth]

No photos sadly as I was driving, but spent about half an hour yesterday on the way over to Swindon behind a Chevrolet Corvette (C4 generation). Still looks fantastic after 30 odd years.

[CitroJim]

Went out for a 42 mile bike ride today and spotted nothing of interest whatsoever

Except many other bikes.... The cyclists have been out in force today - lovely day for it too...

[myglaren]

Stopped for a man, wife and child cyclists to cross the road and received some very suspicious looks from the man as though he suspected I was going to mow them down when they were halfway across.

[CitroJim]

Stopped for a man, wife and child cyclists to cross the road and received some very suspicious looks from the man as though he suspected I was going to mow them down when they were halfway across.

Cyclists can be some bloody funny people Steve Take it from a very keen and active one. I'm frankly staggered by the behaviour of some of my fellows and snobbery is breathtaking...

My habit of wearing BTWIN clothing from Decathlon, which is well-priced and does the job a treat, is seen as deeply uncool and an insult to the very art of cycling... The fact I'm fairly flying along on a top-shelf machine seems to be quietly ignored. I don't look right and that's good enough...

Funny comments are made too. When my racing opponent finally caught up with me at traffic lights this afternoon he simply said 'You a fixie?' alluding to the fact I passed him several times in top gear and he never saw me change gear once. I don't need to. I have legs of diesel - the torque they generate at low cadence is quite impressive! He was up and down his cogs like a crazy thing...

Truth is Steve, the cyclists you met may have been shocked to the core you stopped and gave way to them. I felt the same way when a BMW did the same for me this afternoon. I was so shocked I almost forgot to wave a hand of thanks and appreciation...