Chassis modifications

I'm looking to continue the chassis develop -ments over the coming weeks. My aim to modify the car beyond standard but retain something of an OEM theme, to create a sort of XJR plus or XJR-R to use a Jaguar naming convention. The ultimate aim is to significantly up the engine power at some point, possibly with an X300 XJR supercharged AJ16 engine, so I want to make the corresponding chassis improvements before hand.

The next developments on the suspension front will be to fit stiffer front dampers and a thicker anti-roll bar. The car currently has standard Sovereign dampers which are soft, I've an uprated pair from my previous 4.0L Sport variant. I've also a thicker anti-roll bar from an X300 XJR along with new D bushes and droplinks to fit. I've been doing some hard driving recently and the car does handle much better with the lowering springs fitted, these additional modifications should improve things further.

The brakes are another area that I'll be turning my attention to. They do seem to be working reasonably well though I am getting a “low brake pressure” warning from the digi-dash indicating the system is not in optimal condition. The '86-'89 XJ40's have a complex hydraulic brake system which although very good when in fine fettle has proved to have unreliabilities. The pressure accumulator sphere has a nitrogen filled rubber sack inside which leaks and loses it's ability to hold pressure over time, I suspect this part is failing on my car. There are other parts which can be unreliable too, so one solution to bin off the standard hydraulic systems and replace it with a conventional vacuum servo. There is an American outfit which produces a kit of parts to enable an '86-'89 car to be converted, I'm planning to go for this as it promises to be more reliable and improve efficiency and pedal feel too.

Also on the braking front I have the braided hoses to fit, I'll take the opportunity to change the brake fluid for something decent. I'm also on the look out for some drilled/vent front discs too.

Fitting a bodykit

As mentioned in my plans for 2012 post, I'm going to be fitting a bodykit to the Sovereign manual. The purpose of a bodykit is to aid the aerodynamics, by allowing less airflow under the car to thus improving downforce and hence cornering speed. The effect of this aero is probably fairly marginal on a road car, the main reason I'm fitting the 'kit is to give a more sporting and purposeful appearance. I have both the XJ40 XJR bodykits, the TWR design fitted to the series 1 XJR and the Jaguarsport design fitted to the series 2 XJR. Aftermarket bodykits can look naff and over the top but both these 'kits are Jaguar sanctioned parts and in my opinion relatively tasteful OEM type additions.

I've been thinking about which parts to fit and have now made a decision. Initially I will fit the TWR side skirts, followed by the Jaguarsport rear quarter spats, the look of these should work well with the standard body colour painted front spoiler already on the car and the standard bumpers. These parts should be fairly quick and easy to get prepped, painted and on the car, and as a following addition I will add the Jaguarsport front spoiler fitted with the Lucas fog lamps I have (these parts are pictured together). The other piece shown fits under the bootlid over the top of the rear bumper.

Down the line I'd like to fit the TWR front and rear bumpers (see lower picture), these need quite a bit of repair work with replacement fibreglass and filler as they have cracks and small areas of damage as can be seen. Another idea I have is to fit the chrome bumper blades to the body colour TWR bumpers to give a similar look to the Chasseur modified XJ40's. Before fitting any of these parts I'll be ensuring that all rust areas, namely to the sills, will be properly treated before covering them over.

Rear end improvements

I decided to sort a couple of areas at the rear of the car today. The first part the got my attention was the number plate, this had been attached with just adhesive pads to the chrome surround and had started to make a bid for freedom. I bought a new set of front and rear plates in the week as the ones on the car were just starting to get a little tatty, £8 from ebay. I decided to fix them on properly with screws starting with the rear.

The next part I turned my attention to was the rear lamp cluster surround trims. As standard the Sovereign had chrome surrounds, the previous owner had painted them body colour along with a number of other parts, to try and modernise the look of the car I think. I've decided I prefer the traditional Jaguar chrome look and want that for the car so found a couple of spare chrome surrounds in the shed and fitted them. They brighten things up nicely.

They are very easy to fit and can be added to any XJ40 that doesn't already have them. I removed the four screws that secure each lamp cluster to the body and popped them out to make fitting easier. The two nearest the wing aren't as easy to remove but can be done by reaching in a spanner. The outer sides of the surrounds have two tabs that clip around the edge of the lens, the inner side has two larger tabs that must be folded around the inner edge of the lens to hold the surround in place.

