No 56k: Replacement 1995 XJR - Also In Black

No - it has been a busier than expected year, what with the trips to Houston to keep my mom company at the hospital among other things.

However, I plan to have it repainted in the late spring/early summer (for best results), so I will be making a post soon asking for suggestions of products to test.
 
If the old headlights were foggy, I'd like to see a test of some of the headlight restoration products. My motorcycle's turn signals need some work in that regard.
 
The old headlights weren't foggy. They were glass, not plastic or polycarbonate, and while very good in terms of performance for the era, they did not have clear lenses and did not adapt to HIDs well. They made the car look a bit more dated, and most importantly, they're hard to find if one gets broken as they were only made three years and in limited numbers. They made the X308 longer and in far greater quantities.

As for the headlight restoration products, they do work. Check out my 700S thread where I used the Meguiar's product on an instrument panel lens. After I did that, I did CrazyJeeper's F150 headlights and he reports a vast improvement.
 
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Yeah, polishing the lenses out does work pretty well. Now, the default headlights in my F150 are still fairly terrible but they went from dangerous to passable.
 
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Well, been busy with work and other things of late, but as those wind down and my other projects near completion or stopping points (like my Nighthawk), more time becomes available for the XJR. Right now the idea is to fix certain things before handing it back to Dealership X to use up some of that service credit. (What I'm doing now is stuff that's either not Jaguar standard, not to Jaguar spec, or that I just don't want them messing with.)

The focus of late has been on working on the audio system. I recently replaced the original Jaguar/Alpine CD changer (which was dysfunctional) with an Alpine CHA-S634 unit which can play MP3s through the stock headunit, but it's not really working properly. Will post up about that when I get it working.

The rear subwoofer's been blown as long as I've had the car. After helping Der Stig with his BMW this weekend, I had some time to look into the matter. I pulled the rear seat and the rear dashboard, then yanked out the exposed subwoofer.
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Yeah, I think that's toast. I fitted the spare (harman/kardon, same model as the original) I had acquired in the interim and then tested the system.
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Worked great. I have to order in some plastic fasteners and such to reinstall all the trim, plus I need to repaint the stock speaker grilles which have a rather... interesting... pattern on them. I think the prior owner had some unruly kids with soda in the back and wasn't able/willing to clean the grilles off properly - though the leather and such looks to be in good shape with no soda residue.

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After reassembly, the leaky cam cover seals will be addressed; the car will be sent back to the dealership to have the leaky power steering hose and worn center transmission mount replaced.
 
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Is the dealer going to cover those repairs under your previous agreement?
 
The repairs I'm going to have them manage are, the ones you see here were covered by the nice large check they wrote me. :D
 
I love the way those big cats (proper cats not reskinned mondeos) look. Yours is really nice and once sorted - vrooom.
 
Yes, this one seems to be in good shape mechanically.

In other news, if the HID kit installed in my motorcycle pans out, I will be installing HIDs in the car in the not too distant future.
 
Just a quick update; while I am waiting for some interior paint to arrive, a shipment of LEDs arrived. I decided to replace the city/pilot lights, usually incandescent 194s, with LEDs. The originals tend to lend a 'ye olde' yellowish cast to the car's high beam housings, as if it had old halogen bulbs that were overage and about burned out. Not exactly what I wanted.

Since it's supposed to illuminate the entire reflector of the lamp, I used these 'omnidirectional' 5-way SMD LED replacement units.
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Before:
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Comparison with one done:
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After:
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Saved myself a little more than 3W per bulb, too.
 
Much better. :thumbsup:
 
Looks.....sinister :D
 
Today's project - fixing this problem:

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No idea how this happened; there doesn't seem to be any sign of water damage elsewhere in the car. Judging by the crap I dug out from under the rear seat, I'm going to guess one of the prior owners had small kids. Since that discoloration doesn't wash off, I'm going to guess it's probably soda or something that etched it after they spilled it on the rear parcel shelf. It might have contributed to the early death of the subwoofer. Unfortunately, the grille is currently backordered so I can't just replace it.

Going to be using these. Will update with pics once done.
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And here's the update.

Carefully taped for paint.
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After spraying adhesion promoter.
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After a few coats.
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And finished product (which must now sit for at least 24 hours to get to full strength.)
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No more psychedelically marbled speaker grilles! I'll be installing them this weekend, when it warms up a touch.
 
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Speaker grille reinstallation and some looks at the LED 'city/pilot' lights.
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Is that a snowmobile? Why on earth would you need a snowmobile in Texas?
 
Is that a snowmobile? Why on earth would you need a snowmobile in Texas?
:lol: I think that's the PC800 man. Though the idea of snowmobiling in Texas is pretty entertaining.
 
Looks like your PS fluid isn't leaking as badly as before. I guess that means it's run out :p

Nah, it has already marked its territory.
 
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