Things to do in 2012

Now we're into the new year I've been having a think about what work needs doing and how I want to progress the car. I've come up with a list of items that'll start to get through soon, I'll be able to really crack on once it starts getting lighter in the evenings.

Interior: I'm pleased with my successful black interior fitment last year, I think it looks great. There are a number of relatively minor items that need either finishing off or fixing. The passenger side rear speaker isn't working, it's a new speaker so it should just be a bad wire connection. The drivers side window doesn't work, I'm sure the switch and wiring is okay so I suspect the motor's packed up. The headlining had obviously dropped and has been glued bad up by the previous owner, it looks grotty could do with replacing with a decent one, though it's a job that's on the backburner somewhat.

Exterior: The paint is very good overall but the laquer is going through on the roof so could do with a re-spray. There some bubbling up of paint around the ends of the sills and rear arches where rust is attacking, I'll grind this back and repaint before things get worse. I've the bodykit parts to fit, I'll start with fitting the TWR side skirts once I've got them painted and the afore mentioned rust is treated.

Chassis: The car is riding well on the lowering springs but the suspension could do with some further development. For the front I've got the polybushed upper wishbones to go on, some sport dampers and the X300 XJR anti-roll bar so that should tighten things up further. On the brakes front I want to get the braided hoses on and replace the fluid. I'd like to refurb the Jaguarsport wheel though I'm still on the look out for a set of 17's or 18's that'll suit the car.

Engine: The engine's running quite well now though does still seem to be a little hessitant at low rev's particularly so I'll continue to investigate. I've got the Jaguarsport inlet manifold so might try swapping that on. I'll be giving the engine bay a damn good clean as it's filthy!

That's by no means an exhaustive list of the jobs that need doing but it should keep me busy for a good while.

Exterior pictures

Here's some exterior pictures of the car. It's riding on the five spoke wheels again as one of the tyres on the Jaguarsport wheels has a slow puncture. As all the tyres on the Jagsport rims as more or less finished I'm thinking of refurbing them before fitting a set of four fresh tyres.

Completed interior swap

I've finally got the interior swap finished off recently, the drivers seat is now installed. I'm very pleased with how the it's all looking, the condition of this black interior is much better than the doeskin and I prefer it aesthetically. Now it's done I took the opportunity to take some pictures in a setting that wasn't the street outside the house, the local woods.

Interior swap part 2

I've almost completed the interior swap on the Sovereign, I've been fitting the black one from an XJR. The final item that needed swapped was the drivers seat. These front chairs are fixing with four torx bolts, they came out with no problems when removing the front passenger seat but I had problems with the drivers seat. The head of one of the bolts was corroded and partly chewed by by a previous attempt at removal, my efforts rounded it off and failed to budge it. I ended up drilling it out which took some. I succeeded in melting several cheap drills before making a trip out to purchase a couple of hardcore titanium coated cobalt ones.

I've managed to ebay off the XKR wheels now I've decided not use them on the car. As the car came with them fitted any money collected for them was a bonus, so I was quite chuffed with £463. Taking that from the £500 paid for the car it makes the net cost of the car £37 which is nice!

Engine temperature issues

Since I've owned the car I've found that the engine temperature gauge on the digi-dash fails to reach the midway point, it sits a couple of increments below. This led me to think that the engine might be running a bit cold so I suspected the thermostat might not be working correctly.

I had a rummage through the spares in the shed and found a thermostat removed from one of my previous XJ40's, I knew this one worked okay so decided to fit it. The coolant was looking murky so I also decided to drop this and replace at the same time as the 'stat. Changing a 'stat is very east, access to it is good and it's simply held in place with two long 10mm bolts. The hoses hold on with jubilee clips, the connectors to the two temp sensors just need to be unclipped.

Having replaced the thermostat I found that there was no difference to the temp gauge reading, it was still shy of centre! There appears to be a temp sensor in the coolant tank so perhaps this needs replacement.

Jaguarsport wheels

I've been playing around with different wheel options, I currently have the Jaguarsport XJR 16" wheels fitted which I think probably suit the car best. They have that late eighties look about them, the slots around the edge make them look similar to other period wheels such as Ronal Turbo's. I think they are more understated than my XKR or five spoke wheels. I'm looking at selling these other sets I have to raise some money for some other work I'll need. The overall tyre diameter is smaller than the others (the tyre profiles are 55 as opposed to 60 on the five spokes), so the car sits a tad lower.

New gear knob and gaitor

I now have the car back from the garage having been relieved of considerable hard earned cash. It's driving much better now thanks to the new clutch. Now that it's done I've decided to sort the gear level gaitor out.

I've been swapping the original doeskin beige interior for a black one, it's most or less complete apart from the drivers seat. The "ski-slope" walnut centre console panel was damaged and faded so I've replaced it with a decent one from an auto car. The cut-out for the gear level is a different shape so I've adapted the gaitor to fit this.

The plastic surround from an auto box was used as it was a perfect fit for the ski-slope used. The square aperture was for the "sport mode" button, I've filled this by gluing in the black growler badge from the original ski-slope, the fit is perfect! I cut the leather gaitor away from the frame the fits the manual ski-slope glued it to the auto plastic surround. I also used black shoe polish to restore the black colour as it had rubbed away in places and looked tired.

To finish off I've replaced the heavy metal gear knob with a nice walnut jobbie, it has a growler badge with "Jaguar Coventry" on the top. I'm pleased with the result.

Clutch replacement

The manual Sov is at the garage at the moment having a new clutch fitted amongst other things. It's been on the way out since I bought it, the biting point was high on the pedal and there's been a slight juddering feel. I think it was slipping slightly under certain conditions at lower rev's but recently it was slipping more obviously and making various noises.

I've always tried to do all the work on my XJ40's myself, this is the first time I've taken one to garage for anything other than an MOT. I probably could have tackled it at home but it would have been a lot of work with the car up on stands and I'm keen to get her driving well. I asked around for a few quotes, the best I received was £350 from Mr Clutch so that's where she is.

The work is underway and almost complete now, I should be able to pick the car up today. I've been told that it needed a flywheel skim plus a new spigot bearing and slave cylinder so the price of the job has certainly added up! I've also asked them to change the gearbox oil while their in there. I'm really looking forward to driving the car once I get it back.

I've pictured my other XJ40, she looks well in British Racing Green with gold coachlines. This one doesn't cost as much to run!

Five Spoke fitment

I swapped off the 18" XKR wheels earlier in favour of the 16" Five Spokes I have. There were several reasons why I've decided to change to these wheels. Firstly, I think the more modern design of the 18's didn't suit the car. They looked big and impressive but I wanted a retro period look for the Sov. Secondly, the XKR wheels are worth about as much as the car, selling them will release some funds to spend improving other areas.

The third reason for swapping was that I suspected the old girl would drive better on the Five Spoke and this was evident after a test drive. The large "donut" tyres give a softer ride than the lower profiles. Also, the car doesn't tramline like it did on the 18's so handles better.

All in all I'm pleased with the change. There are a few other areas that will be restored to give a more period look, I'd like to get shot of the X300/X308 side mouldings and put some chrome rear lamp surrounds on in place of the body colour ones on it at the moment.

Lowering spring fitment - the results

Here's some pictures of the car sitting on the lowering springs, I'm pleased with the way it looks and drives. I'm looking forward to seeing what it looks like wearing some retro rims, I'll try it with the 16" Jaguarsport wheels I have.

Lowering spring fitment part deux

I got the rear lowering springs installed at the weekend. Swapping out the rear springs on a Forty is a relatively straight forward job.

The first thing to do is to jacking the car up, remove the wheel and sit it on an axle stand. You can then get in to remove the four 13mm bolts holding the top spring pan to the body, the bolt furthest in requires a long socket extension to access. Before removing all the bolts it's a good idea to support the hub with a trolley jack as it will drop down once the bolts are out.

The next thing to do is unbolt the bottom of the damper, this is secured with a 30mm bolt and 24mm nut. Once this is out the spring and damper assembly is unfixed from the car, to get it out you need to remove the brake caliper, this is fixed on with two 15mm bolts.

Once the assembly is out the spring needs to be compressed so that the top spring pan can be removed. Standard spring compressors can be used, make sure they are heavy duty items otherwise they will bend! Once the spring has been compressed the top spring pan can be unbolted and the spring removed. Refitment is the reserve of removal.

Lowering spring fitment part 1

So I've got around to fitting the AVO -35mm lowering springs, just done the fronts so far. I've covered the installation of XJ40 front springs in a previous post so I won't go into detail here. I was planning to fit the polybushed wishbones at the same time but decided to leave that until a later date. The wishbone bushes are actually in decent order having been changed by the previous owner, the car rides well so I'm not desperate to change bushes at the moment.

I'm now planning to fit the rear lowering springs soon, hopefully at the weekend, having bought a pair of standard spring compressors recently. I've

also done some more work on the interior so that should also be finished soon.

Fitting the XJR door cards part 2

To fit the XJR door cards I needed to fix their fixing brackets onto the doors of the Sovereign manual. I was initially thinking I'd just use self tapping screws but I decided to do a proper job and use rivets as that's how they were originally fixed. I bought a riveting kit from Homebase (£14.99) that included a riveter and a selection of different sized rivets. I found that 4.8mm rivets fitted perfectly so used those.

Along with fitting the brackets I had to remove the plastic bush type parts from the door as holes were too small for the new door card fixing plugs. Once this was done fitting the door card was very straight forward, just a case of connecting up the connectors and screwing them on. So far I've riveted all the brackets on and fitted the front two door cards, hope to get the remaining two on this week. I've also removed the front passenger seat and centre console, so the interior work is really coming on now.

Engine running issues

Although the manual Sov starts fine and drives it seems to feel hesitant and lumpy, and lacking in power somewhat. The car is quite high mileage at 168k and didn't come with much history at all so I'm going to be working through a thourgh service that will include changing all fluids and replacing parts to get the drive optimal.

In an effort to sort the running issue the first thing I checked was the plugs. I found that although they didn't look very worn they were Bosch Super 4 R6's, a modern four electrode plug and not a recommended type for the AJ6 engine. They were also grimy and smelt of petrol which suggested the engine was running rich. I swapped these plugs for a set of new NGK BCPR6E's which are a traditional type of plug often used in these engines.

The next items I checked were the distributor cap and rotor arm, these looked a little worn so I replaced these too with new parts. The engine seemed to run a little better on the new plugs and cap but still the hesitant, lumpy characteristics remained so I haven't s
orted the problem as yet, I still think it's ignition related.

In other news I've bought some new tools, a Draper compression tester and a pair of spring compressors to remove the rear springs. I used the compression tester for the first time at the weekend, I was slightly worried about what I might discover but found that all cylinders had strong compression, up around 200psi according to the tool.

Exterior improvements

I'm in the process of gradually tidying up the exterior of the car. The latest task was to remove the badging applied to the car by the previous owner as it wasn't to my taste. There were X308 XJR "R" badges stuck to the front wings below the indicator and also one on the boot lid. The boot lid also had a union jack flag and an "XJ6" badge which I removed. I felt the badging a bit silly as the car is a Sovereign so neither an XJR non XJ6, plus I think the body looks smoother and cleaner de-badged.

Another modification that the car came with was body colour wing indicators, that's both the

chrome bezel and the lamp lens painted. I bought a pair of used but decent indicator lamp units

so I could restore the car to the standard items.

Initially I've just replaced the lens, I intend to get hold of some double sided adhesive strips to fix the chrome bezel part in place.

Fitting the XJR door cards

Now I'd bought the manual Sovereign I didn't really have adequate space for the 3.2 Sov, or the time to spend on her so she had to depart and is now gone. Unfortunately I didn't make anything but I at least got back most of what I paid.

I've not had much of chance to work on the manual Sov recently, I spent some time over the weekend treating the Golf GT TDI to an engine oil and filter change and a new air filter. I have had the chance to do a bit of work on the door cards though.

I recently fitted new Alpine speakers to the XJR door cards that I'm going to be fitting, I've started soldering on the correct connectors to these having removed the connector and wiring from the Sovereign door cards. To fit the XJR cards I'll need to fit the mounting brackets (see picture) fortunately the doors on the Sov have pre-drilled holes to fit these so I just need to find some suitably sized self tapers to hold the brackets on. The other fixing appear to be the same so the 'R cards should go on easily.

The drivers electric window doesn't work and the passenger side is intermittant, I'm hoping it was just a fault with the switches and that the they'll leap into life with the fitment of the replacement switches in the XJR door cards. If they don't I'll have to assume that there's a problem at the electric motor end of things.

Interior swap

I made a start on swapping in the black XJR interior yesterday. So far I've fitted the Momo sport steering wheel and the black dash trim up front, it's already starting to look a lot better I think. In the back I've fitted the black parcel shelf, seat belts and seats. I hope to crack on and get the rest done soon.